Even if you’ve struggled to get the results you seek from your social media retargeting campaigns, don’t write off this tactic. The truth is, retargeting on social media can be a highly effective way to regain the interest of users who didn’t convert the first time they visited your website. However, rushing into a remarketing campaign without a solid strategy can lead to careless mistakes.
Here, 11 members of Forbes Agency Council provide a list of the top mistakes they’ve seen marketers commonly make with social media retargeting campaigns so that you can avoid making these same blunders.
Forbes Agency Council members discuss common mistakes marketers make with retargeting campaigns on social media.
Photos courtesy of the individual members.
1. Repeating The Same Message
If someone is interested in your business, one of the tackiest things you can do is repeat the same message to them again and again. Our agency’s rule of thumb is to never show the same ad to someone more than twice. Create ads for remarketing audiences that feature other products, recent press, testimonials, limited-time sales, blog articles and personal messages from the founder. – Brian Meert, AdvertiseMint
2. Creating Ads That Are Too Loud
Ads that are loud and memorable tend to get good results in traditional media channels, but those qualities may have a negative effect when retargeting. A good retargeting ad is bland and blends into the background. It highlights a single message that represents the brand’s integrated marketing communications in a professional and subtle way. In other words, seeing a clever ad once is entertaining, but seeing it twelve times is just annoying. – Ahmad Kareh, Twistlab Marketing
3. Using Only One Tool Or Pixel
Don’t leave it down to only one tool or one pixel. Every social platform comes with its own pixel, so use it and install it. Then, make sure you utilize it in your campaigns. On top of that, install a broader retargeting program that is tied to display ads. Don’t leave it all down to social ads; diversify it. – Christopher Tompkins, The Go! Agency
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4. Limiting Retargeting To One Campaign
We see this a lot. We onboard a new client and find a prospecting campaign and a remarketing campaign with a site pixel, and that’s it. Site remarketing is great, but what about remarketing to those who saw your prospecting ad? What about past customers? There are a lot of remarketing buckets, and not filling them leaves a lot of potential profits on the table. – Bernard May, National Positions
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5. Not Being Specific Enough
Take the time to set it up with as many specifics in mind as possible. One big area that people miss in getting personal is the chat function. If someone went to your chat or “Contact Us” page, you know what they wanted. The ads should reflect that and should not be just a logo ad back to your website. – Christine Wetzler, Pietryla PR
6. Using A One-Size-Fits-All Strategy
Effective social media retargeting is nuanced, and marketers often make the mistake of using a one-size-fits-all strategy. Advanced marketers use their customer relationship management data to give different users specific deals and creatives to encourage repeat purchases or larger basket sizes based on their sales history. The savviest marketers are leveraging this type of information to drive better results. – Larry Fisher, Rise Interactive
7. Not Helping Consumers Get To Know Your Brand
The goal of retargeting is to get the consumer to come back to your site and transact. But it’s tough to get someone to transact if they don’t really know you. Take the time to build the foundation before making that ask of the consumer. Think of this baseball analogy: You can’t score a run if you don’t get up to bat. Make sure you get up to bat! – Lori Paikin, NaviStone®
8. Not Considering The Sensitivity Around Topics
Aside from making sure that the correct target audience is chosen for remarketing, one mistake marketers make is failing to consider the sensitivity around certain topics. For medical and pharmaceutical audiences, for example, retargeting often isn’t allowed as a form of marketing; but if it is, it should be done with respect and an understanding of privacy issues. It should be delivered in a mindful way. – Larry Gurreri, Sosemo LLC
9. Not Combining Performance And Social Media Marketing
Not implementing an integrative social strategy to combine performance marketing with social media marketing is a huge mistake. If a consumer has shown a preference for the content of one particular creator, they should be retargeted using similar content (from the same creator ideally) throughout the purchasing journey to create an authentic, personalized brand narrative. – Christoph Kastenholz, Pulse Advertising
10. Setting And Forgetting The Campaign
Some marketers treat retargeting as a set-and-forget campaign. So, they’ll run the same message the whole time, even if the retargeting isn’t getting results. It’s a good idea to prepare several messages that are appropriate for the campaign, and then A/B test them so that you can learn which is most effective. Be flexible rather than overcommitting to a single idea that may flop. – Dmitrii Kustov, Regex SEO
11. Not Knowing Where Your Audience Hangs Out
One of the biggest mistakes made in retargeting is not knowing who your ideal target actually is. It is mission-critical to be aware of who your ideal customer is and where they are. Otherwise, money and time spent on social media retargeting may just be wasted. – Jon James, Ignited Results
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Author: Expert Panel®, Forbes Councils Member
