Remarketing vs Retargeting: Which is Better for Marketing
April 24, 2021
Prashant Shukla
Retargeting and remarketing are two distinct strategies that businesses can use to re-engage potential customers. While these terms are often used interchangeably, they have different approaches. To help businesses understand the intricacies of both strategies, this guide will provide you with real-world examples, industry-standard statistics, and expert opinions to get a better understanding.
Understanding Retargeting:
Retargeting is a digital marketing strategy that focuses on re-engaging people who have already visited a website by displaying targeted ads to users as they browse other websites or social media platforms. The goal of retargeting is to remind and persuade potential customers to return to the website and complete a desired action, such as making a purchase or filling out a form.
How Retargeting Works
Retargeting operates by identifying users who engaged with a website through browser cookies. Subsequently, these users are presented with targeted ads as they browse other websites and social media platforms. This persistent exposure keeps your brand at the forefront of their minds, fostering increased conversion potential.
Benefits of Retargeting
- Boosted Conversion Rates: Retargeting’s laser-focused approach targets users who already showed interest, resulting in higher conversion rates compared to conventional display advertising.
- Enhanced Brand Recall: By consistently showcasing your brand, retargeting strengthens brand awareness and solidifies your position in users’ minds.
- Precise Targeting: Tailored messaging allows businesses to address specific audience segments, improving engagement and click-through rates.
- Cost-Effectiveness: With retargeting, ad spending is optimized as the focus remains on warm leads, yielding a higher return on investment (ROI).
Examples of Successful Retargeting Campaigns
- E-Commerce Triumph: An online fashion retailer employed retargeting ads to display products users previously viewed. This personalized approach led to a remarkable 30% increase in conversions, driving substantial revenue growth.
- SaaS Subscription Surge: A software-as-a-service company implemented retargeting for trial users. By showcasing unique features and benefits, they witnessed a 25% increase in conversions and a boost in subscriber retention.
Understanding Remarketing:
Remarketing focuses on re-engaging past customers and expands beyond display ads, encompassing multiple digital touchpoints to re-engage potential customers who have previously interacted with a business. Email, social media, and other channels work together to deliver personalized customer experiences. The goal of remarketing is to nurture these existing relationships and encourage repeat purchases or other desired actions.
- Email Remarketing: Sending personalized emails to past customers based on their previous interactions with the business. These emails can include product recommendations, exclusive offers, or reminders to complete an unfinished purchase.
- Social Media Remarketing: Through platforms like Facebook and Twitter, businesses retarget users who interacted with their brand. This approach promotes heightened brand engagement and audience reach.
- Dynamic Remarketing: This strategy presents users with personalized ads, showcasing specific products they previously viewed. This individualized experience nurtures conversions across various platforms.
- Video Remarketing: Leveraging platforms like YouTube, advertisers target users who engaged with their videos, leading to increased brand recall and website visits.
- Holistic Customer Engagement: Remarketing reaches potential customers through multiple channels, ensuring a cohesive and memorable customer journey.
- Tailored Messaging: Personalized content resonates with users, driving increased engagement and encouraging them to revisit your website.
- Cultivated Customer Loyalty: Regular interactions with a brand foster trust and loyalty, turning one-time visitors into repeat customers.
- ROI Optimization: Remarketing capitalizes on warm leads, making ad spending more efficient and maximizing overall ROI.
- Travel Agency Triumph: A travel agency implemented email remarketing, offering exclusive discounts to users who abandoned vacation bookings. This strategic move resulted in a remarkable 40% increase in bookings and generated substantial revenue.
- Social Media Success Story: A tech company used social media remarketing to target users who interacted with their content. The approach led to a significant increase in website traffic and a 15% rise in lead conversions.
Which Strategy is Right for You?
Selecting the ideal strategy hinges on your business objectives and target audience. Consider the following factors when choosing between retargeting and remarketing:
Retargeting is Ideal When
- Your goal is to retarget users who previously showed interest in your offerings.
- You seek to increase conversions and nurture potential customers down the sales funnel.
