Consumers abandon online shopping carts all the time. People browse services or products on websites without converting. While you obviously don’t want this to be the norm on your website, it’s simply the nature of the buyer journey. Luckily, these situations also happen to be opportunities to re-engage visitors and get them back to making a purchase, signing up for a demo, or whatever the end goal may be. You can make it happen with effective retargeting ads, and in this article, we’re going to look at what this means as well as some examples of effective digital advertisements.
First, let’s clarify the purpose of retargeting ads.
What Are Retargeting Ads?
Retargeting ads are paid advertisements targeting individuals who have already visited a website and interacted with products or services. Despite prior activity, they did not complete a sale or did not previously interact with a website but have similarities with existing customers.
You can retarget ads to engage and re-engage these users through the cookies placed on your website or app. Cookies follow users on the web to gather data about people's preferences, activities, and behaviors. This is how you can serve relevant ads to a targeted pool of customers.
5 Examples of Effective Retargeting Ads
Dry Farm Wines
Once you visit the Dry Farm Wines website, you’ll start seeing ads on the daily — at least on Facebook, in my experience. This Facebook ad copy leverages the inherent benefits of choosing and consuming their products over traditional options, nurturing your initial interest in their website and encouraging you to click through to learn more. After all, retargeting isn’t reserved for abandoned shopping carts; it can also be used effectively to steer website visitors who simply browsed your site to return for another look.
Become a Digital Marketing Professional
- 50000+Expected new jobs in Digital Marketing
- 44%Companies prioritizing a digital-first approach
- 52%Growth in Social Media and Digital Marketing jobs
Post Graduate Program in Digital Marketing
- Joint Purdue-Simplilearn Digital Marketer Certificate
- Become eligible to be part of the Purdue University Alumni Association
8 months
Here's what learners are saying regarding our programs:
Allan Joaquin
Senior Copywriter, AMI Group
Completing the PGP in Digital Marketing course and gaining knowledge in the field allowed me to service new clients who needed consultancy on digital marketing strategies. I was also able to increase my revenue by 50%.
Michael Anastasiadis
I have recently completed Simplilearn’s Digital Marketing Program. This unique experience was full of live classes, e-learning content, real-world projects and tests. And I gained extensive knowledge regarding all basic disciplines of digital marketing: SEO, Social Media, Content Marketing, Email Marketing, PPC, and more.
Warby Parker
Warby Parker collects data from users who visit its website and uses that data to serve effective retargeting ads. Even if you haven’t been to the site in a while (like me), brands can still leverage your behaviors to show you ads like this one introducing new product lineups. In fact, this is a smart way to use retargeting to let potential customers know the latest goings-on and get them back to the website (and hopefully, convert).
Bitdefender
Bitdefender knows how to use retargeting advertisements effectively — by adding a special discount. The ad copy makes this clear it’s a New Year’s discount and emphasizes the audience is getting a great deal at 56 percent off, and it’s cleverly positioned over the product image, so you know what the deal applies to right away. (Hey, I like reduced guesswork as much as anyone else.)
This ad also creates a sense of urgency with the “Buy Now” CTA, instilling a perceived time-sensitivity in the audience. They could lose out on the deal if they don’t act right away. The copy lends a feel-good vibe and demonstrates the benefits of added security, too.
StoryWorth
StoryWorth has a brilliant way of retargeting website visitors using Facebook ads, and this one uses a brilliant strategy to re-engage — testimonials from satisfied customers. This brand knows consumers don’t want to hear from brands all the time, they want to hear about brands from other people.
The ad reinforces the testimonial with a video slideshow of all the ways you can create a personalized “story” with their service. It leans on powerful imagery to evoke a sense of what could be from the audience. Finally, the ad copy explains the benefit of using the service — it’s easy to use.
Ruggable
Well, I feel like I need a Star Wars rug now, that’s how effective this retargeting ad is to me. Ruggable does an excellent job of telling through showing with a large, high-quality image of the product in a real-life situation. It also cleverly combines the messaging of the Star Wars franchise within the ad copy and reminds us the products are washable (again, blending with the imagery here – children mean you need washable, right?).
Ruggable does a fantastic job targeting parents who may be interested in home décor and invites them back with a “Shop Now” CTA.
Do you want to master the essential disciplines in digital marketing? Check out the Digital Marketing Specialist course now!
Learn More about Retargeting Ads
If you want a deeper dive on retargeting, be sure to read about the differences between retargeting and remarketing. Or, if you’re starting a career in digital marketing or want to boost your existing role, check out Simplilearn’s extensive offerings in this lucrative field. If you are a beginner, you can enroll in the Digital Marketing Training Course. If you are ready to master this, the Post Graduate Program in Digital Marketing, offered in partnership with Purdue University and co-created with Facebook, might be the right path for you!