How Incorporating Retargeting Messaging Increased Site Visit Rate by 766%
Are you looking for a display strategy to increase your site visit rate at a lower cost? Look no further than utilizing retargeting-specific messaging in your retargeting display ads.
Retargeting display ads are served to users who have visited a property’s website at least once before. We aimed to tailor our retargeting display ads to these returning users by replacing the generic headlines on our retargeting ads with “Still Interested?” as the headline instead. This specific messaging helped capture the user’s interest and motivated them to return to the site, and this is proven by the 766% increase in site visit rate for ads using retargeting messaging.
The Problem
Most advertisers know the value that retargeting audiences bring to their campaigns, but oftentimes, the messaging used with the retargeting audience misses the mark in successfully capturing the returning user’s attention.
We saw an opportunity to strengthen our retargeting display ad strategy, so we sought to find a solution. We decided to implement creative messaging that would allow us to better utilize the remarketing audience lists and capture the attention of more users who had previously visited our website.
The Solution
We ran an A/B test in one account to see if using retargeting messaging is the key to unlocking the full potential of retargeting audiences. We ran two variations of the retargeting display ad, one with “Still Interested?” messaging, and the other with “Leasing 1, 2 & 3 Bedroom Apartments”.
The Results
Ads with retargeting messaging versus ads with generic messaging. Data spanning across one account as of December 2020.
| Messaging Style | Site Visit Rate | Cost Per Site Visit | CTR |
| New Apartments | 0.12% | $0.72 | 0.07% |
| Still Interested? | 1.04% | $0.06 | 0.19% |
| % Difference | 766% | -91% | 171% |
Our main KPI for display is site visit rate, so we focused mostly on that metric for this test; however, as you can see we saw significant increases in site visit rate as well as cost per site visit and click-through rate in ads running retargeting messaging.
The Takeaways
After running the test for 3 months, we compared the performance of our retargeting-specific messaging to that of the generic messaging, and the results were clear. By using retargeting-specific messaging, advertisers can drive a significant increase in site visits at a lower cost per site visit because the user feels like the ad was tailored directly to them and it reminds them that they had previously visited the website and that they should return back to the site once again.
In conclusion, including retargeting messaging in retargeting display ads drastically improves performance in site visit rate, cost per site visit, and click-through rate. Needless to say, retargeting messaging in retargeting display ads is the ideal strategy for accounts looking to increase their site visits at a more efficient cost.
