Since Google released Customer Match audiences, in which you can create lists of users based on their email addresses, advertisers have been using it in various ways to re-engage and nurture current, previous, and possible customers. These are just a few uses of the Customer Match lists that may be useful, yet not incredibly obvious. Or maybe they are. Either way…
Do You Even Remarket, Bro?
Several industries have products that are purchased over and over again. The supplement or nutritional foods sector is one such industry in which customers have the need to refill their proteins, vitamins, supplements, etc. For this particular use of Customer Match lists, GSP (Gmail Sponsored Promotions) and YouTube would be excellent channels to remind customers that a refill may be needed soon, or even now. Like right now. Like t-t-t-today, junior!
With both YouTube and GSP, advertisers could set up campaigns that target Customer Match lists of past purchasers as the targeted remarketing list. The key part to making these campaigns a success are:
- Add a previous converters list that covers purchasers over the past 30 to 60 days. This negative list time frame should reflect the time frame average people wait before refilling their supplies.
- The GSP ads should reflect copy that tests various calls to action such as “Getting Low?” or “Time for a Refill” or “Looking Good. Keep it Up!” Relevant copy is always key.
- Possible incentives in the GSP ad or in the YouTube video for past customers such as “10% off your next purchase!” may aid in making sure the customer comes back for more.
- Utilize mobile. Often times there is a lot of cross-device action with reminder type campaigns. Plus, if logging back into the website after a previous use is easy, mobile conversions may be strong due to quick refill order access.
Dominate the Inbox
Another cool Customer Match strategy is to service GSP (Gmail Sponsored Promotions) to your entire email list (or a specific portion) while also scheduling an organic/natural email to be delivered.
A common reaction to this is, “I’m already running a well-oiled email campaign. I don’t want to now pay for people to open emails when I am getting emails into their inboxes for free.”
Here are a few points to combat this concern and get started with Customer Match targeted emails.
- Think of it like the SERPs (search engine results page). Companies try to show up both naturally and through ads to dominate relevant search queries and SERP real estate. When more than 1 listing is covered by the same company, that company is more likely to achieve a larger percentage of the clicks in that space. Instead of say 1/10 listings, one could be in 1/5 of the listings. One can basically displace the possible competition and come off as more of an authority under that particular query.
- If you’re anything like me, you have a ton of promotional emails that naturally get emailed to you based on lists, services, and products you’ve used over the years. Often times I scan my emails but open very few. When a person has multiple emails from the same company in their inbox, they may be more likely to at least open one. Again, 1/25 (2/50) chance of getting an open is better than a 1/50.
- If all emails are deleted from a Gmail inbox, the natural emails don’t come back. New emails start to populate. You can have a GSP campaign run for an extended period of time and as soon as a user gets new emails (from anyone), your email can populate again.
Negative! Negative! Negative!
Going in another direction, to save on search investments in Google, advertisers could use the Customer Match lists as negatives to ensure certain users don’t unnecessarily click on ads.
An example of this would be if a gym chain, or major service provider, ran a comprehensive search campaign and they didn’t want current members to search for aspects of the service and then click on ads just to talk with support or look for random details. Updating the Customer Match lists on a weekly basis would be important to make sure the most recent and relevant users are being excluded.
