Remarketing, also known as retargeting, is a powerful advertising strategy that allows businesses to reach users who have previously interacted with their website, app, or content. By understanding how remarketing works, its various types, and the benefits it offers, businesses can leverage it to improve their digital marketing results.
Understanding Remarketing
Remarketing is a digital marketing strategy that involves displaying personalised ads to users who have previously visited your website or interacted with your app or content. This strategy is based on the concept of “second-chance marketing”, where businesses attempt to re-engage with potential customers who didn’t convert on their first visit.
# Example of how remarketing works
if user.visited_website:
display_remarketing_ad(user)
Remarketing works by using cookies to track users’ online behaviour. Once a user visits your website or interacts with your app, a cookie is placed on their device. This cookie then triggers your remarketing ads to be displayed to the user when they visit other websites or social media platforms.
The Importance of Remarketing
Remarketing is a crucial part of a digital marketing strategy for several reasons:
- Increases brand recall: Remarketing ads keep your brand at the top of the user’s mind, increasing the likelihood of them returning to your website and converting.
- Boosts conversion rates: As remarketing targets users who have already shown interest in your products or services, they are more likely to convert.
- Improves ROI: Remarketing can significantly improve your return on investment (ROI) as it focuses on re-engaging users who are already familiar with your brand, increasing the chances of conversion.
- Allows for personalised advertising: With remarketing, you can use the data collected from users’ previous interactions to create personalised ads that are more likely to resonate with them.
Types of Remarketing
There are several different types of remarketing, each offering unique advantages:
Website Remarketing
This is the most common form of remarketing, where users who have visited your website are targeted with ads as they browse other sites on the Internet.
Social Media Remarketing
This involves displaying ads to users who have interacted with your brand on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Email Remarketing
In this type, users who have opened or clicked on your emails are retargeted with ads.
Search Remarketing
Also known as remarketing lists for search ads (RLSA), this strategy involves displaying ads to users who have previously visited your website as they perform searches on Google or other search engines.
Video Remarketing
With video remarketing, you can show ads to users who have interacted with your videos on platforms like YouTube.
Remarketing Platforms
There are several platforms that offer remarketing capabilities:
Google Ads
Google Ads is one of the most popular platforms for remarketing. It allows you to display ads to users who have visited your website as they browse sites on the Google Display Network or perform searches on Google.
Facebook Ads
Facebook Ads allows you to retarget users who have interacted with your Facebook page or ads. You can also use Facebook’s Custom Audiences feature to target users based on their email address or phone number.
LinkedIn Ads
LinkedIn Ads offers remarketing capabilities that allow you to display ads to users who have visited your website or interacted with your LinkedIn ads.
Twitter Ads
With Twitter Ads, you can retarget users who have interacted with your tweets or visited your website.
Setting Up a Remarketing Campaign
Setting up a remarketing campaign involves several steps:
- Install the remarketing tag: The first step is to install a remarketing tag (also known as a pixel) on your website. This tag will track users’ behaviour on your site and trigger your ads to be displayed to them as they browse other websites.
- Create remarketing lists: Next, you need to create remarketing lists, which are groups of users who have performed specific actions on your website. For example, you might create a list of users who have visited a particular product page but didn’t make a purchase.
- Design your ads: Once you have your remarketing lists set up, you need to design your ads. These should be personalised based on the user’s previous interactions with your website.
- Launch your campaign: Finally, you can launch your remarketing campaign and start displaying your ads to users on your remarketing lists.
Remarketing Best Practices
To get the most out of your remarketing campaigns, follow these best practices:
- Segment your audience: Segment your remarketing lists based on users’ behaviour on your website. This allows you to display more personalised ads that are likely to resonate with each user.
- Cap your ad frequency: To avoid annoying users, set a limit on how often your ads can be displayed to each user.
- Test and optimise: Regularly test different versions of your ads and optimise them based on their performance.
- Offer incentives: Consider offering incentives like discounts or exclusive deals in your ads to entice users to return to your website and convert.
Final Thoughts
Remarketing is a powerful tool that can help businesses re-engage with users who have shown interest in their products or services, ultimately boosting conversion rates and improving ROI. By understanding how remarketing works, its different types, and how to effectively implement it, businesses can significantly improve their digital marketing results.
Further Information
If you’d like to speak to us regarding our ability to design a quality website or perhaps how to maximise the potential of your existing website, please give us a call at 01883 372488 or contact us via Facebook and we’ll be happy to talk to you through your options.
