January 2024

Retargeting ads: Catch customers (and boost conversions!) on the rebound

Get this: For the average business, 92% of your website visitors land on your site, click through your pages, read about what you do, and maybe even hover over your Schedule Service or Get a Quote button, but don’t commit.

These site visitors may be interested in what you offer, but they’re not quite ready to make a final decision. And it’s a scenario particularly common in the home services industry, where big or high-cost decisions are rarely made on a whim.

Retargeting is an ads strategy that turns these missed conversions into sales

Retargeting is a focused (and cost-effective!) marketing strategy designed to reach the potential customers who interacted with your website or social media profiles, but didn’t end up booking your services. It keeps your brand name front-and-center for days or weeks after they considered your company—serving as a gentle reminder that when they’re ready, you’re right here.

Here’s how it works:

• Retargeting uses cookies or tracking pixels to ‘follow’ your audience around the web. When someone visits your site or social profile, a small piece of code leaves a tracker on their device.
• Later that day or week, the tracker signals back to your ad provider, telling it where the user is searching and scrolling.
• Your ad provider then sends your personalized digital ads directly to the websites the user is visiting. That way, no matter where they’re searching, your business name, seasonal special, or 5-star reviews pop up.

Retargeting is a way to reconnect with potential customers who have already shown an interest in your home services, which makes them especially likely to finish their booking or call your home services company when they’re ready to move forward.

Retargeting turns the ‘familiar’ into the preferred

At first glance, retargeting can seem counterintuitive. Why would repeatedly showing a lead ads for something they didn’t book end up increasing your bookings?

The answer is based on a psychological phenomenon called the mere-exposure effect.

According to this principle, the more we’re exposed to something—like your business’ name, your annual maintenance service, or even your logo or branded truck wrap—the more we develop a preference for it.

“Retargeting is a way to reconnect with potential customers who have already shown an interest in your home services, which makes them especially likely to finish their booking or call your home services company when they’re ready to move forward.”

When potential customers see that ad for your home services business again and again, not long after they intentionally browsed your website or scrolled your profile, they don’t just see it with fresh eyes. Each viewing increases their familiarity with your brand—and the likelihood they’ll choose your company when they need what you offer.

Retargeting, at its core, is all about relationships. It helps you build a lasting and valuable connection with the local customers who value what you do, have a problem you can solve, and want what you do.

Just how effective is retargeting?

About 23% of total digital ad spend goes to Facebook and Instagram ads. And for good reason! Retargeting campaigns on Facebook are 10x better at getting potential customers back to your website than typical digital ads appearing in front of an unaware audience.

Overall, potential customers who see retargeting ads are 70% more likely to end up choosing your service in the end. Considering just about 2% of website visitors convert into paying customers the first time they land on your site, retargeting can significantly improve your conversion rate—and your bottom line.

Retargeting is one of the most cost-effective and high-impact digital marketing strategies you can leverage because it funnels your advertising dollars not to a wide range of potential leads, but to the exact people who already considered your services, know your name, and need your help.

Try targeting for yourself, with end-to-end digital ad support from HomeBoost by MediaSpark.

Ad creation, media buying, and retargeting tracking are advanced digital marketing strategies for home services businesses ready to get in front of new leads—and the local competition. To talk about your ads strategy, and start catching your customers on the rebound, let’s connect!