What is re-targeting?
This blog will try and explain the very basics of re-targeting and explore the pro's and cons of using it in your marketing mix.
Pretty much everyone has been exposed to re-marketing at some point. Once you understand what it is, I will leave it up to you, to determine if it is a good thing or not.
So, when you are browsing around the internet, you may land on a web site, browse around and then leave for what ever reason. Now have you noticed that maybe the brand or maybe one or some of the exact products you were looking at are now being advertised on other website? Coincidence you may think? Of course it is not. You may find that those adverts follow you round the internet wherever you go?
This is re-targeting. What happens, is a small file called a cookie is created on your computer, that stores basic information about your visit to the brands website. Now Google is able to access those cookies and know exactly when you visited that brands site and what pages you were looking at. If that brand has a re-targeting campaign set up  via there Google adwords (advertising) account, they are now able to determine when one of their adverts, often including the exact product you were looking at is served to you on other websites. But only those that have advertising space on them that is ran via Google's ad network.
How many times this advert is shown to you and for how long is determined by the brand or the marketing agency running the campaign of their behalf.
So why do they do it? The aim is to remind you or entice you to back to the site and order the product or service.
Maybe you were not ready to buy that day but today you are, or you was just not sure, a little nudge can sway you to make the purchase. Or it simply annoys you and is creepy?
The Pros of running a re-targeting campaign are that for some industries this does result in sales, the frequent reminders keep the brand or product top of mind and a percentage then go on to buy. That percentage does vary by product and industry, but there is no doubt it can result in an upturn in sales for those that were on the fence.
The Cons of running re-targeting campaigns are quite simple, for everyone that does not buy there are an equal amount of people if not more that are quite simply irritated by the adverts. This can lead to a negative feeling towards the brand as a whole. As a result any future purchases are less likely.
I think like any advertising, its not advertising that's the problem its bad advertising. There are too many people that set these campaigns to run for too long and too frequently. If they were subtle and odd advert appeared in relevant places, it may work to serve as a reminder that is not pushy.
What do you think is re-targeting a good thing or not?
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