Email remarketing is one of the most effective ways to re-engage potential customers, recover lost sales, and boost conversion rates.
By targeting users who have previously interacted with your ecommerce store — whether they browsed products, abandoned their cart, or made a past purchase — remarketing emails help bring them back and encourage action.
With the right strategies, businesses can automate personalized campaigns that increase engagement and maximize ROI.
This guide will cover the 10 best email retargeting practices — with examples — and we’ll also explore how Opensend’s user identity resolution can enhance email remarketing efforts.
Email remarketing is a strategy businesses use to re-engage potential customers who have interacted with their website or products but haven’t completed a desired action, such as making a purchase or signing up for a service.
Unlike traditional email marketing, which focuses on broad outreach, email remarketing targets specific users based on their behaviors, such as abandoned carts, past purchases, or browsing history.
This strategy relies on customer data to send personalized, automated emails designed to encourage recipients to return and complete an action. For example, an ecommerce store may send a reminder email to a shopper who left items in their cart, offering an exclusive discount to entice them to complete the purchase.
Email remarketing is widely used across industries, from retail and travel to subscription-based businesses, because it directly addresses customer intent. By leveraging behavioral data and segmentation, businesses can send relevant messages at the right time, improving engagement and increasing sales.
Email remarketing is a powerful tool for businesses hoping to re-engage potential customers and drive conversions. By targeting users based on their past interactions, businesses can create highly relevant and timely email campaigns that encourage action.
Here are some of the key benefits:
Remarketing emails help bring back users who have already shown interest in your products or services. Since these recipients are further along in the buying journey, they’re more likely to convert than first-time visitors.
For example, an abandoned cart email with a reminder or special offer can significantly increase the chances of completing a purchase.
Beyond recovering lost sales, email remarketing is also an excellent strategy for maintaining customer relationships. Personalized follow-ups, loyalty rewards, and re-engagement emails keep your brand top-of-mind, encouraging repeat purchases and long-term customer loyalty.
Subscription-based businesses, for example, often use remarketing emails to remind customers about upcoming renewals or exclusive offers.
Email remarketing campaigns are highly cost-effective compared to other marketing channels. Since they target users who have already interacted with your brand, they require less effort to convert compared to cold outreach campaigns.
With automation and personalization, businesses can optimize their email strategy to maximize revenue while keeping costs low.
A successful email remarketing campaign requires more than just sending reminders. To maximize conversions and engagement, businesses need to implement the right strategies to make emails relevant, personalized, and actionable.
Here are 10 best practices for effective email retargeting and examples of how they can be applied.
Not all potential customers should receive the same email. Segmenting your audience based on behavior, purchase history, or engagement levels allows for more targeted messaging.
For example, a customer who abandoned a cart may receive a different email than someone who browsed a product but never added it to their cart. Similarly, first-time visitors may require an introductory email, while repeat customers might respond better to loyalty offers.
Example: An online fashion store segments its audience into first-time visitors, cart abandoners, and previous buyers. It sends welcome discounts to first-timers, reminder emails to cart abandoners, and VIP loyalty rewards to repeat customers.
The truth is that generic emails don’t capture attention. Adding personalized elements — such as the recipient’s name, recently viewed products, or tailored recommendations — creates a more engaging experience.
Dynamic email content powered by customer data ensures emails feel relevant rather than mass-produced. This can include product recommendations, location-based offers, or past purchase reminders.
Example: A travel company sends personalized trip suggestions based on a user’s previous vacation searches, including specific flight and hotel recommendations.
The success of an email starts with the subject line. A compelling, curiosity-driven subject line can improve open rates, while a strong call to action (CTA) drives conversions.
Best practices include:
Example: An electronics retailer sends a subject line: “Only a Few Left! Complete Your Order Now” with a prominent “Return to Cart” button inside the email.
Using email automation ensures that retargeting emails are sent at the right time without manual effort. Triggered emails — sent when a user takes or fails to take a specific action — can greatly improve response rates.
Some common examples of triggered email campaigns include:
Example: A beauty brand automatically sends a follow-up email one week after a customer browses skincare products but doesn’t make a purchase, offering a 15% discount to encourage conversion.
