Remarketing and retargeting are two digital marketing strategies that can help you increase conversions, loyalty, and retention. They both involve reaching out to people who have visited your website or app in the past, but have not taken the desired action yet. However, they are not exactly the same thing. In this article, we will explain what remarketing and retargeting are, how they differ, and how you can use them effectively.
What is remarketing?
Remarketing is a broader term that encompasses any marketing activity that uses data from past website or app visitors to re-engage them. Remarketing can include email marketing, direct mail, phone calls, or even social media posts. Remarketing aims to remind your potential customers of your brand and products, and persuade them to take action.
Remarketing is based on first-party data, which means you collect data from your own website or app visitors. This data can help you understand their behavior, preferences, interests, and needs. You can use this data to create personalized messages and offers that resonate with them.
What is retargeting?
Retargeting is a specific type of remarketing that focuses on paid advertising. Retargeting uses platforms like Google Ads, Facebook Ads, Microsoft Advertising, or AdRoll to display ads to people who have visited your website or app in the past. Retargeting ads can appear on search engines, social media sites, websites, or apps that are relevant to your audience.
Retargeting ads are designed to capture attention and drive action. They usually show an image or a video of your product or service, along with a catchy headline and a clear call-to-action. Retargeting ads can also use remarketing lists to target people who have already shown interest in your brand.
How do remarketing and retargeting differ?
Remarketing and retargeting are related but not identical concepts. Here are some key differences between them:
- Remarketing is more general than retargeting. Remarketing can include any type of marketing activity that uses first-party data from past website or app visitors.
- Retargeting is more specific than remarketing. Retargeting only involves paid advertising on platforms like Google Ads or Facebook Ads.
- Remarketing can use email marketing as well as other channels. Retargeting only uses paid advertising.
- Remarketing can target people based on their behavior across different channels. Retargeting only targets people based on their behavior on one channel (usually your website or app).
How to use remarketing and retargeting effectively?
Remarketing and retargeting can be very effective if done right. Here are some tips on how to use them effectively:
- Define your goals and audience. Before you start any remarketing or retargeting campaign, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve and who you want to reach. For example, do you want to increase sales, generate leads, build loyalty, or drive traffic? And who are your ideal customers? What are their demographics, psychographics, pain points, and motivations?
- Segment your audience. Not all visitors are equal when it comes to their potential for conversion. You need to segment your audience based on their behavior on your website or app. For example, you can segment them by the pages they visited, the products they viewed or added to cart but did not buy from them.
- Create relevant and personalized messages. Once you have segmented your audience based on their behavior on your website or app, you need to create relevant and personalized messages for each segment. You need to tailor your messages based on their stage in the buyer's journey, their interests, their needs, and their pain points. You also need to use clear headlines, compelling images, strong calls-to-action, and social proof in your messages.
- Test different variations of your messages. To find out what works best for each segment of your audience, you need to test different variations of your messages. You can test different elements such as headlines, images, colors, fonts, copy, offers, etc. You can also test different platforms such as email marketing, direct mail, phone calls, social media posts, etc.
- Track and measure your results. To know if your remarketing or retargeting campaign is successful, you need to track and measure its results. You need to use metrics such as impressions
- Cost-per-click (CPC), cost-per-acquisition (CPA), return on ad spend (ROAS), etc. You also need to compare your results with your goals and benchmarks. You need to analyze what works and what doesn't, and optimize your campaign accordingly.
Conclusion
Remarketing and retargeting are powerful digital marketing strategies that can help you re-engage your website visitors and customers. They can help you increase conversions, loyalty, and retention. However, they require careful planning, execution, and optimization. By following the tips in this article, you can use remarketing and retargeting effectively to achieve your marketing objectives.
Source:
(1) What is remarketing? A guide to how it works | Adobe. https://business.adobe.com/blog/basics/what-is-remarketing.
(2) 3 Effective Retargeting Strategies That Actually Work (With Examples). https://neilpatel.com/blog/effective-retargeting-strategies/.
(3) Remarketing vs. Retargeting: What's the Difference & How to Use Them. https://www.lyfemarketing.com/blog/remarketing-vs-retargeting/.
(4) Remarketing Vs. Retargeting: Are They The Same Thing?. https://www.searchenginejournal.com/remarketing-vs-retargeting/379703/.
