Retargeting, Databases & Washing Machines

Photo credit: Đạt Lê (Flickr)

Last week I talked to you about product retargeting and I got several interesting comments, so I thank everyone for those. This time, I would like to talk about how retargeting could be combined with shopping databases and e-mail.

Recently I’ve been thinking about something I heard in my database marketing class back home at Hull University. We were told about companies that could utilize their shopping databases to such a granular level, that if you bought a pregnancy testing kit from Boots (think of a high-end Walgreens) then nine months later, you would be sent a discount book for baby products from their partner companies. This level of detail and planning really amazes me.  Yes, we know that not everyone would have tested positive on the pregnancy test, but it does provide a more targeted demographic to which offers can be directed. This could be taken even further by testing different offers based on geographic and demographic factors.

I was trying to think how we could update this simple concept for the digital world and I thought of combining e-mail marketing with retargeting. Imagine this scenario: you buy a washing machine and 11 months later, just as your warranty is about to expire, you start to experience problems with the machine. While you are worried about having to buy a new machine, you receive an email letting you know that you have the option of extending your warranty, which would be a lot cheaper than buying a new machine, but you only have 15 days in which to do so. I know that I would probably buy the warranty at this point; however, day-to-day life can take over, which means you quickly forget. As you search the internet, you are served ads that remind you that you are able to extend your warranty for a cheaper price than buying a new machine. A countdown clock could even be included, which shows you when the offer expires.

I think this could result in a vastly increased number of warranty purchases and probably would mean an increased lifetime value per customer as they are less likely to buy a new machine from elsewhere.

Do you think that this would generate more warranty sales?

Would it cause annoyance?

Do you sell home appliances; would this work for your industry? Can you think of other examples where this would work? Let me know.

Tagged as: database, e-mail, marketing, retargeting, shopping

This article is from Andrew Freeman

Andrew is Sitewire's resident Englishman, having immigrated to the US in April 08. He holds the record for fastest transition from intern to employee at under 3 weeks. He's known for his knack at negotiating media buys and his eye for ROI.

Andrew has written 17 posts.