- Your product or service requires additional consideration before a purchase decision is made.
- You aim to re-engage customers across various digital channels, extending beyond display ads.
- Your marketing strategy involves a combination of email, social media, and other touchpoints.
- You want to deliver a personalized experience based on users’ past interactions.
Key Differences Between Retargeting and Remarketing:
Here’s a table outlining the key distinctions between retargeting and remarketing:
| Distinctions |
Retargeting |
Remarketing |
| Targeting |
Targets users who previously visited the website. |
Targets users who interacted with the brand across various channels. |
| Identification Method |
Uses browser cookies to identify users. |
Utilizes customer data and behaviors for targeting. |
| Audience Focus |
Focused on warm leads with high conversion potential. |
Targets both warm and cold leads to re-engage them. |
| Advertising Medium |
Primarily employs display ads across platforms. |
Utilizes various channels like email, social media, and display ads. |
| Conversion Rates |
Higher conversion rates compared to conventional display advertising. |
Nurtures customer loyalty by delivering personalized experiences. |
| User Limitation |
Limited to users who visited the website. |
Reaches users who engaged with the brand at any point of interaction. |
| Suitability |
Best suited for products requiring additional consideration before making a purchase decision. |
Ideal for businesses with multiple touchpoints in their marketing strategy. |
Understanding these key differences will help you make informed decisions for the strategies that align with your business goals and target audience, further leveraging the strengths of both approaches and maximising customer engagement and conversions.
Best Practices for Retargeting and Remarketing:
To ensure successful campaigns, adhere to these best practices:
- Segmentation: Segment your audience based on behavior and preferences to deliver relevant and personalized ads.
- Compelling Creatives: Design visually appealing ad creatives that resonate with users and drive action.
- Optimized Landing Pages: Ensure your landing pages are optimized for conversions, guiding users seamlessly through the sales funnel.
- Monitoring and Optimization: Continuously analyze campaign performance, making data-driven adjustments to enhance results.
To gauge the effectiveness of your campaigns, track key metrics for both retargeting and remarketing:
| Metrics |
Description |
Retargeting |
Remarketing |
| Email Opens |
The number of times an email is opened by a recipient. |
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| Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) |
Leads more likely to become customers based on their engagement with your brand. |
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| Lead Conversions/CPL |
Leads directly attributed to retargeted ads, including form conversions on the landing page or in-ad conversions using in-banner lead form ads, avoiding landing page redirects. |
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| Nurture Touches |
Existing contacts engage with retargeting display ads featuring mid-stage or late-stage offers, nurturing them toward becoming sales-ready leads. |
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| View Through Conversions |
Conversions that occur when a prospect views your retargeted or display ad on the web, skips the ad, but then returns to your site and converts on the landing page. |
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| Site Visits |
The number of visitors your ad campaign brings to your site, measured by ad click-throughs and view-through site visit pixels, or by comparing pre and post-retargeting campaign traffic from Google Analytics. |
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| Click-through Rates (CTR) |
Ratio of users who click on a specific link to the total users who view a page, email, or advertisement. |
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| Cost per Click (CPC) |
The amount you pay for each click on one of your ads. |
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| Cost per Acquisition (CPA) |
Cost to acquire a customer who clicks on an ad and completes a desired action, like filling out a form or making a purchase. |
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| Return on Investment (ROI) |
ROI is a ratio that assesses advertising efficiency, calculated by dividing revenue generated by advertising cost. Positive ROI indicates revenue surpasses advertising costs, while negative ROI implies advertising expenses exceed revenue earned. |
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By tracking these key metrics for both remarketing and retargeting campaigns, one can gain valuable insights into their performance and make data-driven adjustments to optimize their marketing strategies which will further help in achieving desired results.
Conclusion
Understanding the distinction between retargeting and remarketing is pivotal for crafting effective digital marketing strategies. By tailoring your approach based on your unique business goals and customer preferences, embrace retargeting and remarketing as invaluable tools in your marketing arsenal and witness your brand soar to new heights amidst the dynamic digital landscape.