Retargeting Using Direct Mail

When someone says “retargeting,” we think of direct mail or other channels used to entice a customer or prospect to visit a marketer’s website, then if they visit the site without making a purchase, following up using a banner or other digital ad to re-engage them and complete the sale. However, retargeting works the other way around, too. Direct mail can be a highly efficient way to re-engage people who showed interest on a website but did not follow through all the way to a sale.

Say a 30-something trail runner lands on the webpage of a retailer selling outdoor gear. She is looking for a new pair of shoes for the 15k race coming up in a few months. She looks at several pairs, but before she can make a purchase, the school bus arrives and she gets pulled away to make snacks and help with homework. She never gets back to her search.

Now imagine this same busy, trail running mom going to the mailbox a few days later—and lo and behold! There is a postcard with the pairs of the shoes she spent the most time looking at, along with a coupon for 10% off.

When we think about retargeting channels, we tend to think of banner ads, pop-up ads in Facebook newsfeeds, and other digital efforts. However, today’s consumers have come to expect that retargeting. They tune out all but the most enticing offers. With the explosion in ad blocking software, some may not see retargeted ads at all. That is where direct mail becomes so powerful. Direct mail can get through where digital advertising cannot.

Thanks to increasingly sophisticated technology, website-to-direct-mail retargeting is becoming increasingly straightforward. The retargeting software can provide significant insights into who is landing on your website, what products they are researching, and where they spend the most time. This allows you to follow up, whether online or in print.

Does retargeting work? One commonly cited statistic is that, when marketers use this approach, 26% of online shoppers who did not complete the checkout process come back and make a purchase. Retargeting takes a few extra steps, but with numbers like that, it is worth the effort!

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