Have some big traffic goals to meet this quarter? Online ads are a tried and true solution that deliver immediate results. When you have a certain number to hit, the temptation may be to go big and broad (also known as the “spray and pray” approach) to try to capture as many people as possible. But that often results in wasted spend on impressions that will never lead to a site visit.
Instead, try these 3 campaigns to boost traffic with high quality visitors who won’t just visit, but will be much more likely to purchase, too.
1. Target similar audiences.
Sure, you can create a campaign that targets certain demographics or lifestyle interests, but that’s still a wide net that will have you spending money on impressions that have absolutely no interest in you. Instead, try building a “similar audience”, which finds people with the same product interests as your current website visitors. These are people who don’t know about you yet, but who have shown an affinity for products like yours. It’s a strategy that provides good reach, but also promises a much higher level of engagement.
Tip: Building a similar audience requires a big data pool to pull from, and AI to analyze your web visitors and identify browsing and buying patterns. The bigger the data pool, the bigger your similar audience. And the better the AI, the more qualified the audience will be.
Tip: With this kind of campaign, you’ll want ads that combine product and branding messaging to introduce your brand and entice shoppers with products.
2. Retarget your website visitors.
This one is a proven traffic driver. Your website visitors are an already-interested audience, so getting them to visit again is much easier than trying to convince someone new to give you a chance. It’s also a great way to keep your brand top of mind as they work through the evaluation/consideration phase. Consider segmenting your retargeting audiences by pages they’ve visited so you can tailor the ad creative based on where they are in the funnel. For example, home page or category level page visitors might benefit from a mix of brand and product content, whereas a discount on a recently viewed product might be just the thing for product detail page visitors.
Tip: Be sure to include product recommendations in your retargeting ads. If a shopper left because they decided against an item, you can capture their attention by showing them other options from your catalog!
3. Engage your existing customers.
Complement your email marketing strategy with an online campaign that targets your existing customers. Many ad solutions will enable you to upload your customer contact list, which they then match against their shopper data pool to find your customers online. Once you’ve found your customers online, you can send them tailored messages to bring them to your site, like updates on new products, discounts on products they’ve purchased in the past, or seasonal offers.
Tip: Look for a solution that can also find your in-store only shoppers online. This is a great way to drive your bricks-and-mortar customers to your website.
