Remarketing Vs. Retargeting: Key Difference Between Them

Studies have found that 97% of people who visit your website leave before they make a purchase. What a huge loss!

However, you can turn them around through retargeting and remarketing.

Marketers spend their time researching audiences, planning, and analyzing factors.

It is such a long, tedious process for an audience whose majority won’t convert.

Is it even worth it?

Marketers are gradually learning the important role retargeting performs in increasing sales and customer loyalty.

It is your job to familiarize your brand with the customer until you are no longer a random brand on the internet.

In this article, we will dive deep into the differences between remarketing and retargeting. We will also look into the best retargeting practices that will give your PPC campaign the highest chances of success.

Retargeting vs Remarketing – What is the Difference?

They sound like the same thing, right?

You are not alone!

Some people use them interchangeably.

So are they similar?

The line between retargeting and remarketing has become blurry over the years as the terms are perceived to represent the same concept.

It is a common thing in the digital marketing field where terms overlap in meaning.

There is some truth in their similarity, though.

They both aim to increase conversion to the people that have shown interest in your brand.

The difference between retargeting and remarketing is in strategy or simply execution.

Retargeting is centered around paid ads.

Remarketing uses channels like email campaigns to reach out to people who have interacted with the brand before.

Retargeting is done using cookies to follow the users to other sites when they leave your website.

In most cases, retargeting is described as online display ads focused on users that visited your website but left before buying.

Do not assume that people just left because they were not convinced, some just need time to decide or get the money to purchase.

Google Display Network is one of the third-party channels that help you to reach your potential customers on multiple websites.

Google Display Network is home to over 2 million websites and blogs. Every second, 70,000 searches are made on Google.

It is your job as a marketer to take advantage of this massive database of activity.

I am sure you have seen pop-up ads that appear when you are using certain apps. Those are part of Google Ads.

Retargeted PPC ads also appear on Facebook, YouTube, and mobile sites.

So what different strategies do these two use?

As already mentioned while retargeting uses cookies to target display ads to potential customers, remarketing uses email to send sales messages.

Both methods are effective in their way. If you want the best digital marketing results, combine the two.

The difference between retargeting and remarketing does not matter; it is in how you utilize them.

Retargeting and remarketing put your brand in front of your target audience and back to your purchase funnel.

Goals retargeting and remarketing achieve:

1. Reach out to the target audience that has already interacted with your brand.
2. Engage audiences at the last stage of conversion.
3. Improve brand awareness and recognition.

What is the difference between retargeting and remarketing?

1. Retargeting exclusively uses paid ads to re-engage the target audience that has already visited the website.
2. Remarketing uses emails to engage customers who have already conducted business with your brand.

Now that we have defined the two, which one is better?

Well, there is no definite answer.

It depends on the type of target audience and the goals you have in mind.

You can use retargeting if you:

• Want to attract new customers
• You have getting clicks but no conversions
• You have no emails or any leads of interested customers

Use remarketing if you:

• Want to engage current and past customers
• Have no budget for paid ads
• Have a customer email list

Benefits of Retargeting

Are you wondering whether retargeting is worth it?

I am glad to inform you that you can never go wrong with retargeting.

You are guaranteed results.

Here are some benefits you will get from using retargeting your ad campaign.

Specific Targeting

There is a major difference between making calls to random numbers and going to your call log and returning calls to people who called you first. Retargeting helps your business reach out to interested prospects rather than a wider target audience that you assume might be interested. So, instead of sharing your ads all over the internet, only people that have expressed interest will see the ads.

Expand your Marketing Reach

With retargeting, you can have a wider audience see your ad.

Remember, your target audience is not just interacting with one section of the internet.

When creating your PPC ad campaign on Google, you get the option of selecting your target words, demographic, even location. You can also choose to advertise on premium websites at friendly rates.

Brand Awareness Increment

According to studies, it takes a consumer 7 impressions to build trust with your brand. What does that mean for a marketer?

You need to lessen the time things happen. That is why you should use retargeting.

Retargeting reduces the time it takes for potential customers to interact with the brand. An ad can appear numerous times on different web platforms that users visit. This acts as a clutch to support your brand to build enough awareness for target customers to make a buying decision.

Sometimes people are just not ready to buy. However, with the familiarity you have created with retargeting, the odds will be in your favor, and you will be in their minds when that time comes.

Better Engagement

Retargeting helps you reconnect with people meaningfully. Retargeting puts you in front of 84% of your targeted traffic, making your brand competitive while increasing engagement metrics.

You Gain Insight

Numbers never lie. Another benefit of retargeting is that it helps you understand where a majority of your retargeted audience is being captured. Retargeting builds a record of how your previous campaigns performed. Over time, you will be able to look at this data, analyze your progress and maximize the results.

Increases your brands’ competitiveness

Competition is inevitable in e-commerce. It does not feel good being last in rank though.

Using retargeting makes your brand more competitive by leveling the playing field with those established brands. When users search for products, instead of just seeing the industry giants, you get a chance to be seen too.

Generate More Sales

This is the most important benefit of retargeting. We did save the best for last.

While many factors go into running a successful business, revenue is the air that keeps the company breathing.

Conversions are what every marketer is looking forward to when running a go-to marketing strategy. If you want to convert the 97% we talked about at the beginning of the article, retargeting will get it done.

Pay close attention to the people who have shown interest in your brand. Create familiarity and trust and they will be back in no time.

