Tag Archives: retargeting

3 Tips for Improving Your Retargeting Campaign

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A retargeting campaign is exactly what it sounds like. It retargets people that have been to your website (wherever you put the retargeting code) by displaying ads to them throughout the internet. Retargeting campaigns can be run as a component of Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaigns on networks such as Google AdWords.

You’ve probably noticed that after you visit certain websites – or search for certain products on Amazon for example – that you see ads for those items. Seeing those ads is no coincidence and it’s a great way to stay in the minds of people that have already shown interest in your business.

Here are some tips for improving and enhancing your existing retargeting campaigns.

1. Be sure to use frequency capping on the number of ads you serve.

While retargeting is a great way to keep connecting with your audience, nobody wants to be annoying. Serving an excessive amount of ads to your audience can be overwhelming. Using frequency capping will set a maximum number of times that people can see your ads throughout the Google Display Network.

To turn on frequency capping in Google AdWords, go to the campaign settings and look under “Advanced Settings”.

PPC frequency capping

Frequency capping can be set by day, week or month. There isn’t a set number of impressions to choose, and it can vary depending on factors such as your sales-cycle and the amount of competition in the industry. We like to use a baseline of 30 ads spread out throughout the month, so that each person sees about one ad per day if they are online regularly.

2. Place retargeting codes in places other than just your website

There are places you can put retargeting codes that you might be overlooking. If you send out email blasts or have a custom application tab on Facebook for example, a simple code can be put on it behind-the-scenes in order to serve ads to all of those people.

3. Use a combination of text and display ads

Display ads are the most common form of retargeting, but it’s also a good idea to incorporate text ads into your campaign. This will give you more opportunities throughout the Google Display Network to reach your audience.

Retargeting ads are most effective when you can change your images and messages often. Using a mix of text and display ads will help keep them fresh.

Implementing these 3 things will optimize and enhance your retargeting efforts. Leave us a comment if you’re using a form of retargeting in your search engine marketing strategy.

Social Media & Online Advertising Help You Reach Your Audience

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Lately I’ve been hearing a lot of my friends complaining that they are “creeped out” when they see Facebook ads tailored to their demographics or interests, or when they see ads from websites they have recently visited on other websites. This is technology at work to benefit both the user and the marketer.

Facebook’s privacy policy has long been a controversial issue. In my opinion, if you put something on the internet (especially something about yourself) you need to have the mindset that it could be possible for anyone and everyone to read it. By entering your interests or personal information in your profile – even something as simple as your gender or marital status – you are making it possible for those advertising on Facebook to group you into a “category”, which is then used for marketing purposes.

Now, I don’t know what makes advertisements catered to my interests so creepy. Personally, I think it’s great. Do I want to see ads about fantasy football? Not really. Guys, do you want to know about a great deal on stilettos? Doubt it. The same principle applies to marketers. Why spend your advertising budget on an uninterested audience? Seeking out your target audience is certainly not revolutionary, but once it is applied to Facebook, it seems to make people unsettled. These strategies are done to help you get content you want and eliminate clutter.

How does Facebook target users?

The thing that I think people misconstrue about Facebook’s ad targeting is HOW they are actually getting targeted. It’s easy to think that “big brother” is scouring your every move trying to figure out what type of person you are, but in reality, the only information used is what you voluntarily supply. Let’s say I opened up a dog grooming salon in Detroit, Michigan. I would be able to specify that I want to serve ads to those who report they are living in Eastern Michigan and have dogs listed as one of their interests. Better yet, I could even be as specific as targeting dog owners with the breed of dogs that tend to give me the most business AND set a geographic distance from the zip code of my location(s). Talk about specific, relevant, and cost effective advertising!

Retargeting follows you around the web

Another effective way to advertise to a more appropriate audience is through retargeting. It’s not necessarily a coincidence to see an ad from a website that you might have visited a couple of days ago. Some websites set cookies through your browser when you visit a certain page(s) on their website and can then serve ads to you on other websites while you are surfing the internet after setting this cookie. This is also possible to do through Google Adwords via the Audiences functionality. After putting a tracking cookie on specific pages of a website, display ads will then be shown to individuals who have visited those pages as they browse websites on the Google Display Network.

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