Friday, 16 March 2012 03:00

Retargeting

We've seen digital ad budgets steadily rise as more people flock online for information. Social media sites like Twitter and Facebook are attractive offerings, while search engine optimization (SEO) related advertising is also seen as an effective option. Today FiG is going to discuss a somewhat intrusive, yet very effective method: retargeting.

Retargeting is a technique that allows companies to put ads in front of the "action taken prospective customers", who have come across your brand, but have yet to made any purchase decision. It is a concept that refines "targeting", which is primarily based on pre-marketing research and ongoing experience with clients. While targeting is more a "long-time" and fixed group that a company tries to focus on, retargeting gives you the flexibility to follow specific customers that may be overlooked by your business. There is a good chance you have been exposed to the retargeting tactics as a customer even if your business isn't too familiar with the technique.

Let's take a look at an example:

Now the weather is starting to turn, you decided to go shopping for sunglasses and went to ABCGlasses.com.  You later left the site to continue your search on DEF, GHI... glasses.com, but you noticed various display ads for ABC Glasses on these other sites you just visited.  Yes, you were just retargeted by ABC Glasses!

Retargeting works because it let ABC Glasses reach you again and again.  After browsing on more than 5 websites, you might have already forgotten what you saw on the first 2 sites, but you'll remember ABC Glasses because you kept seeing them!  A recent study has shown that a retargeted ad increases search by 1000% more people than a standard ad.  Results like that are very hard to ignore.

Before implementing retargeting ads, you have to understand the following:

  • Retargeting is an effective advertising method because it keeps you fresh in the mind of the customer. The more times someone sees a brand logo or image, the more likely they will remember and like the brand.

  • There are many different kinds of people that you can retarget: The one that left a shopping cart on your website; The one that opens your newsletters; The one that clicked on your ad on another website; The one that shared your video on Facebook;...

  • Content is essential. At a certain level, retargeting is like traditional TV commercial: you see it ALL THE TIME! Though it is true that the more times you see an ad, the more likely that you'll buy from it, consumers may not connect with the ad which will have them ignoring you or even worse, getting annoyed!

  • Respect your clients' privacy. How many times or how long should a brand expose its ads to a client? Set up a limitation of the times that a specific customer will see you from retargeting. If someone tells you that they hate being followed, stop following them.

We have to remember that retargeting focuses on those individuals who have already seen you. These interested parties are much more valuable than random ones since they have already committed time to your brand.  To learn more about retargeting and start a retargeting campaign, contact FiG today. We're just one click away.