Importance of the Six-Month Repurchase Window
A study by Amazon and Kantar on outdoor recreation products found that 74% of repurchases occur within the first 6x months after purchase — see https://advertising.amazon.com/blog/outdoor-marketing-trends. With three-fourths of repurchasing behavior occurring during this key stage of the customer lifecycle, it’s vital for outdoor recreation advertisers to keep their brand top of mind with customers throughout this half-year period.
Leveraging Retargeting to Stay Top of Mind
Retargeting using paid digital media is often the most effective marketing strategy for outdoor recreation brands to stay in front of customers after a purchase. Retargeting is the digital technique where customers who have visited your website or ecommerce pages are shown your advertising across other digital media channels and websites. By retargeting across paid Search, Social, Display, Video, Native, and other formats an outdoor recreation brand can deliver persuasive advertising and offers directly to customers across each and every media touchpoint during the critical 6x month repurchase window.
Reaching New Customers Through Retargeting
Another advantage of retargeting is that it allows outdoor recreation brands to reach and reconnect with website visitors who have not made a purchase yet. Retargeting provides additional points of contact and exposure to your product, service, and more largely your brand, increasing the likelihood of conversion with those people who have already started the purchase process to some degree.
Placing Pixels for Data Collection and Audience Building
The first step for outdoor recreation brands interested in product retargeting is to implement a pixel on their website and/or ecommerce pages. Pixels are snippets of code that collect first-party data, allowing you to start building retargeting audiences based on visitor behavior. Outdoor recreation products can be marketed more effectively by tracking user interactions on specific product pages or categories, which helps brands understand what products are drawing the most interest. Implementing pixels across multiple platforms, channels, and web pages allows brands to gather a more comprehensive data set, creating opportunities to test and learn where product retargeting is most effective for different outdoor recreation products.
Testing and Learning Across Platforms
Pixels can be deployed on various platforms, including social media, search engines, and partner websites, enabling outdoor recreation brands to test product retargeting performance in different environments. By analyzing the performance across these channels, brands can determine which platforms are the most effective in driving engagement for specific outdoor recreation products. For instance, a hiking gear brand might find that social media retargeting performs better for their younger demographic, while search retargeting is more effective for experienced outdoor enthusiasts. This approach to testing allows brands to continually refine their retargeting strategies, making them more impactful and targeted.
Audience and Website Segmentation for Relevancy
Once pixels are in place and data collection has begun, it’s important for outdoor recreation brands to segment their audiences and websites to improve the relevancy of their product retargeting efforts. Different visitors may interact with various sections of the site—such as hiking gear, camping supplies, or water sports equipment—and segmenting these behaviors helps tailor ads to individual interests. By using website segmentation, outdoor recreation brands can deliver highly relevant ads to visitors who have shown interest in specific products, boosting engagement and conversions. Segmented audiences also provide insight into what types of outdoor recreation products resonate with different groups, further improving marketing efficiency.
Controlling Recency and Lookback Windows
In addition to segmentation, outdoor recreation brands should carefully manage their lookback windows when building retargeting audiences. Lookback windows determine how far back in time a user’s behavior is considered when retargeting them with ads. For outdoor recreation products, adjusting the lookback window can help align retargeting efforts with the consumer’s buying cycle. For example, customers shopping for seasonal outdoor gear, such as winter hiking boots, may need a shorter lookback window to stay relevant, while those researching high-end camping equipment might require a longer one. Controlling recency ensures that product retargeting efforts remain timely and aligned with user intent.
Managing Ad Frequency for Optimal Engagement
Finally, ensuring that your product retargeting ads are not over- or under-delivered is key to maintaining a positive brand experience. Frequency control prevents oversaturating your audience with ads, which could lead to ad fatigue, while under-delivering can result in missed opportunities to re-engage interested consumers. Outdoor recreation brands should pay close attention to ad frequency settings, particularly when promoting high-value or niche outdoor products. The goal is to strike a balance where ads are shown often enough to remind potential customers of their interest in your outdoor recreation products without becoming repetitive or intrusive.
If you would like to learn more about retargeting strategies and how Watauga can help, please contact us.
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