Today's guest post is from Callum Mundine from Warble Media. He's giving you an in-depth guide on why retargeting ads is becoming so popular and breaking down the key points on how you can use it in your business. 

Read on to see if retargeting is good marketing option for your business, and if so, how you can start crushing your sales goals faster! 

“Retargeting” is a marketing strategy which enables the delivery of personalized adverts to users who have previously visited your website. By showing them relevant content as they move around the web, you can engage with users and recapture their interest.

The end game is to convert casual browsers into loyal buyers, but in order to do this successfully, it’s essential to have a proper strategy in place. Read on to find out how to get the most out of your retargeting campaign.

Why is retargeting so popular?

Retargeting is replacing the more traditional method of purchasing ad space across a variety of websites, and the reason it has become so popular with marketers is its ability to offer unparalleled audience targeting.

Instead of relying on a marketer’s selection of ad space on sites where they think their users frequent, retargeting harnesses the power of buyer intent, one of the most important marketing assets you can capitalize on.

Retargeting allows you to customize adverts based on how users interact on your own site and the interests they show, making it possible to keep engaging with them wherever they choose to navigate next.

Is retargeting right for you?

Retargeting works by placing a snippet of code - a pixel - on your website which collects essential visitor data, such as the pages they have visited and how long they have spent on your site. The pixel also places retargeting cookies in the visitor’s browser, which allows you to retarget them with personalized ads as they continue to surf the web.

Retargeting is a good marketing option when you own your own website, as you’ll be tracking user behavior specific to your site. If you only market yourself on social pages, this probably won’t be a good fit. You’ll also get the best results once you reach more than 500 visitors per month and your website is well structured and optimized for navigation.

How to use retargeting

Retargeting works across multiple channels such as websites, platforms, and social networks, so you can take full advantage of buyer intent wherever the user navigates to next. By showing them customized ads which reflect their interests, you can keep a user engaged with your brand whilst check out their Facebook page or read the news.

On the Web

Website retargeting generally works well for any brand wanting to engage with current or prospective customers online. It involves a combination of customer messaging and targeted ad placement, and can be extremely valuable to eCommerce stores, media and entertainment websites, tech B2B, and many others.

On Social Networks

Social networks provide great opportunities to connect with a large, highly engaged audience. As well as taking advantage of tools such as likes, shares, and comments to expand your reach, it provides the perfect setting to connect with users and highlight what your brand is about.

On Mobile Devices

You can retarget desktop users as they browse on their mobile device and vice versa, which is crucial as research shows campaigns including mobile platforms have a higher click through rate (CTR) as well as higher impressions.

Campaign strategies

Including these points in your campaign strategy should vastly increase the chances of fulfilling your retargeting goals:

• Dynamic Adverts
  Personalize your ads to showcase products which are relevant to a user’s browsing behavior. This should drive a better performance across all devices.

• Lookalike Audience
  This involves automating new customer acquisition by targeting digital profiles which are similar to your existing customers.

• Expand your reach
  Use cross-device retargeting to reach users across a variety of devices such as mobile, tablets, and desktop computers. People switch up devices on a daily basis, and this will enable you to reach them wherever they choose to browse.

A “full-funnel” approach

Adopting a full-funnel approach will help provide personalized content to users across various platforms and devices, but more importantly, show content which is appropriate to where they are in the sales cycle.

Instead of showing one message to your entire audience, you can aim to educate users who aren’t aware of your product or brand (at the top of the funnel), convert users who have already shown an interest in your product (in the middle), and grow your customer base by offering exclusive deals or showcasing other products (at the bottom).

Segmenting your audience

Coming back to the value of buyer intent, retargeting allows you to capture information about a user’s interest and buying behavior. You can use this data to segment them into groups according to the actions they’ve taken, and display personalized ads based on their interests.

This is where the funnel strategy comes in too, as you can group users according to where they are in the funnel. For instance, placing users who left your homepage without clicking on anything in a top-funnel campaign, whilst those who placed an item in the cart but didn’t go through with the purchase in a bottom-funnel campaign.

The bottom line

Retargeting allows you to engage with users and drive conversions by showing them customized ads which reflect their interests and buyer intent. With the right strategy in place, you can reach a highly targeted audience like never before.

Now your turn! 

Have you ever tried retargeting ads? Does it seem too tech-y or intimidating?

About Callum Mundine 

Callum is the head of marketing at Warble Media. They are a boutique website design and digital marketing agency based in Dubbo, NSW, Australia. If you have any questions about marketing, feel free to contact him at callum@warblemedia.com.au