How to Use Email Retargeting To Retain Customers (2024)

Customers abandon their online shopping carts for all kinds of reasons: The timing may be off, they may need more information, or they might get distracted. That’s why ecommerce brands rely on email retargeting to supply a little nudge to turn online window shoppers into paying customers.

Email retargeting helps you re-engage website visitors with personalized messages that are impossible to ignore. Here’s how it works and when to use it.

What is email retargeting?

Email retargeting is an ecommerce marketing tactic where brands send emails aimed to reengage individuals who interacted with your brand but didn’t follow through with the desired action, like making a purchase. The strategy allows you to communicate with customers whose contact information you’ve already gathered in subscriber lists and to create personalized campaigns using their behavior as triggers. This results in hyper-personalized remarketing tactics that convert.

How email retargeting works

Website behavior is commonly tracked through browser cookies (data stored on the customers’ devices), which track browsing history. For deeper insights, you can also supplement cookie data with third-party tools that monitor social media engagement or use tracking pixels, tiny invisible images used to track email opens and engagement. Email retargeting uses this customer data to create personalized email marketing campaigns.

Note that unlike retargeting in digital advertising, which targets anonymous visitors, email retargeting can only reach people already on your email lists. While it may have a smaller reach, email marketing gives you a direct line to customers who have already shown interest through subscribing, making it more effective at driving conversions with a 36:1 return on investment, on average.

When to use email retargeting

Successful email remarketing emails hit the right person with the right message at the right time. Here’s when to use email retargeting:

Cart abandonment

The internet is full of distractions. Email retargeting is your chance to remind shoppers about something they’ve shown interest in and direct them back to their abandoned carts.

There are different types of cart abandonment. Users may abandon their cart at checkout, the final step before purchase, or leave after browsing a product (browse abandonment). Each scenario warrants its own targeted email campaign.

When planning your abandoned cart email, consider why the user might have dropped off. For instance, do you have surprise shipping fees at checkout? You might offer them free shipping to mitigate sticker shock. Small perks like this can encourage people to come back and keep shopping.

Common reasons users stop browsing include indecision, distractions, or price concerns. A small nudge reminds users of their shopping session and can help motivate them to complete their purchases.

Post-purchase upsell

A major advantage of email retargeting is the ability to create audience segments based on their actions and use that data to cross-sell or upsell. For example, you can send follow-up emails offering complementary products with free shipping if purchased before the original order ships, or entice customers back with a discount for their next purchase.

Email retargeting is key in driving repeat purchases, positively affecting customer lifetime value (LTV) and retention. This is especially handy for infrequent purchasers. Businesses commonly use Meta’s ad platform for remarketing using a Meta pixel—a piece of code placed on a website to track purchasers and optimize advertising efforts on Meta platforms—but Meta has a limit of 180 days of data. This means if the purchase was over 180 days prior, email retargeting is your best option.

Lead nurture

Lead nurturing is the practice of developing and maintaining relationships with potential customers (known as leads) throughout their journey. When someone fills out a form but hasn’t made a purchase, email retargeting can help lead them through your sales funnel.

For example, in a business-to-business (B2B) setting, you might see that a prospect early in the buying process downloaded your white paper. You can retarget them with an email linking directly to the asset, then follow up with content relevant to their interests. This can strengthen their relationship with your brand and increase the likelihood of conversion when they’re ready to purchase.

How to use email retargeting

Email retargeting campaigns can help you recover lost sales and improve conversion rates. But it only works if you use customer data well. Here are some email retargeting best practices to help you run your retargeting campaigns:

Collect and match customer data

Every email address—and the consent to contact—is a chance to enrich your data and nurture leads through your funnel.

Track each email submission with a Meta pixel from your Meta Ads Manager and add it to your email database. Meta will provide a snippet of code that you can place in the section of your website so it loads on every page. Meta can then match the people in your email list with their social media profiles.

The sooner you start collecting email addresses, the faster you can gather historical data for remarketing to ensure you aren’t missing out on customer insights or advertising opportunities.

Send relevant, personalized email campaigns

Meet your customers where they are in their buying process. To do this, align your messaging strategy with the different stages of the customer journey, from first learning about your business to making a purchase.

For example, someone who just found your business might get a welcome email, while someone who adds products to their cart but doesn’t check out would get an abandoned cart email. Offers catered to the customer’s decision stage—such as discounts, online reviews, free gifts, and testimonials—can help bring them back to complete the deal.

Make your retargeting campaigns a positive experience

While many may not grasp the nuances of retargeting in marketing, most people today are aware that they’re being tracked online—and not everyone is comfortable with it.

Subtlety is your friend. Avoid directly stating that you’re targeting recipients because they’re on your list. Create a helpful experience rather than one that feels forced by the fact they gave their email.

For example, instead of saying, “We’re reaching out because you’re on our email list,” focus on providing value. If the customer was browsing tennis shoes, you could say, “Based on your recent interest, we wanted to share this special offer with you,” and provide a discount for the tennis shoe they were looking at.

Avoid overwhelming customers

When adding someone to your email retargeting campaign, exclude them from other marketing emails and prospecting activities so there’s no overlap. The messaging in your email retargeting strategy should be the most personal and relevant content. To prevent ad fatigue, implement frequency caps if you’re pairing emails with retargeted ads.

Isolate campaigns to measure performance

Isolate your retargeting campaigns from other campaigns to better understand their effectiveness. This way, you can focus on the specific actions users take—like abandoning carts or reviewing products—and ensure that your emails reach the right audience.

Key email marketing metrics to measure include:

• Open rate
• Click-to-open-rate (CTOR)
• Conversion rate
• Unsubscribe rate
• Spam complaint rate