6 Tips for Making the Most of Your Hubspot Retargeting Campaigns
Are you struggling to bring back website visitors who left without converting? You‘re in good company. According to Marketo, 96% of visitors leave websites without ever converting – a staggering amount of lost potential revenue.
That‘s where retargeting comes in. Retargeting, also known as remarketing, is a powerful tactic that allows you to keep your brand front-and-center as bounced visitors browse the web and social media. By serving targeted ads to people who have already engaged with your brand, you can dramatically increase conversions and ROI.
But not all retargeting campaigns are created equal. To get the most bang for your retargeting buck, you need a strategic approach tailored to your audience and goals.
In this post, I‘ll share six tips to optimize your Hubspot retargeting campaigns for maximum impact. Whether you‘re new to retargeting or looking to level up an existing program, these actionable insights will help you re-engage lost visitors and turn window shoppers into loyal customers. Let‘s dive in.
1. Segment your audiences for hyper-relevant ads
Audience segmentation is the foundation of any successful retargeting program. After all, a one-size-fits-all approach simply won‘t cut it when you‘re trying to re-engage prospects at different stages of the buyer‘s journey.
Hubspot‘s retargeting platform allows you to create granular audience segments based on a variety of on-site and off-site signals, including:
- Pages visited
- Time on site
- Scroll depth
- Frequency of visits
- Buyer persona data
- Email engagement
For instance, you could create separate retargeting segments (and ad creative) for people who:
- Bounced from your homepage
- Viewed specific product pages
- Added items to their cart but didn‘t check out
- Read your blog but didn‘t convert
- Previously purchased from you
By delivering unique messaging to each segment, you‘ll create a much more personalized ad experience. And it pays off – according to Google, 91% of consumers are more likely to shop with brands that provide relevant offers and recommendations.
Real-world example
L‘Oreal created 30 unique Facebook Custom Audiences based on products viewed, reaching 9 million shoppers with dynamically-generated retargeting creative. The hyper-segmented approach drove a 5.5X higher CTR and 65% lower CPA compared to generic retargeting.
2. Set smart frequency caps to avoid ad fatigue
Just because you can follow prospects around the web doesn‘t mean you should serve them the same ad over and over. Too high a frequency and you‘ll quickly turn people off – not only wasting spend but damaging your brand reputation in the process.
To mitigate ad fatigue, Hubspot allows you to set frequency caps that limit the number of times an individual sees your ads in a given time period. As a rule of thumb, aim to serve 5-7 retargeting impressions per prospect per week.
However, optimal frequency ultimately depends on the length of your sales cycle and audience intent. High-intent segments like shopping cart abandoners may benefit from a higher frequency to create urgency. Low-intent audiences should be retargeted less aggressively.
You can also use frequency caps to tell a sequential story with your ads over time. For instance, you might show one ad on days 1-3, another on days 4-6, and a final ad with a compelling offer on days 7-9.
Real-world example
Home goods retailer Wayfair increased its retargeting frequency from 3-5 impressions per week to 16-20 impressions per week for cart abandoners. The high-frequency approach drove a 10X increase in incremental revenue per customer.
3. Define campaign durations based on sales cycles
In addition to controlling ad frequency, you need to be strategic about campaign duration – how long you continue to retarget a given prospect before sunsetting ads.
A common mistake is setting retargeting campaigns to run indefinitely. This not only wastes spend but can seriously annoy your audience over time. Instead, align your campaign durations to your typical sales cycle:
- If most customers convert within 30 days of their first touch, cap retargeting at 30 days
- For longer consideration cycles (60-90+ days), set a corresponding retargeting window
- High-intent segments may benefit from longer retargeting to stay top-of-mind
You can also use Hubspot‘s custom duration settings to automatically adjust retargeting windows based on prospect engagement. For example, shopping cart abandoners could be retargeted for 15 days by default, but that window could extend to 30 days if they re-engage with your site or ads during that time.
Real-world example
Luxury watch retailer Crown & Caliber saw an 11% lift in conversions when extending retargeting duration from 30 to 90 days for high-intent shoppers. The brand used custom durations to align retargeting to its 45-90 day sales cycle.
4. Leverage burn pixels for converted prospects
When a prospect finally does convert, the last thing you want is to keep serving them the same retargeting ads. Talk about a waste of spend. That‘s where burn pixels come in.
