The general consensus among marketers is that the average conversion rate for an ecommerce site is around 2-3%, meaning that most website visitors don’t become customers immediately. According to Digital Information World, 72% of online shoppers abandon their shopping carts before making a purchase, and only 8% of them return to complete their transactions.

The best way to increase the number of purchases is through retargeting (also known as remarketing)—a form of online advertising that helps businesses recapture lost customers. Digital Information World has discovered that website visitors who are retargeted with display ads are 70% more likely to convert.

If you don’t know how to drive conversions with retargeting, take a look at some of our best practices:

1. Refine your audience segments

Start by segmenting your visitors based on the way they interact with your website. For instance, people who visit your shopping page are more ready to buy than people who only visit your homepage. You will then be able to tailor your ads to address the specific needs of each segment. You can accomplish this in the following manner:

People who visit your homepage only: These people don’t fully understand what your business has to offer. As such, your remarketing efforts should focus on establishing your brand—to encourage customers to start looking at your shopping pages and content.
People who visit your shopping pages: Since these people are actively looking to purchase from you, take the opportunity to promote your products or services—to get them to buy.
People who read or download your content: These people are interested in what you have to offer, but not enough to commit to a purchase. Promote your content to showcase your industry-specific expertise.

2. Limit how often your audience is retargeted

To avoid annoying your site visitors with endless retargeting ads, be sure to set a limit on how often you are retargeting them. With Google AdWords, you can limit the number of times someone sees your ad per day, week or month. You can also include a conversion pixel on your shopping pages to avoid advertising the products or services your customers have already paid for. Setting these limits will not only keep your customers happy, but reduce your ad spend.

3. Keep your creative fresh

Not every ad will resonate with all your customers, which means that even if they are interested in your product or service, they may not convert due to an ineffective creative. To solve this problem, consider updating your ads on a regular basis. There are generally two ways of doing that—by showcasing a new benefit of your product/service or making a special offer. Here are several examples:

Benefit: Our cleaning solution is 50% faster than the competition!
Offer: Buy our solution now and get a free complementary bucket.

When it comes to offers, be careful not to overuse them since you may condition your customers to buy from you only when you make such offers. Mix up the two when possible, and you should have a winning recipe for success.