Whether it’s Facebook ad­vert­ising or running an ad with Google AdWords: website operators are bound to run into the term, ‘re­tar­get­ing’, sooner or later. As an integral component of most web strategies, re­market­ing seeks to win over users that have shown interest towards a par­tic­u­lar product or company in the past. This means it’s important to always stay hot on the user’s trail so they can be presented with ad­vert­ising material at a later point in time.

What’s re­tar­get­ing?

Re­tar­get­ing refers to a method used in online marketing whereby users are marked with the help of technical aids so they can be presented with relevant ad­vert­ise­ments in the future. Given that users the­or­et­ic­ally have already shown their interest at some point through­out their prior search history, the goal with re­tar­get­ing is to address them in such a way that leads to a con­ver­sion (i.e. to them becoming a customer). Generally, re­market­ing is used in the e-commerce industry. When properly im­ple­men­ted, this method carries the potential to increase the relevance of the ads presented to in­di­vidu­al users, and by ad­dress­ing these target groups of ‘potential returners’ in the hope of cutting down on scatter loss.

How does re­tar­get­ing work?

Un­der­stand­ing re­tar­get­ing’s technical back­ground requires further ex­plan­a­tion of two of its most important com­pon­ents:

  • Cookies: cookies are small files that are auto­mat­ic­ally saved on a user’s computer when they visit a website. Through­out the surf process, these files then save different bits of in­form­a­tion regarding specific elements of the user’s behaviour. Settings like the user’s preferred language are then auto­mat­ic­ally adjusted during future visits. Log-in data is also noted, allowing them to forgo this step should they return to the site at a later date.
  • Ad server: an ad server is a web server that’s re­spons­ible for placing different types of ad­vert­ising content. The different mediums used for an online campaign (e.g. banners) are saved by ad server software and then displayed to potential customers in a targeted matter. Ad servers are re­spons­ible for mon­it­or­ing and ul­ti­mately executing campaigns; they also deliver in­form­a­tion on im­pres­sions and clicks.

When re­tar­get­ing takes place, ad servers integrate a targeting pixel into the website’s source code. Once a user visits the site, the pixel is called up again and a cookie is deposited onto their computer. While this is happening, the pixel also saves a cor­res­pond­ing reference on the ad server (e.g. ‘visitor X viewed skirt Y’). If the user then visits a site that is connected to the ad server, the cookie is read and then the relevant ad will be shown (‘skirt Y now on sale’).

Ad­di­tion­al forms of re­tar­get­ing

The processes mentioned above aren’t just used on websites with display marketing. Along with website targeting, there are also ad­di­tion­al models:

  • Search re­tar­get­ing: Here, keywords that users have entered into search engines in the past are the main focus. This model is es­pe­cially used for winning over new customers.
  • E-mail re­tar­get­ing: Here, users that are known to have received news­let­ters or other mailings are directly addressed through e-mail channels.
  • CRM re­tar­get­ing: CRM re­tar­get­ing employs already-available CRM data, like e-mail addresses or post codes, in order to reach customers online.
  • Social re­tar­get­ing: with social re­tar­get­ing, marketers are able to directly address users of social media networks, like Facebook or Twitter.

Ad­vant­ages of Re­market­ing

Re­tar­get­ing seeks to turn undecided per­spect­ive shoppers into customers. By con­front­ing users with ads after they've visited a website, a reminder of sorts about the company or brand in question is signaled to the viewer. These efforts increase the brand’s appeal and re­cog­ni­tion. Tailoring ads to specific target groups helps cut down on scatter loss and cost, and ul­ti­mately helps achieve a higher click through rate (CTR).

Ad­dress­ing the target group

Properly ad­dress­ing target groups is one of the most important factors for a suc­cess­ful ad campaign; the same also applies to re­market­ing. Not all ‘returners’ are the same – what counts here is what stage of the pur­chas­ing process users are in during their initial visit. For this, marketing experts follow the AIDA model. This acronym refers to the four phase potential customers go through before finally making a purchase:

  • Attention
  • Interest
  • Desire
  • Action

Attention

During the first phase, users are aware of the brand and, under certain cir­cum­stances, may have already seen ads and logged on the product’s website; however, at this point, no clear intention of pur­chas­ing a product can be derived from the customers’ actions. In order to increase the brand’s profile, spe­cific­ally targeted banners are displayed through re­tar­get­ing measures. These ads shouldn’t aim to take the customer directly to the product or service’s site; instead, they should steer them to blogs or social media pages where they can then find more detailed in­form­a­tion and start to build up trust in the brand or product.

Interest

Once the user has clicked through the product page and has spent a bit of time looking at the offers, it’s then safe to say that some sort of le­git­im­ate interest in a purchase exists. Marketers can then run banners with cor­res­pond­ing ads to customers; the goal here is to excite interest in the product. By steering users to pages with high-quality offers, the chances of a concrete purchase occurring are boosted.

Desire

In this phase, it’s clear that users have a clear intention on making a purchase. Different products have been viewed, prices have been compared, and perhaps some searches with trans­ac­tion­al keywords have been made (e.g. ‘buy coat brand XY’). A trans­ac­tion seems imminent, and marketers can help finalise one with the help of targeted banners high­light­ing USPs (unique selling points), like free delivery.

Action

Users in this phase have decided to purchase an item offered on a par­tic­u­lar product’s or service’s website. After this step, customers are now familiar with the online store and how products or services are ordered on it. And by carrying out measures to increase customer loyalty, the odds of sub­sequent orders also increase. Ad­dress­ing return customers is also an option, as their prior trans­ac­tions are already known. Providing further in­form­a­tion on the purchased product or service gives customers a greater sense of trust. Next, the campaign is continued by ad­vert­ising tra­di­tion­al follow-up products.

Cri­ti­cisms of re­market­ing

Re­market­ing tactics are often the subject of criticism, es­pe­cially in regards to Big Data. User in­form­a­tion collected through cookies is compiled into massive data sets that not only affect user privacy, they are also prone to misuse. Those re­spons­ible for running com­mer­cial websites should make sure to also include a line that an­onymises users’ IP addresses when adding code snippets.

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