Facebook Stalking Vs. Customer Stalking

                Facebook stalking is interesting, because even though you haven’t seen this person in ten years, you know that he now has two kids, he enjoys a Michigan summer and recently he had a bad case of the flu. It’s not like you necessarily want to talk or reconnect with this particular person, but you definitely want to know what they are up to. Moreover, you probably want to post fun pictures to let them know how cool your life is and what you have accomplished since your last meeting. Well, you should approach your online business in the same way as you would Facebook. You don’t necessarily need to be best friends, but you definitely want your customer to know what you are up to.

When it comes to business, it’s not nearly enough to just stick to word of mouth. There are a thousand other companies just like yours. They are doing the same thing you are doing and some of them might even be doing it better. You need to figure out how to separate yourself and blow your competition out of the water- that’s what we are here for. Our job is to learn all the tricks of the trade and one of my favorite tricks is stalking my customers until I get the sale. The best part is? They have no idea what’s happening. I don’t need to repeatedly call them. I don’t need to nag them. I’m just handing out hints so subtle, they don’t even know that I’m there. Have you ever noticed that if you do a search online; whether it’s on Google, Facebook, or Groupon, the following day you have a bunch of ads relevant to the previous day’s search? Well, as annoying as this is, it’s my favorite form of advertising. This is called remarketing.

Basically, remarketing lets you re-reach out to people that have recently visited your site, but didn’t make a purchase. If your customer is doing an online search, they have thousands of options. The minute they leave your website, what are the chances that they will come back to you- or even remember you? For example, what if you have a business that sells men’s dress shoes. Your customer Joe decides, “I like their shoes, but I still want to see what else is out there.” So, he spends the next several minutes going from website to website. By this point, you’re lost in the shuffle. So, Joe just picks out one random website, because he’s overwhelmed by his options. He buys the same pair of shoes he looked at on your website, but he bought it for more money, because he was tired of looking and already forgot about you.

Now, let’s say we implement our remarketing strategies. Joe has looked at your website for shoes, then starts browsing some other sites. Though, this time after he leaves your site, you can track where he’s going. Now, your ads can appear on your competitors websites showing him that you are 10% cheaper. Not only do you have the same products, but you are going to save him money. You can apply this principle to just about any business. How about an orthodontist? If you need a new orthondontist do you check out one doctor, or do you look at ten different websites? Well, what if when your potential patient leaves your website, you can track them. Now, no matter what website they go to they keep seeing an ad for your business. Except now, you are offering them 20% off for being a new customer. The continuous repetition subtly implants in their head, until they can’t remember any doctors name, but yours.