Remarketing ads: how to creep users out (and how to fix)
Earlier today I was on LinkedIn, and I saw the following display ad. Take a look, and note how you feel.
You probably had one of three reactions:
- “Goodie, a discount!” (relevant and awesome)
- “Creepy!” (relevant and not awesome)
- “Not relevant” (not relevant)
Addressing the “not relevant” piece could be dozens of Medium articles on its own, so let’s set that aside, leaving us with “relevant and awesome” and “relevant, but creepy”.
More than likely, most of your audience finds it creepy rather than helpful. Why? Because you’re using information that was not explicitly given to you in order to make an explicit message. Your remarketing message must mirror the customer’s expectations.
When I first started out remarketing, I used to make ads like this. I figured they would be attention-grabbing and highly relevant. Not only did they perform poorly with users, anyone I showed the ads got a certain look on their face…
Clearly that was a non-starter. I only started seeing success with remarketing ads once I matched the message with the expectation.
If a user doesn’t explicitly give me information, I don’t explicitly reference it.
At Avant, people sign up for loans, and sometimes they don’t finish their application. So I made ads referencing the benefits of our product. But I didn’t say “Hey you, you forgot to finish your application”, because that would be creepy. The message doesn’t match the expectation — the consumer didn’t explicitly share with me, the advertiser, that they started (but not finished) an application.
You’ll sometimes see the more explicit message coming through email. But that’s because when you sign up for stuff on websites, you often check a box that says “I agree to receive promotions”. So on some level, the consumer expects to get more explicit promotions in their email. It also feels less creepy, in my opinion, because I think email feels more private than anywhere you see display ads. It should be more personal, more intimate.
So how could the Geico ad be improved? The message must match the expectations.
In this case, I never gave Geico information that I’m in a fraternity — I list my fraternity on my LinkedIn profile in order to connect with other members of my fraternity.
Rather what they could say is “Good news! Most people are eligible for a discount on Geico insurance through an organization they belong to — check your discount now!”
In that case, the message is implying they know I’m part of an organization. But they’re not specifying which one, or even explicitly saying that I am part of an eligible organization. This is good, because I never shared with Geico which organizations I’m apart of. But this still gets me curious because it is relevant — I’m a part of several organizations, increasing the likelihood that at least one has a Geico discount.
