From Browsing to Buying: Effective Retargeting Strategies for Ticket Sales

September 30, 2023

Retargeting, also referred to as remarketing, is a way to exclusively advertise to people who have visited your website but did not make a purchase. This is a powerful online marketing strategy, which has been shown to increase conversion rates by 10% across all industries.

Despite its incredible results, retargeting remains an underused digital marketing strategy. A shocking fact, especially when we consider that 70% of online shoppers will abandon a website before completing a purchase.

When it comes to online ticket sales, driving awareness and interest is only half of the battle. This is particularly true for tourist attractions and experiences, where attendees must factor in logistical elements like travel time and location, or may be more sensitive to pricing.

Given these complexities, it’s essential to employ retargeting strategies to maintain consistent touchpoints with potential customers. This ensures that they move beyond considering the experience to completing a purchase.

In this post we’ll cover best practices for retargeting ticket buyers, including:

Building your retargeting strategy
Retargeting strategies for online ticket sales
Analyzing and optimizing retargeting campaigns

What is Retargeting?

Retargeting is a digital marketing strategy that uses targeted ads to follow-up on people who have previously shown interest in your website or mobile app.

Retargeting works by adding a small line of code to your website or app. This code puts a digital marker, like a tag, onto visitor’s devices – this is known as a cookie.

Through cookies you are able to collect and store customer data, such as what pages they visited, what products they looked at, and how long they spent on your site. This can then be used to create targeted marketing campaigns that are highly personalized.

With personalized data, you’ll be able to re-engage users who previously visited your website or interacted with your content, but may not have taken the desired action, such as signing up for a newsletter or completing a purchase. By showing them targeted ads based on their past interactions, you remind them of your offerings and encourage them to return. Retargeting is a powerful marketing tool that is proven to not only increase lead generation, but can also generate a 10x increase in click-through rate (CTR) and a 50% reduction in cost-per-click (CPC).

Building a Solid Retargeting Foundation for Ticket Sales

Establish & Quantify Your Goals

When it comes to retargeting, vague objectives like “increase ticket sales” won’t cut it. You need to be specific and measurable in your goal-setting.

Ask yourself, who exactly are you aiming to reach with your retargeting ads? Is it individuals who have merely visited your website, or those who have initiated the checkout process but didn’t complete it? Are you targeting a broad spectrum of website visitors, or focusing on those in a specific geographic area?

Statistics show that personalized marketing strategies can increase revenue by up to 25%. Therefore, it’s crucial to identify your target demographic before crafting your ad content and copy. What message will resonate with them? What will compel them to revisit your site and complete a purchase? The answers to these questions will guide your retargeting strategy.

Select Your Platforms

Retargeting campaigns can be set up on a variety of advertising platforms, such as Google Ads, Facebook, and Instagram. There are even services like AdRoll & PerfectAudience that utilize many different retargeting networks at once within one interface. Each platform has its own set of features and audience demographics, so choose the ones that align best with your target market.

Add Tracking Pixels to Your Website

Tracking pixels are small pieces of code that you add to your website to identify visitors and track their actions. These pixels are essential for retargeting because they help you understand who visited your site and what they did there.

Using CartStack: If you’re using CartStack for your retargeting efforts, locating your tracking code is straightforward—just head to the Setup page on your CartStack dashboard.

Using Google Ads: In Google Ads, you can generate a tracking pixel by going to the “Tools & Settings” menu, then selecting “Conversions.” Here, you can create a new conversion action and get the tracking code to insert into your website.

Using Facebook: For Facebook retargeting, you’ll need to use the Facebook Pixel. You can create one through the Facebook Ads Manager and then add the generated code to the header section of your website.

Running multiple retargeting campaigns targeting different customer segments? Google Tag Manager can be your best friend. It allows you to manage various tracking pixels, codes, and tags for each of your campaigns, keeping everything organized and easy to analyze.

Craft Compelling Retargeting Ads

The success of your retargeting campaign hinges on the quality of your ads. Design visuals and copy that not only catch the eye but also align with the theme of the event you’re promoting.

Create a sense of urgency and FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) to encourage quick action. Phrases like “Limited Seats Available” or “Last Chance to Buy” can be incredibly effective.

Dynamic retargeting takes this a step further by showing ads relevant to the visitor’s browsing history. For example, if someone was looking at tickets for a rock concert on your site, dynamic retargeting would show them similar events, making the ads more personalized and, therefore, more likely to convert.

Features of Top-Performing Retargeting Ads:

Clear, concise, and eye-catching call-to-action (CTA)
High-quality images of the event or attraction
Relevant and engaging copy that speaks to the target audience
A sense of urgency, often conveyed through limited-time offers or countdown timers
Personalization elements, such as the viewer’s name or previously viewed items

Effective Retargeting Strategies for Ticket Sales

Email Marketing for Abandoned Cart Recovery

One of the most effective retargeting strategies is to focus on abandoned cart recovery through email marketing. Here’s how to do it:

Collecting Email Addresses: Use website pop-ups and lead magnets to collect email addresses from visitors. This gives you a direct line of communication to potential customers.

With a robust and targeted email list at your disposal, you’ll be able to increase conversions by up to 26%, as email retargeting has been shown to be one of the most effective methods for converting abandoned carts into completed purchases.

Crafting Persuasive Emails: Once you have their email, send out abandoned cart recovery emails that are designed to entice the customer back to complete their purchase. Use persuasive language and compelling visuals to make your case. To further drive conversions, consider offering incentives like a 10% discount or a last-minute deal exclusive to the email recipient.
Personalized Recommendations: Go a step further by including personalized recommendations in the email. Showcase similar events that the customer might be interested in to increase the chances of a conversion.

personalized product recommendations ticketing

Social Media Retargeting

Social media channels are a popular platform for retargeting, with 80% of small to medium-sized businesses and 73% of enterprises focusing their retargeting efforts here.

