Using Behavioral Targeting To Personalize Offers

Your highest-intent prospects aren't all the same person. I was reviewing several of our recent BOF campaigns and I was reminded of the fact that: The closer someone gets to conversion, the more your messaging matters. But most marketers treat high-intent audiences like they're all the same person. They're not. Someone who abandoned cart yesterday needs different messaging than someone who's been browsing for three weeks. Someone on mobile at 2pm needs different creative than someone on desktop at 9pm. Here’s what you should do: 1️⃣ Understand intent decay patterns. We've tracked this across client accounts - purchase intent has a half-life. After someone shows buying signals, you have roughly 72 hours of peak conversion opportunity. Day 4-7, intent drops 60%. By week two, you're basically starting over. Many advertisers waste this window with generic "complete your purchase" messaging. 2️⃣ Segment your BOF audiences by recency, not just behavior. Recent cart abandoners get urgency-focused creative. Week-old browsers get social proof and reviews. Month-old prospects need fresh product education. Same goal, different psychology. We've seen 40%+ ROAS improvements just from this basic segmentation. 3️⃣ Rotate creative elements based on engagement, not calendar. Most teams mess up by refreshing on schedule instead of performance. Monitor micro-signals: when CTR drops 15% from peak, when frequency hits 2.5x without converting, when engagement falls while impressions climb. Don't wait for Meta to flag fatigue. 4️⃣ Test messaging depth, not just messaging type. Generic "20% off" performs worse than "still thinking about those running shoes?" for cart abandoners. Specific beats generic at every intent level. We use AI to personalize hooks based on browsing behavior, and it consistently outperforms broad creative by 25-35%. Most BOF campaigns fail because they treat high-intent traffic like low-intent traffic. You've already done the hard work of getting someone interested. Don't waste it with lazy messaging.

I’ve audited over thousand ecommerce email flows and I can spot a mistake in 10 seconds. The most common one? “Add to Cart” is treated like a step. Let me explain. Brands build abandonment flows around this logic: “Oh they added to cart. Let’s remind them” But “Add to Cart” is actually a micro conversion. It tells you intent and even identity. Yet most flows just say: “Hey! You forgot something” No segmentation. No context. No personalization. Try this instead: • Segment by cart size: Big cart = bundle messaging. Small cart = urgency. • Segment by product price: High ticket? Remind them of value, not speed. Low ticket? Use scarcity. • Segment by SKU category: Abandoned cookware? Highlight how it simplifies meal prep. Left gym gear? Push transformation angle. Even better? If they always abandon without purchasing, they’re not forgetful. They’re price sensitive. Start testing offers. Turn your “reminder” emails into sales machines. Because Add to Cart isn’t just a behavior. It’s data if you’re listening.

Most brands treat abandoned carts like a discount machine. “Still thinking about it? Here’s 10% off!” Cool. Groundbreaking dude. But what if you used that moment to *listen…* not just nudge? Try this instead: Someone bails on checkout. Send an SMS that says: “Still thinking it over? Hit reply: 1. Too expensive 2. Need more info 3. Waiting for payday” Now instead of guessing the objection… you *have* it! And you can respond with something that actually moves the needle: → “Too expensive?” Offer a bundle. Or split pay. → “Need info?” Hit them with a value prop or quick feature breakdown. → “Payday’s coming?” Respect it. Set a reminder. Maybe add a bonus. It’s a simple shift. Ask *why* they didn’t buy… then build flows that speak directly to that. “Still deciding? Let us help - tell us what’s holding you back.” That one line turns a generic recovery email/SMS… Into a feedback loop. An objection handler. A micro-survey. And a sales tool. All at once. This is how you turn intent into revenue. And abandoned carts into actual *conversations.*

Zero Party Data, please meet Identity Resolution 🤝 This approach is now table stakes in ecommerce. Over the last 6 months, we've been pushing for all of our Klaviyo clients to embrace the collection of info about their customers at list list sign up. Ask customers one question to personalize their experience across your owned marketing program. That means asking questions like these: ↳ Ale or Lager? ↳ Why are you shopping? ↳ Who are you shopping for? ↳ What's your favorite film genre? ↳ Do you craft as a hobby or do you own a store? ↳ What type of coffee drinker are you? ↳ What type of traveler are you? ↳ What sport do you play? ↳ Favorite flavor? The list goes on. Users are presented with an easy, one-tap multiple choice response before being prompted to sign up for email and then SMS. This approach has led to signup increases 2x, 3x and in some cases 4x higher than their previous "Sign up for email and get your 10% off" popups. While the increase in signups is great (and a more advanced step of determining the rate at which users purchase when they either do or don't sign up for email is a valid next question and something for another post), leveraging the info to driving more personalized experiences is important. In tandem with the above, we have recommended that all clients put an identity resolution tool in place. I'm not talking about those that aggregate information about anonymous site visitors from third party resources and have a high likelihood of causing you deliverability issues. I'm referring to tools that allow brands to more effectively serve abandonment messaging to users already subscribed to your marketing. While there are many out there, my personal go-to is Elevar (not sponsored, and while we do receive commission for brands we sign up directly, we've evaluated and used all of the big players in this space and they are my top rec). We can identify a higher number of users that are taking actions on a client's website like viewing a collection, viewing a product and adding to cart. For the client in the screenshot, we've been running two versions of their Browse Abandonment side-by-side for about six months. One on the standard Klaviyo Viewed Product event and the other on Elevar's version for those that weren't otherwise identified by Klaviyo. 30 days ago we completely revamped the structure of both flows to include conditional splits that serve 5 different branches of messaging based on how they responded to a question at sign-up. We've seen consistently for 6 months that Elevar is unlocking more than double the revenue from Browse Abandonment flows. But now, the change to add more personalized messaging has pushed a 25% increase in cumulative Browse Abandonment revenue over the prior 30 days. For more context (while, yes, on Klaviyo's attribution window -- attribution is a post for another day), these numbers represent approximately 10% of this client's revenue in the last 30 days.