Have you ever been browsing some products online and then gone onto Facebook to find the same products staring you in the face? Did you wonder how they knew all about you and those products? It’s all part of the magic of remarketing.
Those products you viewed on Amazon, Wiggle, or any number of other sites were tracked. Then when you went somewhere else, there was a subtle suggestion in another advert that you might reconsider those potentially abandoned purchases.
How does remarketing work?
Essentially, when you visit a site such as Wiggle (I like Wiggle as an example because they’re really good at remarketing and I also love cycling in my spare time), you view a bunch of products, which take your fancy.
Every time you view a specific product, the website keeps a record of what you have viewed on your device using a cookie (small text file that records things like the date, time, and product viewed) or tracking pixel.
The next time you go onto a site such as Google or Facebook, the fact that you visited the product page is recalled from the tracking pixel or cookie and allows the advertiser to show you the product you were browsing previously in case you might like to reconsider purchasing.
However you spin it, whether it’s annoying or not, there are three important questions to be answered about remarketing.
Q1: Does remarketing work?
Well, the simple answer is yes, it does. In fact, if you are able to use remarketing, you should give it a try. The biggest advantage is that it allows you to take back a little control of your site traffic, as you’ve pre-qualified people who have shown an interest already, providing you with a lower cost per click and better conversions.
Q2: How well does remarketing work?
Although this is an entirely different question (depending quite a lot on the nature of your business – your sales cycle, conversion goals (ecommerce vs. lead generation), and how much time you have to create detailed audience lists to maximise your efficiency), to detail the benefits of remarketing, it helps to use a case study.
Merchenta worked with Mazda to “drive” (pun intended) some impressive results with their proprietary IntelliAds solution. Here are some quick stats:
- Visitors who saw the IntelliAds converted at a 53% higher rate than the control group.
- The value of car sales through their retargeting was 98% higher than the offline average.
- They had an engagement rate of almost 20% from their ads.
7 Retargeting Case Studies That’ll Boost Your Current Campaigns
You already know retargeting works. But what if you’re doing it all wrong? What if grouping all audiences into the same retargeting campaign is actually doing more harm than good? The truth is that a lot of people never give the attention or resources that’s needed to improve their retargeting campaigns.
The simple answer to this question is therefore yes, but it depends. In most cases it works exceptionally well.
Q3: Is remarketing annoying?
Maybe, although again it depends entirely on your target audience. Most people tend to find remarketing innocuous, though some, especially for high-profile and/or prestigious brands, may find that excessive remarketing can be detrimental if your overall goal is brand awareness. You don’t want to be guilty of “devaluing your brand”, however, so it can definitely be a concern.
Summary
Remarketing definitely works. There is plenty of evidence to prove that investing in this sort of setup for your digital ecosystem returns click-throughs and conversions far better than one might otherwise hope for. Provided you go about it the right way, there’s every reason to have a go and use it in your toolbox of methods to increase leads and/or conversions.
Edward Solomon has over 30 years’ experience in project management, technical education, computer networking, web design and development and is a Digital Business Consultant for PENNInk Productions Ltd.
