Retargeting 101

• What is retargeting?
• Is it the same as remarketing?
• What goals should I have for my retargeting strategy?
• How can I set up a retargeting campaign with Google AdWords?
• Are there any retargeting tools that can help?
• Can I complete retargeting campaigns on social media too?

When it comes to retargeting, these could be just some of the questions you have. Don’t worry though — we have all the basic information you need in this guide and, by the end, you should be able to answer all of those questions. We want you to be able to apply this information to your own business whether you want to concentrate on Google Adwords, Facebook, or any other platform.

What is Retargeting?

Based around your marketing efforts, retargeting ads are a form of advertising you can create to target people who have already shown an interest in your website. What do we mean by ‘shown an interest’? In truth, it could be anything from visiting your website to leaving an abandoned basket. For social media, these individuals may have engaged with your page in some way. Either way, they know of your brand, but perhaps haven’t purchased anything just yet or taken a specific action, i.e. subscription to a service.

Retargeting vs Remarketing

Before we launch into the finer details of retargeting and how you can introduce the technique into your own marketing strategy, what’s the difference between retargeting and remarketing? Often, the two terms are used interchangeably, but are we right to do this?

With retargeting, the aim is to reach out to people who have interacted with the brand without acting. By tracking cookies and pixels, Facebook and Google Display Network allow for opportunities to reach out to these people and get a second chance of converting them into a customer. If you’ve ever noticed an ad for something that you researched days/hours earlier, this is retargeting at work.

On the other hand, the term ‘remarketing’ was originally described as the process of reaching out to lost visitors through email. Why do we then seem to use the two terms meaning the same thing? Ultimately, this is thanks to the definition of remarketing that Google Ads provides; they say it’s the process of showing ads to people who have already visited a website. According to this definition, remarketing and retargeting are interchangeable terms.

The Basics of Retargeting Campaigns

With retargeting, there are two main types you’re likely to come across; list-based retargeting and pixel-based retargeting. Which should you choose? Well, this depends on your campaign goals and the information you have available.

List-Based Retargeting

If you’ve already got a database of potential customers, this is likely to be the option you choose. For example, you may have a list of email addresses that you want to target with a new advertising campaign. After uploading this list to a retargeting campaign, the platform should do the rest on your behalf. Uploading the email addresses to Facebook, for example, will allow you to target the profiles that correspond to those email addresses.

The benefit of choosing list-based retargeting is that you choose exactly which emails are targeted, essentially deciding who sees your ads. However, the biggest problem comes when an individual uses separate email addresses for social media and everything else. If you only have a small list, and 60% of these people have a different email address for social media, you’re immediately limiting your opportunities.

Compared to pixel-based retargeting, list-based retargeting require a lot more manual work; you’ll need to gather the email addresses and input them into the campaign.

Pixel-Based Retargeting

As the more common option of the two, a pixel is placed onto the browser of everybody who visits your website (don’t worry, this is just a piece of JavaScript and won’t cause them any problems). Once this is done, their browser is ‘cookied’ and specific ads can be shown to them while they’re off browsing other corners of the web. We know how all this jargon can be confusing, so we’ve broken the process down below:

1. Kate visits your website.
2. Kate decides to leave the website and doesn’t subscribe, purchase a product, or take any action.
3. She closes the website, but continues surfing the web (if she doesn’t continue immediately, she will return to the internet at some point in the future).
4. When she returns, your ads are shown and this captures Kate’s attention.
5. If the ad catches her right, Kate returns to your website and goes ahead with an action.

Pixel-based retargeting is popular not only because the campaign can be specific to a page on your site, but also because the retargeting ads can show within minutes. Unfortunately, you need lots of people to be visiting your website for a certain percentage to return and take action. Also, the JavaScript implementation process can take some time.

Retargeting Goals

Now you understand how the process works, what should you be aiming for with retargeting? What can you actually achieve with this marketing tool?

Conversion

As we’ve hinted at already, you may be interested in getting prior visitors back and having them fill out a form or even purchase a product. With a conversion campaign, this will be the main goal and you can guide people towards the next step of the funnel. Suited to list-based retargeting, conversion campaigns have a little more freedom and a variety of options. If you already have limited information for a specific group, these individuals can be led to a more detailed form.

All things considered, the aim will be to move each prospective customer closer to the bottom of the funnel. Depending on the stage at which you’re reaching out to these people, the creative, positioning, and next step in the conversion process will have to align. While some groups should be pointed towards an offer landing page, others will need a site page or a contact form to provide more information.

Awareness

In business, you can’t always be looking for conversions so an alternative goal you may have is to boost awareness. Rather than pushing for an action from the individual, you’re simply telling them more about your service, products, special announcements, or features. Since the groups for this campaign strategy aren’t likely to be in your contacts database, it suits pixel-based retargeting.

In terms of drawbacks, the main one would be that the clickthrough rates are going to be lower than other campaign types. This being said, we have to remember that the main goal is to boost awareness. If you track engagement and impressions as the most important metrics, it’s easier to see just how much of an impact the ad is having.

Best Retargeting Tools and Platforms

To finish, we want to talk a little about the platforms available for businesses wishing to partake in retargeting before then offering some advice. If you’ve ever researched your retargeting options, you’ll know that there are plenty. To start, there are many different third-party platforms that help with all retargeting on your behalf. If you don’t feel confident in the process and want to outsource the task to specialists, this could be a good option. For example, websites like AdRoll, PerfectAudience, and Retargeter will help you to get set up.

Read More: Perfect Audience vs AdRoll: Best Retargeting Software

On the other hand, you can take control of the process yourself. These days, platforms like Twitter and Facebook are making this easier to achieve. Here’s what the process looks like on Facebook:

1. Create a list and segment people into different groups; you could do this based on their interests or based on which stage of the funnel they are in.
2. Using Audience Manager on Facebook, you can upload this list and the email addresses will be linked with profiles.
3. Next, creating an ad will require you to choose an objective and select a destination URL. Where do you want to send this specific group?
4. From here, choose your segmented group and select a location.
5. Finally, you’ll need to set a budget, create the ad, and then track it in the coming weeks.

What Makes a Great Retargeting Ad?

We hope this guide has provided you with some knowledge of retargeting, the ways it can be achieved, and the common goals for those who choose this strategy. However, our guide wouldn’t be complete without considering what makes a good retargeting ad. How can you increase the chances of success?

• The headline should be engaging and relevant to the experience the visitor had on your website.
• There should be a CTA that attracts interest.
• It should attract attention visually. You can do this by keeping all images and animations relevant.
• Use your characters wisely; ad copy should be simple and to the point.

Conclusion

Retargeting can be a super helpful addition to your digital marketing strategy. By taking the insights above and taking on the task for yourself or using one of the many retargeting tools, you’ll be able to get back in front of potential customers who have already expressed some type of interest in your brand.