9 social media retargeting errors that every marketer should avoid
One of the most efficient ways to re-engage shopping cart abandoners, existing customers, and site visitors is through social media retargeting; however, it is not the simplest marketing approach to master from the get-go.
Beginner marketers make several frequent mistakes, regardless of their sector, business size, or creative flair. Though some may be harmless on their own, failing to detect and address them promptly is a first-class ticket to a squandered social media expenditure.
Don’t worry: with this list of retargeting blunders, you can set your social media retargeting efforts on fire. Let’s get this party started!
1. Repeatedly delivering the same advertisement
Retargeting on social media allows you to reconnect with those who have visited your website but did not take any action.
So, to attract their attention, the ideal method is to broadcast the same (or similar) ad across platforms, right? Not exactly. When implementing your social media retargeting strategy, delivering the same ad over and over is a significant red flag. You not only risk ad fatigue, but you also increase customers’ fears that you are monitoring them on the internet.
Try this instead:
- Set frequency limitations to prevent consumers from seeing the same ad more than twice.
- Create a series of ads with varying pictures, CTAs, and headlines. Consider adding testimonials, helpful information, and flash sales to them.
- Ad formats should be varied: carousels, single images, and videos are good places to start.
2. Implementing a set-it-and-forget-it strategy Approach
Automated marketing platforms are fantastic since they handle the large list of everyday duties you would otherwise have to manage manually. However, enormous power comes with great responsibility: Be wary of over-relying on your retargeting platform and falling into the trap of a set-it-and-forget-it mentality.
By failing to evaluate and optimize your social media retargeting routinely, you risk wasting your limited marketing money. Instead, we advocate A/B testing fresh creative regularly, playing with audience groups, and even experimenting with new social media platforms to launch your retargeting ads.
3. Failure to retarget top-of-funnel shoppers
While many organizations recognize the potential benefits of social media retargeting, they often overlook its application for top-of-funnel goals like expanding brand awareness.
Getting a shopper to return to your site and take action (whether that’s making a purchase, signing up for your newsletters, or enrolling for an event) is a fundamental goal of retargeting, but it’s tough if the shopper doesn’t know who you are.
Check to see how you’re utilizing social media retargeting throughout the consumer journey. Consider remarketing for top-of-funnel shoppers as an opportunity to expose them to your brand rather than instantly opting for the hard pitch. After establishing a solid foundation, you may use retargeting to encourage conversion.
Remember: Experts estimate that customers need 28 to 62 touchpoints or engagements with a company before making a purchase.
4. Using a Wide Range of Audience Segments
One of the reasons many marketers appreciate social media retargeting is that it is the most effective approach to sending targeted ads to customers. Increasing the relevance of a marketing message might assist buyers in deciding between swiping past your ad and pausing to consider what you have to offer.
The first step to personalization, though, is to restrict your audience groups — for example, rather than to produce ads that target “cart abandoners,” you may segment based on the worth of their abandoned cart. You could then offer free shipping to customers with cart values less than $15 and a larger discount (such as 15% off) to customers with greater cart values.
5. Using Only One Social Media Platform
Reaching the appropriate shoppers at the correct time and location is the key to successful remarketing. As a result, ensure that your social media retargeting strategy includes more than one platform. Facebook and Instagram are wonderful places to start, but depending on where your target audience spends their time, consider Twitter, LinkedIn, Snapchat, or TikTok, which all have retargeting ad possibilities.
6. Overemphasis on Clicks
Because they are flashy, vanity metrics like clicks are one of the marketers’ worst weaknesses. However, you can have a million clicks and no genuine sales.
Finally, while reviewing campaign performance, you should concentrate on more trustworthy measures such as conversion rates, which are what you want your retargeting advertisements to produce: new sales, email sign-ups, or loyalty program subscribers.
7. Failing to test your landing page
You can have the nicest retargeting ad in the world, but it will cost you conversions and sales if it directs them to a badly designed landing page.
Your social media retargeting advertising must function as part of your overall marketing ecology, including your landing page. And if you’re not testing your landing page’s headline, body copy, graphics, and CTAs to determine what works best for your audience, you’re wasting money.
Remember, optimization is an ongoing process; don’t let your campaigns stagnate because you’re not always improving them.
8. Poor Data Collection and Management
We’ll make a bold claim: Acing your remarketing attempts is difficult without reliable data.
If your data gathering and administration processes are a disaster, you’re likely missing out on key insights that you could utilize to boost your remarketing efforts. It’s not only a matter of where you obtain your data; it’s also a matter of how you manage and analyze it. After all, the more precise and extensive the information you can gather about your website visitors, the better your chances of creating engaging adverts that turn them into paying clients.
When a customer views a Facebook and a TikTok retargeting ad before purchasing, and both dashboards attribute the sale to themselves, you’re effectively double counting the credit.
This is when analytics tools come in handy. They allow you to select the most appropriate attribution model for your brand and de-duplicate conversions accordingly. In other words, you may precisely pinpoint which retargeting activities contribute to a sale by imagining how consumers interact with various touchpoints in a customer journey.
9. Creating an Isolated Social Media Retargeting Campaign
You should never build up a social media retargeting strategy in isolation from your other marketing activities.
Aim to develop an omnichannel approach that integrates your social media retargeting efforts with other channels such as email – according to our study, advertisements and email may raise conversion rates by 2x. When all your touchpoints operate together, you can be certain that you’re reaching your target audience where they’re most active.
