Don't miss interesting news
Imagine you’re launching an advertising campaign. The budget is going, the CTR looks decent, the clicks are pouring in, but the sales output is zero. Sound familiar?
The first thought: “The creative didn’t work” or “The offer is weak”. But the truth is different: the vast majority of users don’t buy on the first try.
The statistics are unnerving: 92% to 98% of visitors simply disappear after the first contact. Not because there is something wrong with the product. But because they are not ready yet.
Someone is looking for feedback. Someone postpones the decision “for later”. Someone is just distracted by a message on Telegram. And that’s okay.
The problem is different: most companies give up on the user at this point. And in vain. Because this is where the real game begins – retargeting.
In this article, we will analyze why the first click is not a victory, what barriers stand between you and the client, and what user behavior looks like in different niches.
The vast majority of users who see an ad for the first time are not ready to make a purchase or leave their data right away. They don’t know the company, have no proof of product quality, and feel no emotional connection. The mere fact of clicking indicates interest, but not readiness to make a decision. The goal of the first contact is to create awareness and attract attention, not to close the deal.
The world of digital noise leaves no chance for concentration. According to Google, the average user switches between apps more than 300 times a day.
Imagine: a person has already added an item to the cart, but then they receive a call, a push from Telegram, or a new message on Instagram. That’s it, the attention has been diverted, and the purchase is postponed “for later.” And often this “later” never comes.
Distrust is the main stopper in a cold audience. Studies show: 72% of users check reviews before making a purchase, even if it’s a small amount of money. This means that a person will not take a step until they find confirmation that your brand is truly trustworthy.
In e-commerce, this means searching for reviews on Rozetka or Trustpilot. In iGaming, it is checking forums to see if they really pay out. In SaaS, it is reading reviews on G2 or Capterra.
The more complex the product and the higher the price, the more time you need to research.
The user wants to understand why your product solves their problem better than others. And until they get this information, there will be no conversion.
The fact is simple: barriers are not a flaw in your marketing, but a natural stage in user behavior. The main thing is to know where exactly he stopped and give him the right argument to move on.
Clicking on an ad doesn’t mean taking action. Most users start their own “brand research quest” after clicking. And this is how it looks like in practice:
As a result, it can take from several hours to several weeks between the first click and the actual action. For low-priced products, it can be an impulsive decision to buy the same day. But when it comes to a SaaS subscription or an iGaming deposit, the user journey is much longer.
It is important to understand that this behavior does not mean that advertising does not work. It is a normal logic of decision-making in the digital age. And this is where the marketer’s task begins – to return the user to the funnel through retargeting.
Let’s imagine a customer who is watching an ad for sneakers. He goes to the website, adds a model to the cart, but instead of placing an order, he opens three more tabs: Rozetka, Allo, and the brand’s official website. It is important for him to make sure that the price is adequate, delivery is convenient, and the reviews are positive. As a result, the purchase is postponed – not because of a bad website or offer, but because of the user’s habit of “playing it safe”.
A player sees an advertisement for a new online casino with a sign-up bonus. The creative worked, he goes to the landing page, but stops before the registration form. The next step is Google. He enters the query “does [brand name] pay out money” or looks for reviews on forums. This is where distrust comes into play: even the best offer will not work if the user is not convinced of the platform’s honesty.
A marketer finds an advertisement for an analytics tool. Interested, he goes to the website, reads about the functionality, and even looks at the tariff plans. But they postpone registration. The reason is simple: before making a decision, he wants to check whether this service is better than the competition. His next steps are to compare G2, Capterra, and read reviews on LinkedIn. Only after that will he come back to the choice.
In each of these niches, user behavior is different, but the bottom line is the same: the first contact rarely ends in conversion. The task of the brand is not to lose this interest, but to create conditions for returning through retargeting.
The first click is not the finish line, but only the starting line. The user might be interested, but they are not yet ready to trust you with their money or data. This is normal: in a world where there is too much information and not enough trust, people check, doubt, and postpone decisions.
The task of a marketer at this stage is not to chase an instant conversion, but to get into the user’s memory. Give them a reason to remember your brand when they are ready to take the next step.
And then retargeting comes into play. It turns “curiosity” into “trust” and “intention” into “action”. In the next article, we will analyze what tools you should give the user on the first contact to prepare them for a return and make your retargeting many times more effective.