The Complete Guide to Website Visitor Retargeting for Higher ROI

Getting traffic to your website is no small feat, but the hard truth is: that it doesn’t automatically mean visitors will convert. Data from Marketo suggests that 96% of visitors who come to your website are still waiting to be ready to buy. Even the most qualified leads in the mix might still need to be prepared to decide on their first visit.

You can shrink that figure by implementing website visitor retargeting – keeping your brand on interest visitors’ radar, nurturing their interest, and bringing them back when they’re more likely to convert. 

Today, we’ll be talking all about visitor retargeting, and how you can encourage the right visitors to say “yes” more often. 

You Need Website Visitor Retargeting, Especially In Outbound Marketing

“Retargeting gives you a second, third, and fourth chance to make an impression.” –  Russell Vaughan, sales engineer at GoSquared​​​​​​​. 

“But if they’re qualified visitors, shouldn’t they be ready to purchase?” 

In reality, it doesn’t always work that way.

A qualified lead is someone who fits your ideal customer profile (ICP), but that doesn’t mean they’re ready to buy just yet. They could need more time to weigh their options and gather more information, or still be in the early stages of their decision-making process. That’s why it’s crucial to go beyond just driving traffic. 

When done right, retargeting can turn a lukewarm lead into a hot one, closing your outbound marketing loop with precision.

Why Website Visitor Retargeting Should Be Your Next Strategy

You Get Real-Time Data on How Prospects Interact with Your Site

Knowing what specific pages they visit, how long they stay, and what they click on gives you a big advantage. This data offers clear insights into their interests, pain points, and where they are in their buying journey.

For example, if a prospect spends a significant amount of time on your pricing page, it’s a strong signal that they’re considering making a purchase but might need a little nudge to move forward.

Tools like RB2B can help you track and analyze this behavior. They use tracking pixels and cookies to monitor which pages visitors view, how long they stay, and what they click on. This gives you a detailed picture of their interests and actions.

Potentially Improved ROI

Retargeting tools can increase the effectiveness of your campaign and yield a better return on investment by focusing on the most promising prospects.

More than half of marketers see ROI as the go-to metric for judging the success of their retargeting campaigns. They believe retargeting directly boosts their bottom line. In addition, 40% of marketers are laser-focused on the returns they get from every ad dollar spent, using it as a key measure of success. 

Who to Retarget? And How to Retarget Them?

When retargeting, there are a few different ways to ensure you’re hitting your audience at the right time. Two of the main strategies are timing-based and behavior-based retargeting, and they can do a huge favor to your campaigns.​​​​​​​ 

The retargeting tools you use make it easy to implement these strategies, taking care of much of the work so your ads and emails reach the right people at the right time.​​​​​​​

Timing-Based Retargeting

Timing-based retargeting focuses on when a visitor last interacted with your website. The idea is simple: the more recent the visit, the higher the likelihood that the visitor is still engaged or interested in your offering.

For example, if someone visited your site a day ago, they’re likely still in the consideration phase and may respond positively to follow-up ads. This approach considers the visitor’s recent interest, making it a powerful tactic for nudging them toward conversion.

Behavior-Based Retargeting

Behavior-based retargeting involves tracking specific behaviors, such as the pages they visited, the time they spent on certain content, or whether they added items to their cart.

This data allows you to create highly targeted ads that speak to visitors’ interests and actions. By addressing what they were looking at or where they showed interest, you can craft messaging that resonates more deeply and potentially drives them back to your site.

Determining Who to Retarget

That said, relying on timing or behavior alone is closer to guesswork than to a data-driven decision. That’s why teams usually mix timing and behavior data.

Again, your tools can handle a lot of this for you, analyzing visitor data and setting up retargeting campaigns based on what you’ve already decided. But even with these tools, it’s still key to understand the basics of timing and behavior. Knowing these helps you create more effective campaigns and ensure your retargeting strategy connects with your target audience.

Best Practices for Website Visitor Retargeting

Omnichannel Is a Must

To borrow from Hubsell, “Grasshopping is the essence of a shopper’s journey these days. This zigzagging across multiple channels doesn’t just happen in retail but is also very much relevant for B2B buyers.”

Your prospects engage with different platforms in different ways, and if you only meet them through one channel, you’re missing out on potential opportunities to connect.

