How re-targeting can benefit your business

What is re-targeting?

Re-targeting is a form of online advertising, also referred to as re-marketing, which helps to keep your brand at the forefront of your customers’ minds.

Re-targeting ads differ from typical banner ads in that they’re served to people who’ve already demonstrated an interest in your brand, products or services, leading to a higher chance of conversion than other digital channels.

Website visitors who are re-targeted with display ads are up to 70% more likely to convert, and re-targeted ads see a click-through rate that’s 10 times higher than the click-through rate for regular display ads.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) surveyed 1000 marketers and found that 91% believed retargeting to be as or more effective than search, email or other display advertising.

How does it work?

Re-targeting campaigns work in one of two ways – pixel-based or list-based. Pixel-based re targeting re-displays material to any anonymous visitor and is the more commonly used form of this tactic.

Pixel-based re-targeting ads work via a cookie-based technology which anonymously ‘follows’ your visitors around the web using a Javascript code.

This code creates a list of your site’s visitors by dropping anonymous cookies in their browsers, which enables re-targeting providers to display ads to your prospective customers as they browse other sites.

List-based re targeting works by using contact information from databases – with this method, you can upload a list of email addresses to your campaign, often via a social channel which then identifies users on that network who match the details to display ads just to them, making it extremely customisable.

Re-targeting is at its most effective when visitors are segmented, for example by the products they viewed, and served ads with clear call-to-actions or offers.

Why is it effective?

Online viewers are open to seeing re-targeted ads, with 25% enjoying seeing them because they remind them of products or services they were previously interested in.

Re-targeting can improve marketing performance in a number of ways, from providing an increased return-on-investment, better conversion rates, cheaper cost-per-impression and is a low-cost form of branding that helps companies to stay on their audience’s radar.

This targeted advertising puts your brand in the view of the right people at the right time, resulting in a higher click-through rate and increased conversions.

The average click-through rate for regular display ads is 0.07%, whereas re-targeted ads see an average click-through rate of 0.7%.

In fact, 35% of marketers utilize search re-targeting as their primary method of increasing brand awareness.

Re-targeted customers are up to three times more likely to click on a display ad than those who’ve never interacted with your business before.

While effective in its own right, re-targeting is especially powerful when used as part of a wider digital strategy, working in conjunction with tools such as Google Ads or Facebook Ads. Together, these methods help to drive traffic, raise brand awareness and increase conversions for greater success.

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