Posted by Melanie Tajaard ● Thu, Jun 04, 2015 @ 16:06 PM

Retargeting ads -- what every marketer needs to know

 

Retargeting, a.k.a, remarketing is a marketing technique that serves relevant ads to visitors on a website based icn-home-eyeserve-2on their past behavior on the Internet and helps improve conversion rates. 

How does Retargeting Work?

The process involves placing a piece of JavaScript code on a website. This code places "cookies" on the browsers of visitors to such sites. The cookies allow retargeting vendors to serve targeted ads to a visitor during the course of his online stay. 

How to Run an effective Retargeting Campaign?

  • Have a clear objective. The content of the ads and the overall marketing strategy will flow from it. The ultimate objective could be lead generation, customer acquisition, or fostering brand recognition.
  • Create content that gives first-time visitors a reason to come back to a site. 
  • Have a structured content marketing program in place; so that along with retargeted ads, a website registers its presence through social media.
  • Businesses should place a limit on the number of times in a day that a targeted visitor gets to see their ad. 
  • Businesses should use a Burn Code to stop serving ads to visitors that make a purchase. 
  • Continue to test creatives to see which ones work best.
  • Use analytics to target visitors more effectively. Use data on demographics, age, device used, interests, region, etc to place the website audience in groups. 

What are the Benefits of Retargeting?

The most obvious benefit of retargeting is that it helps generate sales from would-be buyers; the ones that may have paid a cursory visit to a website, but did not make a purchase or complete a desired action. Or, those that left behind a filled shopping cart. Retargeted ads place a website or a brand in front of such visitors. 

Essentially, retargeted ads let businesses rekindle their conversation with visitors that already have an idea of what the business is about. It helps to bring down the cost of new acquisitions. And when used as a part of a larger marketing plan, these ads bring in viewers that can be converted into clients. This brings down the cost of doing business. And, for the majority of small businesses, any activity that brings down costs and contributes to the bottom line is worth investigating.  

Does Retargeting Work?

Unsure if retargeting could work for your business?  Check out these stats, they might inspire you to give retargeting a try.  

  • The average CTR of retargeted ads is ten times that of regular visual ads.
  • Retargeted ads on a website increase the chances of a targeted visitor's conversion by 70%.
  • In a comScore study, retargeted ads led to an increase in brand awareness and recall by 1046%
  • Retargeting enables e-commerce stores to bring back 26% of the shoppers that have left behind abandoned shopping carts.

Retargeting is an opportunity for small businesses and startups to get more out of their marketing budgets. When integrated with a brand's overall marketing efforts that include content marketing, social media marketing, and CPC ads, this concept increases conversion rates and improves ROI. Businesses can drive traffic through one or more of these marketing strategies and then boost conversion rates through retargeting. 

Of course before starting a retargeting ad campaign – make sure your website is picking up its end of the sales process.  Ensure the site visit will be a positive one for any visitor.  In the same way you wouldn’t advertisers that you’re having a sale and not stock the shelves.  Don’t launch the retargeting campaign until you’ve enhanced your website.

Download your copy of 25 Must Have’s to Driving Traffic Leads and Sales and we’ll point out the most common pitfalls.

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Topics: marketing roi, website marketing, internet marketing

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