The terms retargeting and remarketing are frequently used interchangeably. Retargeting often refers to pitching advertisements or emails to individuals who have viewed products on a brand’s website or have left items abandoned in online shopping carts. The ads or emails may offer discounts on the relevant items, much like how a salesperson may provide additional discounts when shoppers appear lukewarm on making purchases.
Remarketing can refer to pitching ads or emails to individuals who have browsed a firm’s website.
Just recently, RTB House, which provides retargeting for brands worldwide, announced that it has expanded its operations into the U.S. with new offices in Boston, Chicago and New York city, reports MarTechAdvisor.
As part of the initiative, it has appointed two senior executives to grow its market share in North America. RTB maintains that its artificial intelligence technology is disrupting the retargeting industry by identifying high-value shoppers and then creating 1:1 personalized advertisements.
Ecommerce platforms such as Etsy are also expanding their retargeting services for third party sellers. Etsy recently enhanced its Sales and Coupons tool so that sellers can email unique coupon codes for items that shoppers have placed in their online carts, reports Ecommerce Bytes.
Etsy is charging sellers 10 cents for each email for the automated service and allows sellers to put a monthly limit on the retargeting fees.
Beyond Spots & Dots, which is an integrated advertising agency in Pittsburgh, is also expanding its services. It will now offer programmatic tactics that include retargeting based on search engine intent data as well of geofencing data, according to a press release.
Research underscores why firms are pushing into retargeting. According to connection, retargeting ads are 76% more likely to generate clicks than regular ads. Retargeting ads also improve brand awareness and lead to a 1046% increase in branded searches. Connectio also maintains that leveraging retargeting with other channels can result in a 50% increase in sales.
At least by some accounts, many brands haven’t fully realized the benefits of retargeting. Advertising software company Nanigans estimates that brands left $5 billion in revenue on the table last year due to shortcomings in remarketing programs, reports MarkektingProfs.
Some strategies inappropriately follow internet users with advertisements that don’t apply to individuals’ buying interests. By doing so, brands waste advertising spending. Brands also mistakenly pitch advertisements to individuals who have already purchased items regularly.
Because the individuals are already purchasing products, the advertisements may be unnecessary. Brands would be better pitching ads to individuals that have expressed intent to purchase but have yet to buy anything.
Other mistakes that appear to contradict common sense are also fairly common, according to Econsultancy.
Some retargeting campaigns pitch products that prospects haven’t expressed interest in and some campaigns alienate individuals by pitching ads too frequently. Ads may not be compelling and some campaigns may fail to offer promotional prices or other deals to get individuals to complete purchases.
As with an emerging technology, such mistakes aren’t surprising. Over time, however, brands will probably enhance retargeting to improve ROI.