Integrating Retargeting Pixels: Add retargeting pixels to your social media platforms to broaden your reach and collect valuable data on user interactions.
Campaign Platforms: Run your retargeting campaigns on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to reach a wide audience.
Engagement: Don’t just rely on ads; engage with potential customers through social media interactions. Respond to comments, share user-generated content, and create retargeting ads that encourage dialogue.

Dynamic Remarketing with Display Ads

Dynamic remarketing takes your marketing efforts to the next level by customizing each individual ad based on a user’s previous interactions. Have you ever experienced that eerie moment when an ad for a product you were recently searching for pops up? That is dynamic remarketing in action.

These ads are highly personalized, and use the Google Display Network to appear on websites other than your own. When someone visits a website that participates in Google’s ad network, they may see targeted ads for events and attractions they viewed on your site.

Benefits:

Reach: Dynamic remarketing can boost event ticket sales by showing potential customers the exact events they showed interest in, even on other websites!
Personalization: Use dynamic display ads to showcase upcoming events that align with the customer’s previous browsing history.
A/B Testing: Continuously optimize your display ads through A/B testing. This allows you to understand what elements of the ad are driving conversions and what can be improved.

Source

Tailoring Landing Pages for Retargeting

A well-crafted landing page can significantly impact the success of your retargeting campaign. Here’s how to optimize it:

Dedicated Landing Pages: Create landing pages specifically designed for your retargeting campaigns. These should align closely with the ad content to provide a seamless user experience.

Personalization: Customize the landing page content based on the visitor’s previous interactions with your site. This could mean showing them events similar to those they’ve viewed before.
Clear and Compelling CTAs: Use clear and compelling calls-to-action (CTAs) to guide the visitor toward conversion. Whether it’s “Buy Now” or “Learn More,” make sure your CTA is front and center.
Social Proof: Adding testimonials and reviews to your landing page can provide the social proof needed to reassure potential attendees. As much as 63% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase from a brand that includes product ratings and reviews on their website. This can be particularly effective for first-time visitors who may be hesitant to make a purchase.
Sense of Urgency: Incorporate elements like countdown timers to instill a sense of urgency. This can encourage visitors to take action quickly, boosting your conversion rates.

By incorporating these elements, your landing page will not only be tailored to your retargeting campaign but also optimized for conversions, making it a powerful tool in your marketing arsenal.

Analyzing Retargeting Performance and Optimization

Retargeting is not a set-it-and-forget-it strategy; it requires ongoing analysis and optimization to ensure you’re getting the best return on your investment. Here’s how to go about it:

Tracking Key Performance Metrics

The first step in analyzing your retargeting campaign’s performance is to track key metrics such as click-through rates (CTR), conversions, and return on investment (ROI). These metrics give you a quantitative understanding of how well your campaign is performing.

ROI: Return on investment is the most critical metric for most marketers. It tells you whether the money you’re spending on retargeting is leading to a profitable return.According to a survey, 60% of marketers reported being moderately satisfied with their ability to measure ROI of their retargeting campaigns, while 27% said they are extremely satisfied.
Click-Through Rates (CTR): This metric tells you the percentage of people who clicked on your ad after seeing it. A higher CTR generally indicates that your ad is resonating with your audience.
Conversions: This is the ultimate goal of your retargeting campaign. Whether it’s ticket sales, sign-ups, or another action, tracking conversions helps you understand the effectiveness of your campaign.

Identifying Bottlenecks and Areas for Improvement

Even the best-planned retargeting campaigns can have bottlenecks or areas that need improvement. It could be the landing page, the ad copy, or even the timing of the ads. Identifying these areas is crucial for ongoing optimization.

Landing Page: Are visitors dropping off at the landing page? Maybe it’s not compelling enough or doesn’t match the ad’s promise.
Ad Copy: If your CTR is low, perhaps your ad copy needs tweaking. A/B testing can help identify what resonates with your audience.

Making Data-Driven Adjustments

Once you’ve identified potential bottlenecks and areas for improvement, the next step is to make data-driven adjustments to your campaign.

A/B Testing: Run A/B tests to compare different versions of your ads or landing pages. This will help you understand what elements are most effective and should be included in your campaign.

Audience Segmentation: If certain demographics are responding better to your ads, consider creating specialized campaigns targeting those groups.
Budget Allocation: Use your ROI and conversion data to allocate your budget more effectively. Put more money into high-performing ads and less into those that aren’t converting.

By continuously analyzing and optimizing your retargeting campaigns, you’ll not only improve performance but also maximize the effectiveness of every dollar spent.

Conclusion

Retargeting, or remarketing as it’s also known, is more than just a buzzword in the digital marketing landscape; it’s a proven strategy with the power to significantly boost conversion rates.

With 70% of online shoppers abandoning their carts before making a purchase, the need for effective retargeting strategies is more critical than ever. The complexities of selling tickets for events that involve logistical considerations like travel and location only add to the urgency of employing a well-thought-out retargeting campaign.

So, if you’re in the business of selling tickets online, retargeting should not just be an option; it should be an integral part of your digital marketing strategy.By implementing the best practices and strategies discussed in this post, you’ll be well-equipped to not only reach your target audience but also convert them into loyal customers. So why wait? Start building your retargeting campaign today by signing up for CartStack’s free trial – you’re guaranteed to recover $1000 in revenue in just 14 days!