What is retargeting and how it works

What is retargeting and how does it work? At some point, we have been victims of brand retargeting. It can be with the advertisement of a product while we browse a website or through an email that comes as a surprise to us.

 

Retargeting can be very beneficial for all brands. That’s why in this blog we will show you how you can implement retargeting on your website. This way you will get better responses from visitors and improve your sales.

 

What is retargeting?

 

Retargeting is a digital marketing tactic in which you send advertisements to your past visitors. Its aim to bring them back to the products they saw in the past and entice them to make a purchase.

 

For retargeting to work, a cookie is used in the browser of a user who has visited a certain web page. This way, when they visit other websites, they will find the advertisement for the product that interested them. In other words, this term implies “chasing” the user who was about to buy on a page to make the purchase later.

 

It’s common knowledge that customers don’t convert on the first visit to any website. That’s why attracting traffic to your page is a very important step. However, these efforts won’t be in vain if you have a well-thought-out retargeting strategy.

 

Pixels and retargeting

 

You can use these pixels not only to display advertising campaigns but also to develop campaigns to attract traffic on social media.

 

For example, you can drive traffic to your platforms by suggesting a post to a user who doesn’t follow your page on Facebook but has recently visited your blog.

 

Also, you can use this in online stores to track down a user who left the page in the last step of the purchase. This way, if they leave their email, you can send them a discount to complete the purchase.

 

 

Explanation of the different steps of retargeting:

 

• The first step is to set up a snippet of JavaScript code. This code will place a tracking cookie in the browser storage of users who visit your page. Browser codes, also known as HTTP, are the pieces of data that allow websites to “remember” information about visitors.
• Once a user visits your website, the JavaScript code sends a data packet (i.e. the cookie) to the visitor’s browser. It will contain unique identifying information.
• While the client visits other pages and browses the web, the cookie is included in the HTTP requests sent to the web servers of these sites. If your website uses an advertising service (such as Google AdSense), it may use the cookie data to identify the visitor as someone who has previously visited your website.
• If you set up retargeting ads on platforms such as AdRoll, they will identify your website’s users through your cookies when they visit other pages. The platform will then send them ads frequently and according to the logic you use to set up your ads.

What is the difference between retargeting and remarketing?

 

For many, the term retargeting and remarketing are synonymous. However, here we are going to explain that, although they are very similar, they don’t mean the same thing. These two techniques have many things in common. This is because both retargeting and remarketing allow us to identify the interests, tastes, and needs of visitors. This makes it easier for you to customize offers and advertisements. As a result, you will be able to make them much more attractive to users.

 

The biggest difference between these two terms is the way they carry out the strategy. Remarketing focuses on collecting information from your users and visitors to create lists that will then allow you to send emails. In contrast, retargeting focuses on display and paid ads.

 

Types of retargeting

 

To carry out a good retargeting strategy, you must first know what the types of retargeting forms are. This way you will know which one to use.

 

Site retargeting

 

This is the most common and most talked-about type of retargeting.

 

With this, you select the cookie that will go to your visitor’s browser.

 

This way you can make them see your website’s advertisements on any other website.

 

Dynamic retargeting

 

It’s a variant of the previous type, however, it focuses on e-commerce websites.

 

In this sense, it allows you to automate the ads in the sales volumes that are greater.

 

Thanks to this type of retargeting, you can focus on the products that have the greatest movement in your electronic commerce and attract people to them.

 

 

Social retargeting

 

This type of retargeting follows almost all the same steps as site retargeting.

 

By this, we mean that it seeks to attract users to your website.

 

However, social retargeting does it by showing your advertising on the customer or visitor’s social media.

 

 

 

E-mail retargeting

 

Just as the name says, it’s a special strategy used in newsletters and email marketing campaigns.

 

For this, it uses cookies like the previous ones in the visitor’s browser.

 

From there, your website advertisements are shown to users.

 

 

 

CRM retargeting

 

This system can be a bit more complicated to perform and understand.

 

With CRM retargeting, the databases of your lists are compared with the available cookies.

 

It can show the ads to people who link to the page even if they have not visited it recently.

 

This is a way for a former customer to remember your brand.

 

Search retargeting

 

This type of retargeting is very easy since advertising is sent directly to users.

 

For this, it considers the searches they carry out in their browsers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Retargeting goal

 

We’ve discussed the most important elements, the types, and the main objective of retargeting. However, we have not explained its main objective. This marketing strategy aims to impact visitors who have previously visited your website, ensuring that they return to buy your products, read your content more, or subscribe to your newsletters.

 

Another very important objective of retargeting is to make yourself memorable to customers. As a result, retargeting also aims to make visitors easily remember you. If you’re a brand with a predominant place in users’ minds, it’s more likely that they trust you and buy your products. In short, with the help of retargeting, you can make users remember you and then turn them into your clients.

 

What is the retargeting process like?

 

First, the user enters a virtual store and a cookie records the products that some of the users have already clicked on in the past.

 

Once the visitor leaves the page, your website’s code, to perform retargeting and within the same cookies, sneaks into the user’s browser. From that moment, your brand or business advertisements will appear in the client’s search engine. The last step will be taken by the client once they click on the banner and redirects them to your website once more.

