Retargeting is an advertising technique used to encourage those who have visited a website without converting, to return to that site and convert. This is done by placing a cookie in a consumer’s web browser when they visit the site. The advertiser can then retarget that user with relevant display ads on other participating websites when the consumer visits them.
Retargeting can work really well. The fact the we know the user has displayed an interest in the brand before, often means these people are more likely to convert. This boosts CTR’s and conversion rates, whilst driving down the CPA of a campaign. The problem is that whilst everyone’s doing it, and not everyone’s doing it well!
Frequency Caps- ‘No one likes a stalker’
A key point for retargeting is getting the right frequency. How many times should a user be exposed to the ad within a certain time period, before it becomes annoying and counter-productive?
It can become very frustrating for users when their whole online experience is taken over by retargeting ads for a brand they may not be interested in, just because they (or perhaps even someone they share a computer with) visited the site once.
There is no ‘one size fits all’ for the optimal frequency, each campaign will be different. It’s about trialling different frequency caps until you find what works best for your campaign. For example, you might start at 2 ads every 12 hours and then play around with the frequency from there. However, the vital point is that there should be a cap! If advertisers don’t cap the frequency of the ads, they run the risk of damaging the brand and coming across as pushy and desperate.
Recency Cookies – ‘Because they’re worth it!’
People who have recently been to your site and seen your products, are perhaps worth more to you than those who saw the product weeks ago. People who have recently been on the site are more likely to still be in the market for your product. By using a DSP (Demand-Side Platform) you can opt to bid a higher amount for impressions from users who have very recently been on your site.
Cookie Expiration - ‘Know when to give up’
Consider how long someone is in the market for your product/service and then set the cookie length accordingly. For example, a Travel agent might know that people are in the market for a holiday for about 2 weeks. Therefore after 2 weeks their retargeting cookies should be set to expire. It’s also worth having exclusion cookies so you know when someone has already converted. That way they don’t get retargeted with ads for something they have already bought. This information is also useful if you want to advertise exclusive offers to existing customers.
Time of day- ‘Pick your moment’
Just because you see the majority of conversions in the evening, does not mean this is when the customers actually see the ads. It’s important to remember that people may see your ad and then come back to the site later to convert. In this case, you might decide use retargeting in the evening only to remind people of the ads they saw at work during the day time.
Personalised Messages – ‘Know your audience’
Segmenting your audience allows you to tailor the ad message accordingly which can increase the likelihood that the user will convert. This involves having cookies on multiple pages so you can track each user’s journey, and know what stage of the purchase funnel they were at when they left your site. One of our gambling clients has seen some fantastic results using this technique.
We know whether someone has landed, registered, or deposited on a client’s website, and we can then target those of interest with appropriate messages depending on what stage in the conversion process they are at:
People who have visited the landing page but not converted are invited back to the site….
‘Come back, you’re just one step away from your free sign up bonus’
‘Fancy joining us?’
People who have registered but not deposited are encouraged to start using their account….
‘Thanks for registering, come and claim your sign up bonus now’
For the retargeting line of the campaign, the CPD (Cost per Depositor) is 77% below the CPD target, the CTR (Click Through Rate) is on average, an impressive 0.17% (well above the industry average of 0.04%) and the Click to Deposit rate for retargeting is double that for the core activity. Along with personalised messaging, this campaign adopts techniques such as the frequency caps, recency cookies and audience segmentation discussed earlier. This shows that when done properly, these ads are much more effective at driving conversions than standard ads.