How to use purchase intent to increase promotion effectiveness
Understanding your customers is the key to success. If you do, you can ensure your promotions stand out and convert potential buyers into loyal customers.
This is where purchase intent comes in —a game-changing approach that leverages consumer behavior insights to tailor promotions, enhancing conversions and average spend per customer.
Why purchase intent is key to conversion optimization
Understanding purchase intent
At its core, purchase intent refers to the likelihood of a customer purchasing based on their behavior and interactions with your brand. It's not just about what your customers say they're interested in; it's about what their actions reveal.
This could be visits to specific product pages, the frequency of these visits, or the amount of time spent browsing particular sections of your site.
Understanding these signals allows you to predict and influence buyer behavior effectively.
Why it matters
Intent-based promotions have a proven track record of outperforming generic offers. This is because these promotions speak directly to the customer's current mindset, increasing the relevance and appeal of your offers.
By tapping into purchase intent, businesses can better align their promotional efforts with customer needs, boosting conversions and average order value (AOV).
Customer behavior insights
Tracking customer behavior is essential for building personalized offers. You can craft resonate promotions by analyzing visit frequency, product views, and time spent on site.
For example, a customer who frequently visits a particular product page may be more inclined to convert if presented with a limited-time discount or an offer highlighting the product's unique benefits.
How to leverage purchase intent for more effective promotions
Segment your audience based on intent
One of the first steps in leveraging purchase intent is segmenting your audience. Consider dividing customers into groups based on their behavior: browsers, add-to-cart users, or those who visit the checkout page but don't complete the purchase.
Creating targeted promotions for each segment allows you to address their needs and motivations.
Dynamic onsite offers
Use intent signals to trigger real-time promotions. Dynamic offers, such as exit-intent overlays or cart abandonment discounts, respond to shopper behavior at critical moments.
These timely interventions can significantly reduce the likelihood of potential customers leaving without making a purchase.
Real-time personalization
Tailor offers based on a user's product browsing history, purchase frequency, or basket size.
Showing customers relevant products or promotions enhances their shopping experience and increases the likelihood of a sale.
Actionable tips to increase conversions and spend per customer
Offer targeted discounts at key moments
Identify the optimal times to present discounts based on purchase intent. For instance, if a user lingers on a product page or appears ready to exit the site, a well-timed offer can make all the difference.
Consider triggering a 10% discount for users who add high-ticket items to their cart but hesitate to complete the purchase.
Cross-sell and upsell with intent data
Unlock opportunities for cross-selling and upselling using intent signals: present premium product options or complementary items just before checkout.
For customers with higher-value items in their cart, suggest premium upgrades or bundling options to maximize their purchase.
Use exit-intent promotions to capture lost sales
Exit-intent technology offers a last opportunity to engage users before they leave your site. An attractive offer, such as free shipping for abandoned carts, can recover 10-15% of these potential sales.
These strategies help retain potential revenue and convert hesitant visitors into paying customers.
Test and optimize promotions
Continuously improve your promotions by running A/B tests and multivariate testing. Experiment with different offers based on purchase intent to determine what resonates best with each segment.
Use real-time data to refine and optimize your approach, ensuring maximum engagement and conversion.
The role of data in improving purchase intent strategies
Track intent data
To gauge a shopper's intent, utilize data like traffic source, previous visits, pages viewed, and cart size. This information is invaluable in crafting personalized promotions that align with customer behavior.
Leverage AI and machine learning
Advanced tools such as RevLifter's intent model analyze customer behavior in real time, delivering personalized promotions at the right moment.
By considering factors such as traffic source, visit frequency, product views, time spent on site, and cart contents, our intent model allows you to target promotions at visitors who have high or low chances of buying (down to a % of likelihood to convert).
Measure the impact
Continuously monitor and analyze the results of intent-driven promotions by tracking key metrics such as conversion rate, AOV, and customer lifetime value.
The key to intent and eCommerce promotions is the savings from not showing the offer to everyone who was suppressed. We look at incrementality and the comparative savings compared to showing an offer to everyone.
