Image courtesy of cocoate.com
There are many ways to market your small or online business. You can send out flyers, postcard or other mail-based advertisements. You can pay for ads to run on different television networks and radio stations. Or, you can take advantage of the multitude of potential customers through online marketing techniques such as retargeting.
What is Retargeting
The best way to describe retargeting is to think of it as a friendly reminder that’s sent out over the Internet as a way to bring customers back to your website. These ads are a way of re-promoting your business website to those who have already visited your website and have an interest in what your company has to offer.
When a potential customer visits your website, their browser is tagged with a cookie. This cookie will inform other websites you’re advertising on when the same potential customer visits. Your banner ad is then personalized and displayed. With search retargeting, your ad is displayed when a browser searches a certain set of terms.
Importance of Retargeted Ads
When promoting your business you want to advertise the product and services you have to offer to as many people as possible. But how do you know your advertisements are getting in the hands of those who are most likely to take advantage of your products and services? With traditional advertising, such as billboards, mailers and media ads, you don’t know. With retargeting, you know the browser already has an interest in your services and your advertisements are being seen by those most likely to return and make a purchase. In the long run, retargeting will reduce wasted money by not advertising to those who aren’t interested in your company.
Ad Design
Your retargeted ad must remind the browser of their last visit to your website. It should catch their eye without going overboard. Use bright colors and don’t forget to include your company’s name or logo. To ensure your ad pops from the computer screen, select colors and a design that’s different than the page you’re advertising on.
Tracking Results
As a business owner you have the choice of how you want to tag browsers who visit your website. You can place a retargeting pixel, or cookie, on their browser when they visit your site or just certain sections of the site. This cookie stays on their computer and when they click on an ad to return to your site, a signal is sent to you. This is known as a “burn pixel.” This will help you keep track of how many customers were tagged and how many converted.
You can also track browsers based on click-through and view-through conversion. Click-through are those who clicked on one of your retargeting ads and a view-through are those who came from another Internet source, such as an Internet search.
No matter how large or small you want your retargeting campaign, the most important thing is to get started as soon as possible. Even if you’re not planning on advertising yet, start tagging browsers so you have a database of potential clients to advertise to when you start your retargeting campaign. Retargeting is the marketing strategy of today and will work to get those casual browsers back to your site.