What is Retargeting and Should You Be Leveraging It?

Retargeting, also known as remarketing, is a marketing technique used to recapture the attention of people who have shown interest in your product or service, but have not yet turned browsing into buying. It is meant to reach leads who are already warm, since these are people who have visited your website but for whatever reason, did not complete their transaction. As you'll see, this is a very common scenario!

The Whys of Retargeting Marketing

Did you know that 97-98% of people who visit your website for the first time do not buy anything? Retargeting is meant to entice those people to come back to your website and make a purchase through targeted online advertisements. This type of marketing can build brand awareness and work by targeting people who have already shown interest in what you have to offer. Therefore, it is much more effective than some "spray and pray" approaches to online advertising. It is also a cost-effective marketing strategy as you are not wasting marketing dollars advertising to people who may have no interest in your product at this time.

The How-Tos of Retargeting

Have you ever visited a website, and then all of a sudden begin seeing ads for that site on other sites you visit online? That's retargeting marketing at work! Here's the breakdown of how to begin.. You start by placing a tiny retargeting pixel on your website, which is a piece of code that is not viewable by visitors to the website. When a new visitor enters your website, the code drops an anonymous browser cookie. This cookie "follows" each visitor around the internet. As the visitor browses other websites online, the cookie will notify your retargeting partner to know when to serve up an advertisement for your website. This process ensures that these ads are only shown to people that have visited your website at least once before.

The Whens of Remarketing

Remarketing or retargeting is important to leverage when the time is right. Retargeting should be part of a larger marketing strategy for your business. If you have a best-selling item on your website, use remarketing campaigns to showcase it. If this item has made the majority of your customers happy, it is likely to catch the eye of a new potential customer as well. Another great movement for an active remarketing campaign, is when you are launching a new product line. Customers that have visited your site will be interested to return in order to see what's new.

When retargeting brand new, one-time visitors to your website, make sure the ad you display is telling your brand story somehow. Customers want to connect with your brand and most people are looking for a reason to feel an attachment to something they are purchasing and make the purchase more personal. Give your potential customers that connectedness by finding out what people love about your brand, and creating ads to showcase what makes your business unique.

Discuss your retargeting marketing strategy with a Bloomtools expert and get started converting browsers to buyers!