Cart abandonment is one of the biggest challenges for ecommerce businesses, with nearly 70% of shoppers leaving items in their cart without completing checkout. Abandoned cart emails are an essential remarketing tool to bring customers back.
These emails should:
Example: A furniture store sends an email saying, “Still Thinking It Over? Get 10% Off Your Cart for the Next 24 Hours!” with a checkout button linking back to the customer’s cart.
Exclusive discounts, limited-time promotions, or free shipping can provide the final push customers need to complete a purchase.
Promotions can be tailored based on the customer's behavior. For example:
Example: A gourmet food subscription box emails returning customers to offer a free bonus item if they renew their subscription.
Leveraging data from past interactions helps refine remarketing emails. Businesses can analyze purchase history, browsing habits, and engagement levels to craft better-targeted campaigns.
For example, if a customer frequently browses athletic shoes but never purchases them, an email featuring the latest shoe releases with a small discount could encourage them to convert.
Example: A bookstore notices a user has been browsing bestsellers but hasn’t bought anything. They send a personalized email: “Love Bestsellers? Here Are Our Top Picks for You!”
Over 60% of emails are opened on mobile devices, making mobile-friendly design crucial for remarketing success. Emails that aren’t optimized for mobile can lead to lost conversions.
Some best practices include:
Example: A fitness brand sends a sleek, one-column email with a bold “Shop Now” button, ensuring a seamless mobile experience.
Testing different elements of your remarketing emails helps identify what resonates best with your audience. A/B testing can be used to compare:
Example: An online shoe retailer tests two subject lines: “Hurry! Your Favorite Sneakers Are Almost Gone” versus “Still Thinking About Those Sneakers?” and determines which generates more conversions.
Tracking and analyzing key email marketing performance indicators (KPIs) helps refine future campaigns.
Important metrics include:
Monitoring these metrics allows businesses to optimize subject lines, CTA placement, and email frequency for better results.
Example: A subscription box company notices its open rates drop when emails are sent on Fridays. They adjust their strategy to send emails on Tuesdays, and see an increase in engagement.
By implementing these best practices, businesses can create highly effective email remarketing campaigns that drive sales, improve customer engagement, and maximize ROI.
Opensend enhances email remarketing by identifying previously anonymous visitors and integrating them seamlessly with Klaviyo, Bloomreach, and ESPs. This allows businesses to retarget users precisely, automating data synchronization and audience segmentation to ensure emails go out to the right people at the right time.
Using real-time insights, Opensend helps businesses create highly personalized and effective remarketing campaigns.
Trailer Valet saw significant success using Opensend to transition non-subscribed visitors into Klaviyo, developing targeted workflows that improved customer engagement. As a result, they identified 59,930 visitors, generated $101,031 in revenue, and achieved a 7X return on investment.
Harmony Cruz, Director of Brand at Trailer Valet, shared her experience:
"Opensend has revolutionized how we connect with users, particularly those not subscribed to our email campaigns. Using Opensend, we’ve crafted effective workflows and effortlessly transitioned customers into Klaviyo, making it a highly effective acquisition tool."
With automated triggered campaigns, refined audience segmentation, and real-time data insights, Opensend enables businesses to improve email remarketing performance and maximize their return on investment.
Email remarketing is a powerful way to re-engage potential customers, increase conversions, and maximize return on investment.
By following best practices like audience segmentation, personalized messaging, and marketing automation, businesses can create highly effective campaigns that drive sales and customer retention. Tracking key performance metrics and optimizing based on insights further enhances results.
Opensend takes email remarketing to the next level by identifying website visitors, seamlessly integrating with Klaviyo, and automating remarketing workflows. With proven success in boosting engagement and revenue, Opensend helps businesses turn lost opportunities into loyal customers.
Ready to improve your email remarketing strategy? Schedule a demo or start your trial with Opensend today and discover how data-driven automation can transform your campaigns and drive measurable results.
Sources:
100+ Email Marketing Statistics for 2025 | Sixth City Marketing
15 Remarketing Statistics to Prove How Valuable It Is | WebFX
The Importance of Mobile Optimization: Ensuring Your Emails Look Great on Any Device | C&I Studios
Remarketing — what it is, how it works, and more | Adobe Experience Cloud
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