That’s when teams often go, “Okay. Let’s add another channel to our stack!”

But instead of stressing about adding more channels, focus on creating a seamless omnichannel experience. By bringing qualified website visitors into your existing channels, you keep your messages consistent and reach your prospects wherever they are.

Your Email Campaigns Need to Be Sharp, Especially In Outbound

Let’s say a visitor looked at a product page but didn’t buy anything. A well-timed email featuring a special offer or additional information about that product can nudge them to return and complete their purchase.

Ultimately, combining email campaigns with other retargeting efforts like advertising creates a well-rounded strategy that drives visitors back to your site and builds a stronger relationship with them over time.

Just one small thing…

According to an article by Business.com, “Email retargeting is successful because it is personalized, action-based and tempting to the customer.” Agreed, to an extent. We’d rewrite it: “Email retargeting is successful when it is personalized, action-based, and tempting to the customer.” 

Personalization makes your message relevant to the lead. Action-based content targets their specific behaviors/needs. And a tempting offer gives them a strong reason to engage right away. In outbound, that translates to success. 

Should You Outsource Website Visitor Retargeting?

Handling website visitors retargeting in-house can feel like a juggling act. Teams must handle everything from integrating tracking tools to setting up and fine-tuning workflows. What might start manageable can quickly become time-consuming and costly, potentially pulling focus away from your main business activities.

As your business grows, scaling your retargeting efforts can become challenging. The great news is that you don’t have to do any of that if you can outsource retargeting to a specialized partner like RevBoss. 

Here’s What Outsourcing Looks Like In Action

Using RevBoss Flows as an example, your retargeting journey would look like this…

• Integration: First, we set up a smooth connection between our platform and your favorite website visitor tracking tool, whether it’s RB2B, DealFront, or another B2B tool you prefer.
• Automation: Once that’s in place, we create custom automation workflows to directly channel your most qualified website visitors into our system. This way, you can automatically reach out to these visitors with personalized email campaigns without a consistent hands-on approach.
• Flow Creation: We also craft specific flows just for these prospects to ensure your messaging resonates, improving the chances of engagement and conversions.

As you expand (because you most likely will), our solutions adjust to manage more traffic and tackle more complex campaigns as they come. 

A Few Caveats About Website Visitor Retargeting

Website visitor retargeting can be incredibly effective, but it’s not always the perfect fit for every business. At RevBoss, we love to partner with our clients because no one knows their target audience and limitations like they do. 

We want our strategies to work like a charm for you, so to make the most of your time and investment, here are a few things you need to know:

Different Tools Serve Different Purposes

It’s important to pick a tool that aligns with your goals. If your main focus is advertising and retargeting, a platform like AdRoll is ideal – it helps you bring back potential customers through targeted ads across the web.

On the other hand, if you’re more concerned with sales prospecting and lead generation, especially in a B2B context, RB2B is a better fit. It automates finding and engaging with potential leads, allowing your sales team to focus on closing deals. Choosing the right tool depends on your aim, so think about where you want to make the biggest impact.

Minimum Visitor Threshold

For retargeting to be truly effective, you typically need decent traffic. Aiming for at least 1,000 to 2,000 unique monthly visitors is a good benchmark. With fewer visitors, your retargeting efforts might not produce enough data to be worthwhile or cost-effective.

Quality Over Quantity

It’s important to ensure that your traffic is relevant. If your site attracts visitors who aren’t part of your target audience, retargeting may not deliver the results you’re hoping for. Make sure your traffic sources align with your ideal customer profile to get the most out of your retargeting campaigns.

Budget Constraints

Effective retargeting requires a solid budget for both ad spend and campaign management. If you have a limited budget, you might want to focus on other strategies that offer a better ROI until you can allocate more resources to retargeting.

Privacy and Compliance Issues

Of course, it’s always worth mentioning that your retargeting practices should comply with data protection regulations like GDPR in Europe or CCPA in the US. Proper handling of visitor data is essential for maintaining trust and avoiding legal issues.

Close the Outbound Marketing Loop!

Pursuing new channels is awesome, but it’s important first to make the most of the traffic you already have. Before jumping into new marketing trends, focus on optimizing your current efforts.

Focused on earning more, better leads? Reach out to us at RevBoss, and let’s chat about how refining your website visitor retargeting can boost your reply rates and lead conversions.