The digital marketing industry is ever-evolving with brands constantly exploring innovative ways to reach their audience and drive conversions. One such strategy that has proven to be a game-changer is in-app advertising and retargeting. But did you know that in-app advertising (IAA) can also supercharge other elements of a brand’s omnichannel marketing strategy, such as push notifications and email campaigns?

In this article, learn how in-app retargeting campaigns can add value to other elements of a brand’s digital marketing strategy.

The Omnichannel Advantage

In today's digital landscape, users interact with brands across multiple touchpoints, from social media to mobile apps and websites. This shows the necessity of a omnichannel marketing strategy, or a customer-centric approach in which all of a brand’s channels are integrated so a customer has a unified and consistent experience across channels. Even the term “omnichannel” spells it out. “Omni” means “all,” and “channel” refers to the many ways customers might interact with a company—whether in brick and mortar store locations, by surfing its website, scrolling through their social media pages, reading an email, downloading an app, or tapping on a push notification.

Why invest in in-app retargeting alongside multiple channels? Here are some compelling reasons:

  1. Enhanced User Experience: Users today expect a seamless experience across platforms. When your in-app ads align with other channels, you're providing users with a cohesive journey that feels personalized and fluid.

The value of in-app retargeting 

In-app retargeting re-engages users who have previously interacted with your app or brand but may have become dormant or dropped off before converting. It's a data-driven approach that not only unlocks the huge market potential of in-app advertising, but also leverages users to deliver highly personalized and relevant content or offers. What’s more, this strategy capitalizes on the fact that it's often easier to re-engage existing users than to acquire new ones.

Need more evidence of the value of in-app advertising and retargeting? Check out these stats:

How to enhance your omnichannel marketing strategy with mobile app retargeting

Audience Segmentation: The First Step

For a successful alignment of in-app retargeting with other channels, audience segmentation is the cornerstone. Segmentation is the process of categorizing your user base into distinct groups based on specific criteria. This segmentation not only enhances the relevance of your messages but also enables you to tailor your content and promotions to different user segments.

Here are key considerations for effective audience segmentation:

  1. High-Value Actions: Start by identifying the high-value or high-engagement actions within your app that you want to encourage. These actions serve as the blueprint for your segmentation strategy.
  2. Event Tracking: In-app event tracking is essential for understanding user behavior. It allows you to monitor user interactions within your app, such as product views, registrations, or purchases. This data is invaluable for crafting personalized retargeting messages.
  3. Behavioral Insights: Consider your users' behavior within your app. Are they inactive, potential upsells, heavy shoppers, or yet to complete conversions? Each segment may require a unique approach.
  4. Timing: Analyze your user's journey within your app using funnel analysis. Identify pain points and where users drop off. Use this data to retarget users at the right time and guide them through the conversion funnel.

Ways to segment your customer base

Once you’ve considered the previous details, start categorizing your customers into distinct buckets. Here are a few example categories you can get started with.

  • Inactive users: These users have been inactive in your app for a certain window of time. Communications to these users should aim to remind them of your brand’s app to prompt a reopen.
  • Lapsed users: These customers are recently active but may have abandoned their shopping cart or dropped off before converting. Messaging should encourage users to return to your app and fulfill their conversion potential, whether their cart is full or they haven’t completed their registration.
  • Medium-potential users: Users that are active but non-paying. Messaging should aim to show users the benefits of upgrading their membership (if subscription based), or making a purchase.
  • High-potential users: These users are active, repeat customers. Messaging should aim to drive repeated conversion by promoting new and relevant products.

Aligning your brand’s messaging across channels

You might be thinking “I already retarget customers with push notifications and emails. Why do I need to invest in another channel?” Here are some ways that in-app retargeting can complement and enhance your existing marketing strategies.

Push Notifications

Your brand is likely already retargeting users with push notifications, which are a powerful tool for reaching your audience with timely messages. However, too many irrelevant or untimely notifications can lead to user opt-outs or, worse, app uninstalls. In-app retargeting can help refine and enhance your push notification strategy.

  1. Segmented Messaging: In-app retargeting allows you to segment your users based on their behavior within your app. This segmentation can be used to tailor your push notifications. For example, if a user has shown interest in a specific product category via a retargeted ad, you can send them push notifications related to those products, increasing the chances of conversion.
  2. Reactivation Campaigns: For users who haven't engaged with your app recently, in-app retargeted ads can be aligned with push notifications to remind them of the benefits of your app or enticing them with special offers. These gentle reminders can reignite interest and bring users back into the fold.
  3. Personalization: Personalization is the key to successful push notifications. In-app retargeting helps you gather data on user preferences and behaviors, enabling you to send highly personalized notifications that resonate with individual users.

Email Campaigns

Email marketing remains a cornerstone of digital marketing. In-app retargeting can provide the data and insights needed to supercharge your email campaigns.

  1. Behavioral Insights: In-app retargeting data, such as user interactions and preferences, can be integrated with your email marketing platform. This enables you to send emails that align with a user's recent in-app activities, increasing relevancy and engagement.
  2. Abandoned Cart Recovery: When a user abandons their cart within your app, in-app retargeting can trigger an email follow-up. This email can include a gentle nudge, offering a discount or highlighting the products left behind. This approach often leads to cart recovery and conversions.
  3. Drip Campaigns: In-app retargeting data can help you design effective drip email campaigns. These campaigns deliver a series of targeted emails over time, gradually guiding users toward a conversion. Whether it's a free trial, a purchase, or another desired action, drip campaigns keep users engaged and informed.

Takeaways

In-app retargeting campaigns can refine and enhance other elements of a brand’s marketing to create a robust omnichannel marketing strategy optimized for conversions. Here’s how:

  • Push Notifications: Combine in-app retargeting with push notifications for segmented, reactivation, and personalized messages.
  • Email Campaigns: Enhance email campaigns with behavioral insights, abandoned cart recovery, and drip campaigns to boost engagement and conversions.
  • Personalization: Leverage in-app retargeting data for highly personalized marketing across all channels.

 

Take your brand’s omnichannel marketing strategy to the next level. With in-app retargeting you can create an omnichannel strategy that reminds your best customers of your brand, inspiring consistent engagement and purchases. Reach out to our team to get started.