What is Retargeting in Digital Marketing
In this dynamic world of digital marketing, every company is constantly seeking out for ways of connecting with the audience. One of the best strategies that have come up is retargeting. Using this approach, companies can re-engage with the individuals who have previously interacted with their brand but have not converted. This blog will discuss the concept of retargeting and its importance as well as how one can use it to enhance his or her marketing efforts.
What is Retargeting?
Retargeting or remarketing is one of the forms of online advertising that focuses on the past visitors of a website or the past online users of a brand. The goal is to encourage such users to recall the brand and return to do some action that they want, for instance, to purchase a product or subscribe to a newsletter.
How Does Retargeting Work?
Retargeting is achieved by cookies which are small data files that are saved to a user’s device when a user visits a website. These cookies track the user behavior and collect information such as pages viewed and products viewed. After the user exits the site without converting, retargeting platforms use this information to display relevant ads on other sites the user would be visiting, therefore keeping the brand at the front of its mind.
Types of Retargeting
- Display Retargeting: This is the most popular one under which the ads are published on countless websites that are a part of a display network. Such ads can include products and services that the user had previously browsed along with an offer to the user to go back to the original site.
- Search Retargeting: This strategy targets users that have searched for certain keywords about a brand or product. By advertising in the result of search engines, businesses can get the attention of users who are actively searching for similar offerings.
- Social Media Retargeting: Sites like Facebook and Instagram have retargeting features where businesses can show ads to people that have interacted with their social media postings or website.
- Email Retargeting: This involves targeting users who have interacted with email campaigns (opened an email or clicked on a link) with personalised ads in order to encourage further interaction.
The Importance of Retargeting
Retargeting plays a critical role in creating a well-rounded digital marketing strategy for various reasons.
Increases Conversion Rates
The main advantage of retargeting is that it assists in increasing conversion rates. Studies have found that conversion rates can be increased up to 70% by means of retargeted ads. When recalling the interest of the users in the past, retargeting makes the brand relevant and convinces them to perform the desired action.
Enhances Brand Recall
Retargeting augments the brand visibility and recall. Companies can strengthen their brand message and improve the chances of future conversion by displaying ads regularly to interested users.
Cost-Effective
Retargeting is generally cheaper than other forms of advertisement. Since the ads will be shown to the people who have already expressed interest in the brand, the conversion prospects are much better hence better ROI.
Personalized Marketing
Retargeting allows exceptionally targeted marketing campaigns. Using information collected through cookies, businesses can customize ads to suit their individual interest and behavior of each user, making it a more engaging and relevant experience.
Best Practices for Efficient Retargeting
Planning and execution play a significant role when it comes to implementation of a successful retargeting strategy.
Some of the best practices that should be remembered include:
Define Clear Goals
It is important to have specific goals when one is embarking on a retargeting campaign. Regardless of whether the goal is to elevate the sales or the number of newsletter sign-ups, or to channel the traffic to a specific landing page, the target will determine the shape of the campaign as well as its measurement.
Segment Your Audience
All the users of your website are not equal. By dividing your audience based on how they behave (pages viewed or time spend on site), you can do more precise and successful retargeting. This ensures that the users receive the ads that suit best their interests.
Create Compelling Ad Creative
The ad creative is very vital in a retargeting campaign and the campaign success will depend on the ad creative. Ads should be appealing and CTA (call to action) should be strong. References to special offers, discounts, or exclusive content can also make the users return to the site.
Set a Frequency Cap
While retargeting works, too much exposure may result in ad fatigue and annoyance. The frequency capping enables you to set a limit on the number of times your ad can be seen by the user, thus assuring a good experience and preventing bad brand perception.
Monitor and Optimize
Monitoring and optimization are a need that is perpetual for a successful retargeting campaign. Use the performance indicators like click-through rates (CTR) and conversion rates to identify areas of improvement. A/B testing of ad creatives and targeting options can also be used to adjust the strategy.
Challenges and Considerations
Despite the numerous benefits of retargeting, there are challenges associated with the same which businesses need to overcome.
Privacy Concerns
There is the issue of privacy caused by the use of cookies in tracking the behavior of the user. As the regulations, such as General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe, California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) in the United States are growing, the businesses must comply with the regulations and disclose their data collection practices.
Ad Fatigue
As it has been mentioned above, over retargeting may lead to ad fatigue when the users become immune to the ads. Find a balance between the frequency of posting and the relevance as a way of not losing the attention of the users without annoying them.
Ad Blockers
The application of the ad blockers may limit the range of retargeting campaigns. While ad blockers pose a problem, businesses can use other means to reach their target, like native advertising or collaboration with influencers.