 

Besides, retargeting doesn’t only apply to purchases that didn’t materialize. It is also used for users who have already bought something from your brand but want to promote something that will complement it. It’s a way to take advantage of the information you have about your clients’ tastes and what could attract their attention.

Advantages and disadvantages of retargeting

 

Here are some advantages and disadvantages of retargeting.

 

Advantages

 

One of the biggest advantages of retargeting is the impact it has on sales and advertising campaigns compared to traditional ones. This is because your audience is better segmented, allowing you to target them more efficiently.

 

This achieves:

 

• Greater loyalty: Retargeting can help you build loyalty with customers who have previously purchased from your store.
• Reimpact: Many users consult a product’s information on different websites. They do this to make a comparison based on the value of money. Thanks to retargeting you can attract them again to your brand and your products.
• Personalization: With this, you can offer successful advertising to what your client is looking for.

Disadvantages

 

In general, this type of advertising has two possible disadvantages and they are the following:

 

• Excessive customer persecution can drive visitors away from your page or products. This happens because the constant bombardment of advertising will make them uncomfortable. As a result, try not to be too pushy with advertisements, as it can ruin your strategy.
• Ads appearing after a purchase: On many occasions, after a purchase, ads continue to show up even though the user has already purchased the product. This is also detrimental as it can be annoying to the customer and waste the investment.
• Despite its disadvantages, retargeting is essential to winning back potential customers and building customer loyalty. However, effective retargeting requires a strategy based on certain objectives and an exhaustive analysis of all visitor data.

 

Why is retargeting important?

 

Although we would like it to be the case, most customers don’t buy the product once they first see it.

 

That’s why you must use retargeting techniques to encourage customers to return. These retargeting codes will help you appear on your clients’ favorite or most frequented sites.

 

Another important point is that they allow you to better segment the audience according to their behaviors and characteristics.

 

By segmenting them well, you can create advertising that attracts the user to follow you to your website.

 

When should you use retargeting?

 

Retargeting is a technique for brands with followers and old customers. Because of this, it’s an excellent resource, but it’s not ideal for everyone. Here, we explain when you can use this strategy properly to get the best results.

 

• Promote your best-selling products. This will increase your chances of attracting people to your website and improving your sales. All you have to do is create an ad promoting your new products. Finally, you will aim this ad at users who have already bought any of your products.
• Present the new collections: You can do this organically or use ads. These will allow you to showcase your brand’s new products, collections, or accessories, grabbing people’s attention.
• Keep your inventory moving:  If your business is showing that some of its products are on the shelves, this can be a way to promote them and sell them.

 

Tips to make your retargeting work

 

If you want to use retargeting on your website, you should look at the tips we have for you. These will make the difference between a successful strategy and a failure. Here are some tips that will be of great help in your retargeting strategy.

 

Segment your campaigns well

 

You already know that retargeting lists (previously made with the help of a remarketing strategy) allow you to know users and their different needs. This means that your advertisements will be distributed according to the buyer. As a result, they won’t be sent to your entire audience. Thus, achieving the greatest impact.

 

Choose the landing page well

 

Landing pages are one of the most important elements when it comes to turning your visitor into a customer.

 

First, you need an attractive and very specific landing page that expresses your objective.

 

Make sure you have clear ideas about what you want to do.

 

Remember that you will have different lists for each landing page.

 

Limit the frequency and duration of campaigns

 

If you use a very long retargeting strategy, your visitors may get bored of seeing the same ads repeatedly.

 

On the other hand, something worse may happen. You can scare them away by persecuting them. The best thing you can do to avoid this is to pay attention to the frequency of your campaign.

 

For this, consider the number of times a user can see you per day and the duration.

 

Vary the strategies

 

If you don’t want your message to seem repetitive and boring to your followers, try to be more creative with the activities you do.

 

For this, you can have different campaign options and strategies to renew yourself with advertisements.

 

This will move your campaign forward and remain effective.

 

 

 

Do A / B tests

 

With the latter, we mean that you do A/B tests.

 

These tests are ideal for retargeting since you can make different advertising options from the same content.

 

This way, you won’t bore your visitors.

 

 

 

Measure with the right tools

 

Finally, if you cannot measure it, it isn’t marketing, and with these strategies, the same thing happens.

 

Use tools like Google Attribution to measure the impact of each touchpoint across the different channels and devices to keep you informed about whether or not your campaigns are working.

 

 

 

 

BluCactus Korea, your ally in Digital Marketing

 

BluCactus is an international marketing agency serving clients worldwide. Our specialty is creating web designs and optimizing them for online searches. Our team of experts is also dedicated to helping businesses and brands succeed in one of the most competitive sectors in the market: the digital world.

 

BluCactus Korea will accompany you every step of your brand’s journey, from branding your business to creating content. Our focus is on supporting you with the development of your website or the administration of your social media accounts.

 

This online marketing agency, based in Seoul, KR, seeks to strengthen your brand image and take it to the next level. Don’t wait any longer to have the help of the best digital marketing specialists; contact us through our social media or website.

 

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