No, Remarketing Ads Are Not Retargeting Ads!

In the world of pay-per-click campaigns, there is a wide variety of tools to market to people who have already come in contact with your brand. In most cases, they might have already visited your site. Well, congratulations! You now have the capability to market to them again. Yes, you can use the tools out there to reach out to everyone who were interested in your product or service; those that have expressed a high level of purchase intent. With that in mind, there are two main terms called remarketing and retargeting. While they sound almost the same, they are not. Let’s explore the differences between the two:

When You Hear “Remarketing”

Remarketing is basically a term to describe re-engaging customers via electronic mail or email. This form of marketing is usually used during lifecycle marketing email campaigns, upsell and cross sell email campaigns, and email campaigns that target those who abandon their orders at the last minute. When it comes to remarketing ads, they can be delivered in either or both image and text display formats.

What’s more, remarketing advertisements can be easily managed in Google AdWords. These ads will be displayed on web pages that have been visited by your target demographic; these web pages should have also accepted Google ad placements for it to work. In addition, remarketing lists are recognized for their minimum requirement of 100 cookie IDs to enable a campaign to become active.

When You Hear “Retargeting”

Next up is retargeting. The term is used to describe display ads and online ad placements, which are shown based on a user’s past activity on your site. You might be wondering how the web could keep track of such activities. The answer is cookies! Cookies are often set when a user visits a site; you use them to target ads to them on other websites they visit. One of the most appealing things about retargeting is that it is done through third party networks like the Google Display Network. It gives webmasters the ability to reach users wherever they are.

Remarketing vs. Retargeting: What is Right for You?

By now, you are already aware that remarketing and retargeting are for different segments. So the big question is: “Which one should I pick?”

• How to know if you need remarketing:

When it comes to online shopping, one can’t do more to express interest in buying something other than adding something to a cart. When someone adds an item to their shopping cart, there is strong reason to believe that he or she is super interested in buying your products or services; even if they didn’t follow through with the sale. Don’t you want to know why they didn’t buy in the end? If your answer is yes under this circumstance, then remarketing is for you. You will be able to find out what you can do for your customers, and what you can do to get them to make a purchase the next time round.

• How to know if you need retargeting:

Also know as display ads, retargeting is recommended when you want to keep your brand fresh in the minds people who have expressed interest in what you have to offer when they visited your site. In fact, retargeting is the repetition of messaging. Don’t worry, it’s not spam and they offer a positive ROI from a click-through perspective. When a user checks out your website, they click and browse. While they are browsing through your site, you want to remind them periodically you exist. When they are finally ready to buy your amazing IT gadget, you use retargeting to re-trigger their initial need and make them think of you.