Advertising Retargeting and Marketing | Audience Development

For a digital marketing strategy to be effective, it is essential to deliver the right information to the right target at the right time. This requires using the appropriate media at the opportune moment and communicating with optimal visuals and language for the user.

To grow your audience, multiple strategies are available, including advertising retargeting, also known as retargeting or remarketing. At PH Media, we have plenty of ideas to help you deliver tailored content to your audience. Keep reading to discover the hidden benefits of retargeting!

What is Retargeting?

Retargeting is an ad distribution technique initiated by Google Ads (formerly Google AdWords). However, it is now possible and even recommended to use retargeting on other platforms, such as social media.

Retargeting involves reconnecting with a user who visited a website but did not take action (e.g., did not call or purchase). To do this, they are shown ads directly related to their previous searches when they browse other sites and platforms at opportune times.

EXAMPLE

A Concrete Example of Retargeting:

RETARGETING

Mathieu, one of PH Media's team members, is passionate about motorcycles. When shopping online for his new ride, he visits several motorcycle dealership websites. On Dealer X's site, Mathieu finds his dream motorcycle…but it's a bit too expensive, so he leaves Dealer X's site and visits competitor sites. Between browsing sites, Mathieu goes on Facebook, and what does he see? An ad from Dealer X offering him the dream motorcycle he viewed earlier—this time, with a discount. Mathieu buys the motorcycle.

What really happened? When Mathieu viewed the detailed page of the motorcycle he liked, he was identified through a cookie…when Mathieu went on Facebook, the dealership had purchased an ad to retarget him on Facebook with the product he was interested in…at an unbeatable price! This type of situation has probably happened to you too when browsing the web. Now you know it’s not a coincidence if you see ads for products you recently viewed online…you’ve been retargeted!

WHY DO RETARGETING?

The advantages of using this technique are numerous:

Your targeting is optimized as you reach users who are already showing interest in your business;
You can adapt your retargeting lists to achieve specific goals (e.g., targeting those who added items to their cart but didn’t complete the transaction);
You can boost audience development when members of your remarketing lists browse the countless websites that are part of Google’s Display Network.

In short, retargeting greatly increases your chances of converting a user into a lead or, better yet, a customer!

HOW DOES RETARGETING WORK?

To create lists of users who visited your website, a code must be inserted on your page. When someone visits that page, an anonymous cookie is stored on their computer. This cookie ID is automatically added to the corresponding Google Ads remarketing list.

This process is essential for creating a paid ad that targets the user "right on the mark." Your ad can be shown on Google’s Display Network, the search engine, or YouTube. Facebook can also be used for a retargeting campaign — on its own network and Instagram, or even on a network of partner websites. The possibilities are endless!

Building and Growing an Audience

To build and expand a business's audience, as we’ve just seen, you can use targeted users’ cookies to create a retargeting list. You can also utilize UTM principles, GLID, mobile IDs, and “lookalike” audiences. By growing your audience, you can reach more users who might be interested in your products & services and spark or encourage purchase interest at the most opportune moments in their search, consideration, and purchase journey online.

It is also possible to rely on direct email marketing (e.g., sending a newsletter from a database). Additionally, with Facebook and Google, you can identify audiences with the same demographic profile as your best customers…a highly effective way to expose your business to users likely interested in your products or services! The web offers a world of possibilities to reach your target audience by considering their interests!

TYPES OF RETARGETING

If advertising retargeting interests you, the Google Ads platform offers several retargeting methods for businesses, such as:

Dynamic;
Customer list retargeting;
Standard retargeting;
Video retargeting.

Knowing the crucial elements to make an informed choice among the multiple options is not given to everyone. Talk with a professional who can offer a personalized strategy using state-of-the-art tools and software.

Facebook Business Manager also offers businesses various retargeting methods. Facebook retargeting allows targeting page followers and third-party audiences, such as those of a website or external database. Here are some targeting criteria:

By socio-demographic criteria;
By interest;
By custom audience;
By lookalike audience;
By saved audience.

Several additional steps are required to create your retargeting campaigns. Our experts can guide you or set up everything for your business to ensure your digital strategies are as optimal as possible.

For your advertising campaigns using retargeting successfully, trust PH Media, your reference for digital marketing in Montreal!