You have your website, you have your ad campaigns up and running, you feel like you’re doing the best you can to get people to find you, but the return still seems low. What can you do?

The key thing to remember is that for many people, the journey to converting online is not a one-step process. Whether you’re tracking a conversion as someone buying your product, filling out a contact form, or registering for a newsletter or event, people tend to take time to make decisions online. Unfortunately, people often only pay attention to the last click people make: the click to convert, even though their journey to deciding on you may have involved several separate visits to your site, clicking through lots of different pages.

So how do you get people not only to see you online, but comeback for a second (or fifth) look? Retargeting is one of the ways to stay in front of potential customers. These are people who already know who you are, who have already checked you out, but may just need a couple of more nudges to make that final decision.

What is retargeting?

Have you ever been shopping for shoes online, and suddenly everywhere you go shoe ads seem to pop up? That’s an example of retargeting. Retargeting is when a cookie is placed in a user’s browser when they visit your site.  You can then create audiences of everyone with those cookies so your ads only appear to those people who have visited your site.

Remarketing is a term that is often used interchangeably with retargeting. While the distinction is in flux, remarketing generally refers to email marketing for customers who have voluntarily typed their information into your site. Retargeting relies on cookies, and keeps you in front of your audience via online ads. Both are great ways of focusing on audiences that have already shown interest in your company.

What are your goals?

To have a successful retargeting campaign, you have to know what success looks like for you. In the web world, success is often measured by conversions: those final online actions like a purchase that you’re trying to get your audience to do in the first place. Since there are many steps to creating a loyal customer, you may want to create several different campaigns focused on different stages of the process.

First contact: You can’t create a retargeting campaign if people aren’t visiting your site in the first place. Search engine ads that show up when people type related keywords can be narrowed to certain geographical regions, or social media ads can be aimed as people who share interests similar to your company or fit a certain demographic.

The Follow-Up: Once you have a steady stream of people coming to your site, you want to make sure they come back. That’s where retargeting comes into play. People who visit your site can now see you as they browse other sites, or scroll across you on their social media and choose to follow you. This helps you become more than a one-time click, but a recognizable option.

Specific Reminders: Retargeting doesn’t have to just be generic reminders; you can get very specific with what you choose to show people again. Say someone was looking at a specific pair of shoes on your site. Instead of just showing them an ad for your site again, show them an ad for that specific pair of shoes. One click will take them right back to where they stopped and allow them to continue through the shopping experience.

Communicate with your marketing team

Data is everywhere, and there are lots of different ways to make it work for your business. The great thing is that you don’t have to know them all; your marketing team can craft a plan that’s just right for you. However, for that to work well, you have to communicate all your goals with them.

It’s also important to communicate how you’ve been seeing your real-world business affected by your online efforts. Filling in that gap of knowledge to your marketing team can help them make suggestions to better direct their efforts. Retargeting is not a one-size-fits-all solution, but it can be a powerful tool when used correctly.

We at Kolbeco love helping businesses get where they’re trying to go. If you’re interested in revamping your online campaigns or learning more about retargeting, reach out to us!