Retargeting – Increase conversions and ROI
Every once in a while a distinct step change occurs in online marketing and one of the more recent ones still to filter through to the mainstream is retargeting, or more specifically to the PPC management front is Google AdWords Remarketing.
Retargeting is where you are able to display a targeted advert to someone who has already visited you site (or even a specific page on your site). With Google AdWords remarketing your ads are shown on the display network, so will appear when the user is just viewing other sites which display Google AdWords ads via the Google adsense display network.
AdWords remarketing is a fantastic tool to be able to get a second bite at those users who have already carried out a search one of your targeted keywords, clicked your advert and visited your landing page, then for whatever reason not carried out an action you wanted.
How does remarketing work?
- Visitor views your site.
- They leave without making a purchase or filling in a lead form etc.
- The continue to other websites where your AdWords remarketing campaign displays specific retargeting ads to them when they are just surfing normally.
Your ads can be in a variety of formats such as text, banner image, video ads etc. and can appear across display partner sites such as YouTube, Gmail, Google Maps, etc., plus millions of other partner sites, Although image ads tend to work better in our experience, especially if a different message is used that promotes unique selling points, discounts or incentives.
So what are the benefits of AdWords Remarketing?
Essentially with retargeting you can achieve a higher ROI from :
Better ad targeting – Users have already been on your site, they’ve already done the hard work to find you, you now just give them a nudge by retargeting them with more specific ads.
Better branding – Users will see your ads repeatedly AFTER being exposed to your brand via the initial click onto your site.
Better conversion ratios – Users are often more likely to convert after they have been on your site than on the first occurrence.
What other reasons make AdWords retargeting a tool you should be using?
Remarketing gives you a bigger presence online.
The searcher will see your advert when they are surfing other sites, this builds up brand recognition so ticks the “branding” box, they may have thought you were a small site yet they’ll start to see your ads more often, (how many times have someone said “red car” and you see them everywhere after!?, same theory here so users will probably think your ads have been around all along and that you are a bigger, more trustworthy and stable operation as a result.
Remarketing is very cheap (*especially compared to normal search campaign PPC click costs)
The searcher has already been on your site, seen your brand and is looking for a solution that your company, product or service offers so a conversion is more likely to occur than with a cold search from scratch. People abandon sites and even shopping carts for many reasons, not always because they simply don’t like your site, prices or offering. They can be distracted, or run out of time so remarketing is a great way to get a second (or more) chance to remind searchers about your site.
Remarketing converts
You can create remarketing ads for visitors that hit a certain page, so for instance you can target anyone who abandoned a shopping cart, you could display an advert that offers them a discount voucher to come back and complete their purchase, or promotes the trust and site security features or even delivery or returns policy and only those that had visited the shopping cart page would see it.
In general the click through rate is higher on remarketing campaigns compared to normal content ones and the conversion rate is usually higher too so it’s a very cheap way to convert searchers who have already expressed an interest in the product or services you offer. Remarketing can be used very specifically as it facilitates a very high degree of targeting.
You could even target people who have already bought one product from you with adverts for accessories or an up-sell, for example if you sold cameras, you could set up an AdWords remarketing campaign to display lens offers to anyone who just a camera body, the offer could be very specific if the hard work to set it all up is done e.g : “£25 off all Cannon lens for your Cannon 600D” could convert far better than a generic “Great prices on all cameras and lens” normal AdWords advert.
Does it work for everyone?
In a word NO; Conversion rates vary wildly depending on factors such as the sector, targeting, but on the whole on a well targeted AdWords remarketing campaign they are much better than on a normal search campaign so it’s definitely a tool you should test at the very least using to get the full benefit of your adwords ppc spend.
Anything you should be aware of?
Frequency is key, we once clicked a software ad that retargeted us like crazy, every site we went on it seemed to be there, it was very annoying so we always make sure the retargeting frequency caps setting is suitable to the product or service and we take care to find the balance between retargeting effectively and harassing the user and leaving a negative brand impression.
Want to give retargeting a go?
You can find out how to enable AdWords remarketing yourself HERE or we would be happy to do help set up remarketing campaigns for you. call 0800 228 9122 or use our contact form.
