Most businesses only think about the getting the first click. But what happens in between? That’s where you lose most of your sales.
People forget. They get distracted. Something else piques their interest. Even people with every intention of coming back to buy rarely do. Unless you have a strategy for staying top of mind, you can’t expect them to remember you among the many things vying for their attention.
Why the Gap Between Visits Costs You Revenue
Think about your own browsing habits. How often have you gone to a site, looked around, and closed the tab with every intention of coming back only to completely forget about it? Probably way more than you’d care to admit.
It’s not that you weren’t interested. You just moved on to the next thing.
For businesses hoping to make that one sale, it’s all or nothing. With so many messages and distractions in people’s lives, unless someone actively makes a point of writing your business down, you’re lost in the noise.
The businesses that actually grow don’t make a huge splash on day one. They stick around and show up multiple times during people’s buying journey. They create enough touchpoints that when it’s time for someone to purchase something, they end up being the obvious choice.
What Actually Keeps You Top of Mind
Retargeting is super popular right now and for good reason. It works! The ability to show ads to people who visited your site before makes a ton of sense. They showed interest, so remind them.
But traditional display retargeting only works while people are actively visiting sites. Their web activity is basically the only time it reaches them.
This is where a push notification ad lets you reach people regardless of whether they’re browsing. They’ll see it pop up directly on their devices whether they’re browsing or not. The person who checked out your site three days ago? You can catch them again while they’re mindlessly scrolling through their phone at the grocery store, waiting in line.
Email can do the same thing, but people have to open it and look at it among all the other messages that are competing for their attention. Push notifications, when done right, don’t require users to go hunting for an email.
And that’s the part that really matters. Nobody wants notifications every hour on the hour. But nobody will complain about a nudge saying “hey don’t forget about this super cool thing you were interested in”.
Why One Channel Isn’t Enough
Here’s where all your eggs in one basket presents a challenge. Not every user interacts with the same channel the same way. Some check email religiously and will respond to an email months later if you need to. Some will ignore push notifications but respond well to emails with the same messaging. Others scroll social media constantly while others never look at their feeds unless they’re searching for something specific.
The businesses that actually grow don’t put all their chips on one spot. They diversify, using all methods available so they can catch people where they actually pay attention.
Social media can still do wonders if you’ve created a community around your brand with engaged followers. Regular posts and stories provide a reason for people to come back and check your brand out again. Make connections but don’t rely on it for everything though. Organic reach is declining steadily year after year, and you also never know what updates will disrupt traffic next week.
That’s why it matters to diversify your approach. Use retargeting ads. Use emails. Use push notifications. Use social media but don’t treat it as your only source of communication with users. Reach people in multiple places so people can reconnect without having to feel inundated by a single channel.
The Difference Between Being Seen and Being Annoying
There’s a fine line between being seen and being annoying. If all someone does is see “you” everywhere, people will come to hate you—the business equivalent of that person at a party who can’t take a hint. Timing and relevance matter.
Businesses should understand how to send different messages at different times rather than blasting the same generic message on multiple channels an hour after someone purchased something. Someone who left something behind in their shopping cart should receive an email within 24 hours or at least before they forget what they put in their carts in the first place.
A couple of days later, if they haven’t responded, they should receive a push notification as a nudge to come back and complete their purchase. The business that gets this right understands what works.
People who visit a site frequently might be best served by retargeting ads showcasing best-selling items or testimonials from others who benefited from these purchases.
Don’t try and reinvent the wheel either. Smart businesses use simple tools that identify the last time someone visited a site and adjust their outreach accordingly.
Staying Visible Without Becoming Annoying
Sustainable businesses understand that once a customer visits your site once, that relationship shouldn’t end there. It should continue throughout their buying journey until they complete their purchase.
Smart businesses build systems that let them stay top of mind without annoying users who may or may not be looking for excuses to buy from them.
Whether it’s retargeting, emails or push notifications, diversify your channels and focus on different platforms instead of putting all your eggs in one basket. The goal remains the same across platforms though—be there when people need you, done right, and you’ll reap the benefits.
Most of your revenue doesn’t stem from one perfect interaction but from users genuinely in need of a product who are adequately reminded of where they can buy this product/solution (without being annoyed).
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