RLSA and Customer Match: using smart segmentation for big wins

So we all know about RLSA (retargeted lists for search ads) and its ability to use Customer Match, but how many of us are actually taking advantage of it?

The big problem with RLSA Customer Match is that in order for it to really have an impact on volume and performance, you need to have a very large customer list.

To be specific, leveraging RLSA with Customer Match is only worth the effort if you have a list of customers larger than 50,000.

So let’s say you do have that size database. How do you actually use RLSA with Customer Match to make the most of your re-engagement efforts? It all starts with segmentation.

We’ll go into how to do that, then explain why creating a campaign for each segment is important (TL;DR: it allows you to customize messaging and landing pages).

Segment your audience

The first step is to smartly segment out your customer list. There are a couple of ways to do so:

1. Use Average Order Value: Segmenting out audiences by high AOV, mid AOV, and low AOV helps determine which audiences tend to purchase our more expensive, luxury/premium type products and those who go after the cheaper items.
2. Use gender-specific categories: If your customers have purchased men’s clothing, accessories, or products or women’s clothing, accessories, or products, make sure your segments reflect that.
3. Segment by brands/line of product: If you have certain types of brands or lines of products, you may want to segment customers out by the brand/product line they’ve purchased.

Now that you’ve segmented your customers, you can create an RLSA campaign for each audience segmentation. Take the AOV example above. Based on that segmentation, you would create three campaigns: RLSA_HighAOV, RLSA_MidAOV, RLSA_LowAOV.

Split out segmented campaigns to get creative and destination control

Everyone knows that RLSA reaches users with high intent, which means that higher bids are appropriate; you can do that by just layering RLSA on existing campaigns and applying bid modifiers.

So why go through the hassle of creating additional campaigns for RLSA efforts?

Well, the benefit of creating them in separate campaigns is achieving complete control over creative and the post-click experience – getting the ability to tailor creative to each segment you’d like to reach.

As an example, you know that high-AOV audiences performing a relevant keyword search have purchased more luxury products, so your messaging should be more geared around quality, design, or high-end products.

On the flip side, for a lower-AOV segment, you should consider messaging more around deals, discounts, and affordability.

So you have a more tailored creative experience for each audience segment. That’s great – this can help with bringing customers back onto your site. Now it’s time to also ensure you’re sending users in each segment to the most relevant page possible.

Again, taking the AOV example, you would want to send your higher-AOV audience to a page that shows the relevant product/category they are searching for (if you have multiple pages that fit the bill, send them to the page showing more high-end items).

For lower-AOV audiences, use a relevant product page with deals and discounts – or even direct them to a sale/clearance page.

If you have a large customer list, RLSA with Customer Match is a powerful re-engagement tool – but success starts with smart segmentation.

Good luck!

Sana Ansari is the General Manager of 3Q Accelerate.

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