When I go to bed every night, I have to set about five alarms for the morning.
I'm just the type of person that needs a lot of reminders to wake up on time.
In a similar vein, marketers use reminder advertising to stay top-of-mind with potential customers.
And it makes sense.
In the world of sales, 80% of sales require 5 follow-up calls after a meeting. For marketers, it's no different.
Essentially, you have to nurture and continuously remind your audience who you are to convert leads.
In fact, companies excelling at lead nurturing generate 50% more sales-ready leads at 33% lower cost.
Below, let's learn more about reminder advertising and see what it looks like in action.
Reminder advertising is a paid method of marketing that targets people in your audience who are in the consideration stage of the buying process.
During this stage, users are reviewing their options. They're aware of their problem and the companies that might be able to help them. Now, they're trying to figure out which solution is the right way to go.
In this stage, it's important to stay at the forefront of your audience's mind. That's where reminder advertising comes in.
Another way to use reminder advertising is if you own a retail or ecommerce store. With a reminder ad, you can inspire customers to buy more products from you.
In this case, reminder advertising can help customers remember that they like your store and products.
Additionally, you can use reminder advertising when you're at the end of the product life cycle. For example, if a product has launched and you're done with the growth phase, then you can use reminder advertising to keep people interested.
At this point, you might've noticed that this type of advertising doesn't introduce a new product. Instead, these ads are targeted at customers who are already aware of your brand and the products you offer.
Also, these types of ads won't contain a lot of information. Rather, they'll just reinforce key messages and brand awareness. For instance, while you might include brief testimonials, usually just the name of the brand and product with a visual is enough.
The objective is to hopefully serve as a reminder for potential customers and increase demand for your product or service.
So, what tactics can you use for reminder advertising? Let's take a look at a quick list below.
- Retargeting: Retargeting is when users who were on your website or social media page start seeing ads for your company on other pages they visit online. The whole point of retargeting ads is to remind customers of a product or service they were looking at and didn't buy. Retargeting is essentially a targeted reminder ad.
- Abandoned cart emails: If a potential customer is on your website, adds a product to their cart, but doesn't complete the purchase, you don't want to lose that sale. To get them to complete their purchase, you can send them an abandoned cart email and remind them that they have items in their cart they may want to buy.
- Email newsletters: An email newsletter is a great way to stay top-of-mind with your customers. If you're regularly sending them valuable information and perhaps including special offers, they'll be more likely to purchase from you.
- Display ads: Display ads on Google or Facebook are another excellent option for reminder advertising. You can create a reminder ad that can help reinforce brand awareness.
- Content: One of the best ways to keep your brand in your audience's mind is to produce content on your website and social media. If someone sees your posts on social media or on your blog, they'll have you in their mind when it's time to purchase.
Now that we know more about reminder advertising, let's look at some examples.
Reminder Advertising Examples
1. Coca-Cola
Since Coca-Cola is an established brand, any ad that isn't aimed at a new product launch serves as a reminder ad.
Take the ad below, for instance.
In this ad, Coca-Cola isn't introducing any new product. All they're doing is trying to remind you that their brand exists and you might be thirsty.
This is a great reminder ad because you're probably not thinking about Coke all day. By seeing these types of messages, you're more likely to purchase a Coke the next time you can.
2. Zillow
Zillow is another brand that benefits from reminder advertising. With Zillow, you can look to buy or rent a new apartment, condo, or house. However, people don't make these big purchases all the time. Instead, Zillow needs to rely on reminder ads so their audience chooses Zillow when it's time to buy a new house.
In the ad below, even the tagline reads, "When you're ready for a change, we're ready to help."
This is a great example of a reminder ad. This shows that Zillow isn't trying to show you anything new, but rather remind you that they'll be there when you're ready to buy a house.
3. McDonald's
Again, McDonald's is a globally recognized brand. If they aren't launching a new product, almost any ad you see from them is a reminder ad.
In this McDonald's ad, the company isn't trying to launch any new menu items or tell you about something new.
Instead, they're just reminding you that the company exists. And hopefully, they made you hungry enough to go buy some French fries.
Ultimately, reminder ads are a great way to stay top-of-mind with your audience. Since most people need to come in contact with your brand several times before they purchase, reminder ads are an excellent way to convert leads.