Placed on your post-conversion page, burn pixels automatically untag converted prospects so you stop retargeting them with irrelevant creative. This not only saves you money but avoids a poor customer experience.
However, just because someone converts doesn‘t mean your retargeting relationship is over. You can still leverage retargeting to cross-sell complementary products, promote new releases, or announce seasonal sales. The key is updating your ad creative and targeting to reflect the person‘s customer status.
Hubspot‘s burn pixel implementation makes it easy to move converted prospects from one retargeting audience to another so you can continue the conversation post-purchase. This allows you to improve customer retention and lifetime value rather than solely focusing on net-new conversions.
Real-world example
After implementing burn pixels, eyewear retailer Optically saw a 4.6X increase in retargeting ROI. By automatically removing converted customers, the brand saved $8,000 per month in wasted ad spend while boosting revenue with smarter post-purchase retargeting.
5. Never stop A/B testing creative and copy
The success of your retargeting hinges on showing the right message to the right person at the right time. But nailing that perfect ad recipe requires continuous testing and optimization.
With Hubspot‘s A/B testing tools, you can experiment with different ad formats, images, copy, colors, and calls-to-action to see what resonates with each retargeting segment. Tests to try include:
- Animated vs. static creative
- Short vs. long ad copy
- Benefit-driven vs. feature-focused messaging
- Subtle vs. strong CTAs
- Including (or excluding) an offer or discount
Make sure to test one element at a time so you can accurately assess its individual impact. And always let tests run for at least 2-4 weeks before drawing conclusions to gather sufficient data.
Over time, regular A/B testing can substantially improve your retargeting click-through and conversion rates, not to mention your return on ad spend. Even small lifts in performance compound into big gains when you‘re retargeting thousands of prospects.
Real-world example
Ubisoft tested six unique ad creative variations for retargeting its Assassin‘s Creed game launch. The top-performing variant, featuring an image of the game‘s protagonist, drove 68% more clicks and 28% higher conversions compared to the control.
6. Refresh creative every 30-45 days
Even your best-performing ads will start to decay over time. The Hubspot ad you tested last month may drive stellar results at first, but rest on your laurels too long and ad fatigue will inevitably set in.
Combat creative fatigue by instituting a regular refresh schedule for your retargeting ads. A good cadence is rolling out new creative every 30-45 days, or 2-3 times per quarter.
This gives you a chance to test new ad formats, highlight different products or offers, and align creative to seasonal events or promotions. Regularly introducing fresh creative keeps your retargeting ads from getting stale and re-engages audiences from new angles.
In addition to full-scale creative refreshes, consider making small tweaks to your ads every couple of weeks – like updating a headline or swapping out an image. These minor facelifts can tide campaigns over between bigger overhauls.
Real-world example
Bonobos refreshes its Facebook retargeting creative every 30 days. By syncing ad updates to its new monthly product launches, the men‘s clothing brand keeps ads timely and engaging for returning visitors. The approach has driven a consistent 2-3X return on retargeting ad spend.
Conclusion
Retargeting is a marketing must-have for bringing back lost prospects and squeezing more revenue from your existing pipeline. But it‘s not a set-it-and-forget-it tactic. Maximizing your retargeting ROI requires continuous refinement and a willingness to test new approaches.
By following the six tips outlined in this post, you can build Hubspot retargeting campaigns that effectively re-engage visitors while delivering a seamless, personalized ad experience. To recap:
- Segment audiences for hyper-relevant ads
- Set smart frequency caps to avoid ad fatigue
- Define campaign durations based on sales cycles
- Leverage burn pixels for converted prospects
- Never stop A/B testing creative and copy
- Refresh creative every 30-45 days
Of course, this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Hubspot retargeting. As you optimize your campaigns over time, continue to test new tactics like sequential messaging, cross-channel retargeting, and suppression lists to home in on what works for your unique audience.
Ready to take your retargeting to the next level? Check out Hubspot‘s free guide: The Ultimate Playbook for Turning Lost Prospects into Closed Sales with Hubspot Retargeting. You‘ll learn advanced strategies for every stage of the funnel to maximize your impact.
With the right retargeting strategy and a commitment to ongoing optimization, the bounced visitors you‘re losing today could become your most loyal customers tomorrow. Now go get ‘em!
