The Components Of A Well-Oiled Retargeting Machine

Marketers are constantly looking for ways to reach and engage new and existing consumers, so it’s no surprise that retargeting strategies have grown rapidly over the past few years.

An August 2014 study by Marin Software noted that 88% of US marketers polled use retargeting, and the majority (56%) of respondents which hadn’t implemented retargeting yet were planning to start executing it within 12 months.

Combining different forms of retargeting strategies allows marketers to reach, influence and convert customers through multiple touch points.

Data Is A Key Player

First, take a step back and consider all of the different forms of retargeting strategies that are available – email, site, social and search – and understand how they work together to reach prospects and push them through the funnel. The common denominator across all retargeting strategies is data.

While data differs by retargeting strategy, it provides varying degrees of what a consumer might be interested in, and this can all be used to “remarket” a particular user or audience.

Reach The Middle Of The Funnel

The beauty of retargeting is that it’s not limited to the bottom funnel. In fact, while marketing messages are important at every stage of the consumer funnel, many marketers overlook the middle and focus more heavily on the top and bottom stages.

The middle is where the consideration phase is and where your ability to influence a customer is the most critical.

Retarget On Social Platforms

The Marin Software study also found that social retargeting is on rise, with 67.1% of respondents saying they will increase their social retargeting budgets over the next year.

Facebook and Twitter both allow marketers to target audiences using their social networks – environments that are most often effective within the consideration phase.

Retargeting Reaches New Customers

Most consumers start all search activity within engines like Google or Bing. They search for something and leave the search engine to explore the product or service they are looking for on other sites. From there, they may take a break from their online exploration altogether, and spend their time on social, news or content sites.

At this stage, marketers can gain access to strong intent signals from new customers, derived from their search keywords and/or on-site behaviors during their online journey.

The Downside Of Siloed Retargeting Efforts

Taking a siloed approach to retargeting will only create less effective marketing programs.

First, and most importantly, you will not be able to assign proper credit for conversions across the different retargeting strategies. As a result, you will have an inaccurate view of which retargeting strategy effectively influenced your marketing efforts, which impacts business decisions.

Second, data becomes less effective when it is used as a stand-alone mechanism. The beauty of all this data lies within the ability to better understand your customer, both in terms of their journey from start to finish and how valuable they are to your business. Some customers are more likely to convert and engage than others, but you need multiple touch points to make those kinds of discoveries.

In the end, this will help marketers make smarter bids across real-time buying platforms because you can distinguish the value of a given user. Additionally, advertisers will receive a more complete picture of what their customers are actually interested in by tying their retargeting efforts together.

A bundled approach creates an efficient retargeting machine that constantly reaches new prospects, nurtures them through the funnel and ultimately, leads them to purchase.

Marketers must consider the audience they want to reach and plan campaigns that pull multiple levers in order to get in front of their customers. The world of online and digital marketing is highly competitive, but using these strategies in unison is sure to give you an advantage.