What On Earth is Retargeting, and Why Does It Matter to You?

Retargeting is all the rage right now, especially since so many ad platforms make it possible.

But a lot of people scratch their heads and ask, “Just what is retargeting, anyway?”

You can get the answer to that question and how retargeting benefits you by checking out the retargeting FAQ below…

What is Retargeting?

Ever felt like a product was “stalking” you as you travelled the web? That’s retargeting.

Basically, retargeting refers to showing a warm audience the same product or ad that they’ve already seen.

Let me give you an example, one that’s probably happened to you…

You go to Amazon and check out a product, such as a beard beanies. (Yes, they totally exist.)

Then you go to Facebook to catch up with your friends. Low and behold, there is an ad for a beard beanie from Amazon in Facebook’s sidebar.

Then maybe you travel to your favorite news site to catch the headlines. Ta-da, there is another ad from Amazon, trying to tempt you into purchasing that darn crazy hat.

Pay attention, and you’ll probably see that beard beanie following you all over the web for several days, or maybe even a week or more until you decide the time’s right to buy one.  (and yes I am wearing mine as I type this post) 🙂

That’s retargeting.

So how does retargeting work?

Retargeting uses technology to work, namely cookies. When you visit a site like Amazon, it drops a cookie onto your computer. Then when you visit a site like Facebook, its advertising platform reads that cookie and shows you an ad related to the products in which you’ve expressed some interest.

The cool thing is that you don’t need to know a lot of techie mumbo-jumbo in order to use retargeting. Just use a well-known ad platform like Facebook, and they’ll tell you exactly how to drop a special link onto your web pages so that they can show your audience related ads when they log into Facebook.

And why use retargeting?

The reason to use it is because it works to close the sale.

Here’s why…

Experts figure it takes an average of seven to twelve “contacts” before a prospect is ready to buy from you. This is the reason you should have a mailing list, so that you can reach out to your prospects repeatedly. However, not everyone joins your list, so retargeting is a good way to reach out to your prospects long after they’ve left your site. It builds familiarity, which increases sales.

Secondly, sometimes prospects already know and trust you, but they’re on the fence about a specific product. They might leave the sales page with the intention to “sleep on it.” Except when they leave the page, they totally forget about it.

Enter retargeting. Just when the prospect forgets about the product, you put it right back in front of their face. End result? A higher conversion rate.

What Else Can You Retarget?

Thought retargeting was just for ads?  Heck No!

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Retargeting The Content On Your Blog

We like the strategy so much we decided to build a cool WordPress plugin, ‘Content Retargeter’ that lets you ‘retarget’ your email subscribers and visitors returning to your blog with content that’s specific to them.  It’s an INCREDIBLY powerful strategy.

And while retargeting for retailers and product developers increases sales by showing visitors the products and services they’ve viewed before (and keeping them in the front of their minds) the goal of Content Retargeter is a little different but no less powerful.

Here’s just a few of the ways top bloggers are already using it:

• Encourage repeat visitors to opt-in to your mailing list.
• Remind subscribers about a coupon code or other offer.
• Provide handy links to downloadable guides available only to subscribers.
• Create special offers and upsells for buyers.
• Show older, evergreen content to new visitors.

Find Out More Below

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So retargeting is a great way to close the sale and boost your conversion rate. Best of all, you don’t even need to be a techie to use it, because advertising platforms like Facebook make it easy for you to retarget your market.

And if you own a blog and want to deliver custom content to your subscribers and returning visitors you can also use content retargeting thanks to Content Retargeter.

But don’t take our word for it – try it out for yourself to see how well it works.

We think you’ll like your results!

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P.S.  Special thanks to Beardo for their Original Foldaway Beard Hats