Is re-targeting just scraping the bottom of the barrel?

By Kate Bath

With re-targeting now a standard on every planners media strategy, I have to ask the question as to whether or not this is just another form of media that picks the low hanging fruit (and picks it by apple bobbing, the most irritating way to try and get an apple into your mouth).

The concept is simple… a consumer comes onto the website, leaves the website without purchasing and is then remarketed to in the hope that they are ‘inspired’ or engaged enough to re-visit the site and purchase.

Re-targeting is now a common DR sell into clients and as one would expect, they are lapping it up. The question in my mind is twofold:

1)      Is retargeting just scooping up credit from those hard working brand placements?

2)     Can it be done in a way that isn’t damaging to the brand or irritating to the consumer?

The bigger picture

If marketing is assessed on a last click basis, which the majority of digital campaigns still are, then yes, re-targeting is scooping up an already interested consumer and taking the credit for it. There are a lot of agencies, as well as advertisers in the UK who have yet to crack the much talked about methodology of attribution and, believe it or not, many advertisers whose internal structure isn’t really suited to such a model. I guess the point here is that brand and DR do not work independently of each other (much like any marketing channels, there is inter-play), and as such, should not be looked at in isolation. Re-targeting does have its place on a media plan, but it’s only when we understand the full consumer journey that we look at which other channels are actually enabling such a marketing tool to work well. When we plan, we ensure that we are covering all bases, and by that I mean we ensure we have the right mix of publishers (whether DR and/or brand based), we understand the interplay between them and their audiences, and as such use them to aid one another. In the case of re-targeting, it is about discovering which sites work well alongside each other, allowing for the all-important brand engagement and interest to occur, which ultimately drives consumers on-site only to be added to the re-targeting pool.

Going, going…gone.

Another great attribute of re-targeting is that it is often used within the ad-exchanges (an auction based buying model). So in this instance, re-targeting is used as a scooping mechanic with cost effective results (paying more for consumers who have shown higher interest, perhaps a longer dwell time on the website or a higher propensity to purchase score).

What next?

Can retargeting be done in a way that is slightly less damaging to a brand? And by less damaging I mean that you are not being bombarded with the same ad two weeks after you have bought the product. The answer to this is a definite yes… Using this channel in the right way can very often drive excellent conversion rates for brands.

Here is a list of recommended considerations when looking at re-targeting:

1. Frequency cap – Ensure that your ads are frequency capped per cookie, this will aid with the fact that users are being bombarded with your ad. Frequency capping can be done both on a granular level (throughout the day/hour) and on a higher level (life time).

2. Frequency capping across publishers – It is great to cap each publisher, however if you are using multiple for re-targeting then capping needs to exist across publishers.

3. Exclusion pools – If a user has bought a product, ensure that they are added to the exclusion re-targeting pool and as such they will not see the ad again.

 4. Inclusion pools – If a user has bought a product, and there is the opportunity to offer a complimenting product, then add the user to an inclusion pool where they can be re-targeted with a different creative and product. Something to consider here is that just because a consumer has bought a product from you (i.e. car insurance) it doesn’t necessarily mean that they will want to buy another product from you (i.e. home insurance), these needs to be taken into consideration when setting up campaigns.

 5. Sequential creative – This is often a very good way to vary the message a consumer sees from brand messaging to DR messaging. When re-targeting, trial various offer led messages based on where the consumer is in their journey. These may vary from a percentage off message to a BOGOF message for example, and provides another good way to trial which offers are more effective (much like PPC).

To sum up…

Re-targeting should be used as part of a display strategy rather than a stand-alone channel. The challenge with the latter is that the re-targeting pool is only ever as big as the users on your website, and for many advertisers, this is just not enough to warrant time and money being spent on it. When used in an integrated strategy that allows for new audience prospecting, as well as a more tactical direct response, it offers a way to get back in front of an already interested consumer (and do I say, one that you have already paid money for) with an extremely pertinent message.