Have you ever wanted to buy something online, and keep seeing it until you eventually give in and buy? It’s not a sign but retargeting – a digital tool that lets you re-attract website visitors. We’ve simplified this down in a way
that’s easy to understand.
Retargeting is a concept that puts ads in front of individuals who’ve interacted with your brand in some way, shape or form – either clicking an ad, vising your website or interacting with an email you sent. While retargeting is only a small piece of the marketing picture, it puts your brand in front of interested leads multiple times, keeping it front and centre of their purchasing decisions. Consider boosting your business by re-attracting your warmest leads through retargeting.
Why retargeting is critical to attract new customers
Every business wants to win back visitors who didn’t convert the first time and retargeting increases conversions. Through retargeting, you can re-attract the visitors who didn’t take the action you wanted and pull them back in.
For example, if you’re a retailer and a visitor has clicked on a product in your website, then leaves, retargeting creates ads of that product that follows them around the web. This way, they’re seeing the item they’ve considered purchasing multiple times. Once they’ve seen the ad enough times and click on it, it takes them straight back to the page where they can complete the action you want – in this case, making a purchase.
Put yourself in the shoes of the customer – have you ever wanted to buy something and keep seeing it until you eventually give in and buy? It isn’t not a supernatural sign – it’s retargeting.
Retargeting acts as a digital reminder to potential clients who are exposed to thousands of brands every day – keeping you front and centre of their purchasing decisions.
How retargeting works
There are two main types of retargeting – pixel-base and list-based. Pixel retargeting is the most common type. Basically when someone comes to your website, a piece of JavaScript, referred to as a pixel, is placed on their browser. This makes their browser ‘cookied’. When they leave your site, that cookie notifies retargeting platforms to show specific ads based on the specific pages they visited.
The second type of retargeting is list-based – where you upload a list of emails to a retargeting campaign (frequently on a social site like Facebook or Twitter), which will identify users on that platform and send retargeting ads just to them. Though less common, this type of retargeting is much more specific because you choose who’s on each list and it’s not solely based on actions like visiting a page.
Tip: Segmentation of consumers through list-based retargeting is an effective strategy. For instance, targeting millennials through social media platforms can increase your reach as they constitute a larger percent of online users. The trick to maximizing retargeting ads through lists is with a strategically strong message and this requires knowing your target market inside out.
Choosing a retargeting platform
There are several retargeting platforms to select from, whether you choose social media (list) or web retargeting. These include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Google AdWords, and third party sites like PerfectAudience, AdRoll, Retargeter and Bizo.
Social media platforms and Google AdWords have the capacity to target leads based on emails. The emails you collect as a business and in the day-to-day world are a start. You can build an email list from leads sourced through marketing and opt-ins. Opt-in leads are giving you direct permission to market to them via email.
You should check the analytics of your website when undertaking web retargeting. Knowing the general patterns of visitors on your site will enable you to create the most effective ads to follow them around.
Use retargeting to turn leads into customers. For more information on retargeting and setting it up in a few simple steps, visit Hubspot’s A Beginner’s Guide to Retargeting Ads..
