Remarketing or Retargeting—Connecting Targeted Ads to an Engaged Audience
Remarketing—sometimes referred to as “retargeting”—is the use of online banner ads displayed to website visitors after they leave your site. Most people have witnessed remarketing when shopping online. Remember that time you were shopping online for a new pair of red Nike Air Max running shoes and then, a day later, while reading the news or checking the weather, you saw an ad displaying that same pair of shoes? Well, that is remarketing.
Remarketing is a variation of a Google AdWords display-network campaign. These ads show up on websites that display images. Such ads can be displayed for a selected duration of time (depending on your sales cycle) after users visit your site. Those ads are visible only to past site visitors who match your defined criteria based on their interactions with your site, and best of all, you only pay if they click your ad.
Some companies that offer remarketing will refer to this type of advertising as “retargeting.” Retargeting is similar to remarketing. Retargeting essentially could be Google remarketing, depending on the collection of sites and method the agency is using to display your ads. The company offering retargeting may have a different or specific collection of sites that to display ads but some are not beneficial because they show on low-traffic or irrelevant sites. Google has the largest collection of websites in its display network, making it the most beneficial company to use when creating a remarketing campaign. According to Google, the Google Display Network reaches over 90 percent of global Internet users and expands across 2 million sites.
What are the benefits?
Regardless of your audience, remarketing targets visitors to get them back to your website once they have left. Those visitors include a combination of potential and existing customers. The use of remarketing ads can provide several benefits to your company including:
– brand recognition
– increased brand exposure
– top-of-mind awareness
– reinforced messaging
How does it work?
Before you can display remarketing ads, you need to define your audience. Your audience could be as broad as “visited my website,” to as specific as a visiting a certain page or product on your website. After users visit your website, your ads will show up on other websites they browse for the time you specified.
We also recommend creating an Adwords search campaign to drive even more traffic to your website. That way, your Adwords campaign drives new visitors to your website and your remarketing campaign brings back previous visitors. Combined, these campaigns will increase your brand awareness, keep your company on the minds of your customers, and increase your visitor conversion rates.
How much?
Like any Google AdWords campaign, you can set the budget you are willing to spend on your remarketing campaign. It is extremely cost-effective, and you will never go over your desired monthly budget.
Creepy vs. Impressive
The context of your ad will determine if your remarketing campaign is impressive or if it is leaving customers creeped out. In the case of the Nike shoes, you start to edge in on the creep factor. However, a more general “brand awareness” campaign can be impressive and leave customers thinking, “Wow, these people are everywhere.” It all depends on your audience, your business, and the products or services you offer.
Results
Take a look at our infographic to understand exactly how effective remarketing ads are:
If you think starting a remarketing campaign would be a good fit for your company, or if you want to learn more about such a campaign, please contact us. We can help you set up your remarketing campaign and maintain your running ads to ensure the best return on investment (ROI).
About Ocreative
In 2003 Ocreative began its business as one of the early pioneers of digital advertising and design in the Midwest. Bright, honest, digital innovators and creative gurus, carving out a specialization for themselves and their trusting clients. Along the way, they grew to become more recognized as an award-winning, full-service, integrated marketing agency. Ocreative’s portfolio expertly includes brand development and digital marketing. And most importantly, they get big results for our clients and that puts big smiles on all everyone’s faces. Even though their swanky office is in the Midwest, their clients are located throughout the United States. Ocreative’s portfolio expertly includes marketing and strategy, advertising and design, web and digital and video and multimedia.
