Retargeting & The Customer Journey 

Direct mail retargeting is a powerful tool for fostering thoughtful and meaningful communication with your customers. When used throughout the customer journey, retargeting campaigns can build a loyal consumer base, increase engagement on your digital properties, and boost revenue.  

Using sophisticated technology, direct mail retargeting sends physical mail pieces to consumers after they have interacted with your brand online. Retargeting campaigns are only sent when a customer, at some point, expresses interest in a product or service through visiting your website, adding items to a digital shopping cart, or signing up for e-mail/push notifications. Pel Hughes offers direct mail retargeting services to help your brand thrive in a hyper competitive business climate.  

Below, our team breaks down the customer journey and offers tips on how direct mail retargeting can best be applied for each.  

Understanding the Stages of the Customer Journey 

#1 The Awareness Stage 

The first stage of the customer journey involves a consumer first interacting with your brand online. This could involve being directed to your website from a social media post or ad or viewing specific products or services within your website for the first time.  

When to Retarget: The awareness stage is a great opportunity to send a direct mail retargeting campaign based on a person’s specific activity on your website. If a potential customer viewed certain products, offering a one-time discount code to a new customer is a great incentive. Sending campaigns that highlight what makes your organization unique, such as social or environmental initiatives and consumer testimonials are helpful, too.  

 

#2 The Consideration Stage 

The consideration stage is quite different from the awareness stage in the customer journey. During the consideration stage, consumer behavior can involve viewing a specific product or service on several occasions, signing up for e-mail communications, or alerts for restocks of specific products.  

When to Retarget: Let’s say you offer women’s clothing, and a particular user viewed several product pages for cardigans. Your retargeting campaign could showcase a handful of fashionable cardigans that highlight the latest seasonal trends. When retargeting campaigns are sent in this manner, they are perceived as thoughtful and helpful by consumers. 

#3 The Purchase Stage 

The purchase stage doesn’t always involve an actual purchase. In fact, it can involve consumer behavior that signals a strong desire to make a purchase in the near future. Common consumer behaviors of this stage in the customer journey include placing items in a shopping cart but abandoning it or attempting to use coupon codes on specific products.  

When to Retarget: The purchase stage is a great time to retarget with campaigns reminding a consumer about the contents of their shopping cart, offering discounts on their next purchase, or sending a campaign with customer testimonials on the specific product(s) he or she was interested in.  

#4 The Loyalty Stage 

Keeping your existing customers is wonderful for your bottom line. The loyalty stage of the customer journey is one of the most important stages that a business can initiate thoughtful contact.  

When to Retarget: Repeat customers are excellent candidates for receiving retargeting campaigns that upsell recent purchases, celebrate their birthdays, or offer membership into rewards programs.  

Pel Hughes offers a suite of direct mail services including retargeting for businesses and organizations throughout the United States. We also provide graphic design, campaign automation, and database services. Give us a call at (504) 486-8646 to launch your next campaign.