Gone are the days when marketers would vaguely suggest to other parties what their customers may like based on the number of pages they visited on any given site. That method has been replaced by a much more thorough practice called behavioural marketing.

Showing consumers ads that may or may not be relevant to them can work, but it’s quite inefficient. Behavioural marketing compiles each user’s search history, cookies, and other related information to create a profile that can be advertised to. The more the user interacts with certain digital information, the better catered their offers will be.

Like most marketing frameworks, behavioural marketing isn’t as basic as it seems. The term is used to cover things like promotional emails, product suggestions, and retargeting. The third of these elements is exactly what it sounds like: a process that remembers which products a customer has seen and reintroduces those products to the customer at a later time. Retargeting is most often used on Google and Facebook.

If you need some inspiration, we’ve got a few ecommerce examples for you. Expedia is notorious for picking out procrastinating shoppers and showing them last-minute travel deals, while Amazon similarly posts special offer ads for holidays and waning deals. Best Buy takes a slightly different approach, reminding shopping customers of the price-competitive items in their cart and the inexistent shipping fees.

Emails concerning buyer behaviour require your company to have a sizeable customer population, but if you already have that, this can be a very effective strategy. These emails are constructed to call out each customer’s actions, like subscriptions and previous purchases. If your audience truly likes the majority of your company’s products or services, this could be a good option for you.

Buyer behaviour emails are used by both Nordstrom and Birchbox for unpurchased cart items and cancelled subscriptions respectively. While Nordstrom’s method is a gentle prod, Birchbox’s 20% rejoining discount is much more appealing and more likely to get the attention of its customers. If you’re interested in trying out this strategy, use Kissmetrics Campaigns for simple setup.

Many product-heavy companies use suggested selling, offering customers new items that are related to or combine well with items they’ve previously purchased. Amazon and Godiva both employ this strategy, sending great product pairs to even their newest clients. Customers still get what they want, but they can choose to add more if they wish.

The fourth and final marketing strategy we’ll mention in this article is demographic targeting. Aiming your product at a certain age cohort, social group, gender, location, or other segment of the population can increase sales, as certain groups tend to have a series of shared interests. Toyota advertises their fuel-efficient models to earth-conscious drivers, while Pepsi advertises its sugar-free products to health-conscious women.

Depending on the size, age, and success of your company, one strategy may work better than another. You may even find that combining strategies is more efficient overall. Behavioural marketing is an influential tool - use it to its fullest.