What is retargeting?

You’ve probably looked at various hotels on a website at some point, only to close the page again. You’ve likely also come across one of those hotels again as a banner on another website… Coincidence? Certainly not! Companies are constantly using retargeting – have you ever heard of it? Retargeting is the art of re-presenting a particular product or service to someone who has previously shown an interest in it. Retargeting is often used as part of an online marketing strategy, because… Let us explain! Read on to find out more.

How does retargeting work?

Retargeting, also known as ad retargeting or remarketing, is an art form of advertising. It is a specific marketing process whereby you target specific adverts at people who have previously shown an interest in this type of product or service, but have not yet purchased it. By using retargeting, you aim to persuade these people to take the plunge through targeted adverts and encourage them to make a purchase.

Retargeting is used, for example, when you search for specific hotels. Through the use of pixels or cookies, you as a consumer can be recognised, making it possible to apply retargeting at a later stage.

Retargeting: the statistics

Retargeting has proven to be highly effective. When implemented correctly, it can increase the conversion rate of traffic to your website by 70 per cent. In addition, it can yield an average conversion rate of 147 per cent; it can increase brand awareness by as much as 500 per cent and boost website traffic by a staggering 700 per cent by encouraging previous visitors to return.

Different types of retargeting

To give you a better understanding of retargeting, we’d like to walk you through two different examples and show you how retargeting works.

Retargeting example 1 – You’ve decided to take up a new sport and are thinking about a team sport, such as football. As a first step, you’re browsing a well-known sports equipment website for the best football boots. But taking up a sport isn’t just a matter of picking out a pair of football boots, so you decide to close the website and leave it at that for now. First, you need to find a football club; you start looking for clubs in your area. Whilst searching for a new favourite sports club, you suddenly come across offers for football boots you’ve seen before… coincidence? No! Retargeting.

Retargeting example 2 – You’ve had your eye on a pair of absolutely brilliant trousers from a particular brand for a while now. Unfortunately, it’s quite an expensive brand, and your wallet won’t allow you to make this purchase… Yet you keep looking at those lovely trousers and have even added them to your basket a few times, only to decide in the end ‘not to go ahead with it after all’. Just as you did twice earlier this week, you open the website for your new favourite pair of jeans again and your eyes light up: ‘10 per cent off all jeans today’. Coincidence? No! Retargeting again!

Why do companies use retargeting?

In addition to the statistics mentioned above, the use of targeting offers many advantages for a business! For example, you can fully personalise adverts when using retargeting; people who did indeed view the jeans in the example above will receive a discount code for jeans, whilst people who were in the same situation but were looking at a jumper can receive a discount code for jumpers. Furthermore, a company can use retargeting to build brand awareness. Consumers are often wary of buying a product from a brand they don’t yet know; is the quality any good? Can I trust this brand? Retargeting adverts display the brand repeatedly via banners, meaning that consumers (whether consciously or not) are exposed to the brand more and more often; the brand becomes more familiar to them and they are more likely to choose it!

Email retargeting

Although the examples of retargeting above showed that retargeting takes place using pixels or cookies, it can also be carried out using email addresses. If you’ve ever provided your email address, you may well have received an email marked ‘ad’; this is another form of retargeting, but it’s just as effective!

Looking to use retargeting?

Have you become enthusiastic about retargeting as a marketing tool? And would you therefore like to incorporate retargeting into your marketing strategy? We’d be delighted to support you in this and help you set up successful retargeting campaigns.