How Retargeting Works

When you open a website on a search page, the cookies are saved by the web browser. As a marketer, the cookie data is what you use to show the user the ads repeatedly. Using Google Display Network, you will reach 90% of internet users on 2 million sites using Display Ads. By showing these PPC ads to people who have already visited your site, you build brand awareness and increase your chances of conversion.

Pros of Retargeting in PPC

1. It acts as a reminder to previous visitors. They may have clicked off the first time, but the fact is something made them click in the first place. You now get a second chance with this user.
2. Google analytics keeps records of the number of visitors that came back. This offers useful information for when you are creating a retargeting campaign in the future.
3. You get a chance for personalization of targeting ads. You can use humor, doodlers, discounts, or a strong call to action (CTA).
4. Data collected in past ad campaigns can be very instrumental in improving your future campaigns and your website.
5. Customers who see retargeted ads are 3 times more likely to click the ad than people who have never seen your brand before.
6. 59% of users have a neutral reception to retargeted ads. This is an important statistic to note since 67% of users consider ads annoying while online.
7. Retargeting, according to studies, can boost the response of your ads to 400%.

Cons of Retargeting in PPC

1. Since users are from visiting these websites, retargeted ads can feel weird or creepy.
2. No one loves stalkers. Seeing the ad too many times can be annoying to most people.
3. The retargeting campaign may appear to someone that has already purchased the product.
4. Ad repetition is annoying so you need to create new ones often, otherwise, you risk not getting any positive reaction.

Best Retargeting Practices for Your Business

Retargeting campaigns ensure you bring back people who have already visited your website. It is the best way to ensure you leverage the familiarity that already exists.

Retargeting is one of the most effective marketing strategies. It has been proven to have the most impact on businesses. Whether the goal is to build brand awareness, customer conversion, or both, retargeting is the bet you need to make in your marketing plans.

Throughout this article, retargeting appears to be a simple thing to do. Do not get me wrong, there is some truth to that. However, it boils down to the quality of your campaign. A poorly done campaign will frustrate your marketing efforts and won’t get your desired results.

Below is a list of the best practices you can use to make the most of your retargeting:

Do Not Over-bear or Under-serve

Marketing is all about strategy. You do not want to be known as the brand that does too much. This is going to annoy potential and previous customers.

You also do not want to do the bare minimum. That means you will miss out on the incredible opportunities available in retargeting. The solution is to find a middle ground between overbearing and undeserving.

So what does this balance look like? 15 to 20 impressions every month per user is a pretty decent frequency depending on your minimum budgets and goals.

Brand Your Ads Well

Google Display Network guarantees to put your ads in front of your target audience.

However, you have a major role to play.

Your ad needs to spark interest and connection to the audience. When you see ads as a consumer, what makes you know which brand it is? Logos. When creating your ad, make sure your logo and other branding features are well highlighted.

Ensure there is no confusion or questions in the audience’s mind on what brand they are looking at.

Understand The View-through Window

Billboards are such effective advertising tools. They are the big outdoor boards that display adverts. Billboards are complete advertising channels on their own.

A billboard contains all the information a user needs to interact with the brand and make a decision. Banner ads are similar. Users do not need to click on it to be influenced.

As a marketer, you need to understand how the view-through conversions work to fully take advantage of them. These conversions get tracked once a user views your retargeted ad, goes to your site, and makes a purchase without opening the ad.

View-through conversions can be tracked within 24 hours or 30 days. It is best to track what occurred within 24 hours since that is when the retargeting billboard effect was happening.

Optimize Your Conversion Funnel

Testing your ad creative and good landing page is as important as creating well-branded ads. You can start with two creative interactions to see how your ad is likely to perform. If an altercation shows low potential, deactivate it and create a new optimized iteration. Keep testing until you achieve your desired metrics.

Target an Actionable Audience

This method can be very effective in promoting products effectively to specific segments of audiences.

Most people like to place it tracking on the landing page or homepage. This is to have the target be specifically on the people who have some familiarity with your brand.

If this is your approach you might not be retargeting the right audience.

Think of it this way. Your website has different pages, right? So if you only look at those who got to the landing page, you do not have the whole picture.

With that in mind, target your tracking code to all pages of your site rather than the entry points. That ensures actionable audiences stay and make a decision.

Why Are Retargeting Campaigns So Important?

Retargeting is similar to building friendships. You might have noticed that for a friendship to work out, there needs to be regular communication.

That is why the term social capital exists. It is a network of relationships of people that live together.

Everyone has a part to play to build on social capital. In the same way, retargeting serves to build the relationship between your brand and its customers.

Retargeting campaigns are important because;

1. Retargeting is part of the overall marketing strategy for established businesses. So, what is an established business? If your website gets at least 100 visitors monthly, then you have the go-ahead to use retargeting.
2. Retargeting also helps you identify your number one fans. People who are loyal to your brand and keep coming back.
3. It is also a spectacular way to push your best sellers. Promoting items that customers already love is a way of boosting sales and increasing ROI.
4. Retargeting is significant when you are launching a new product. Customers love to see new products and upgrades from the previous ones. Retargeting catches the eyes of those customers that have been waiting to see something new. You can use Facebook Ads or Google Ads for this.
5. Moving inventory- Every healthy business experiences slow-moving inventory once in a while. Through retargeting, you can help push these goods by either giving discounts or other sale offers.
6. Brand awareness is super important because it creates familiarity and trust with your audience. People buy from brands they feel like they already know.

Remarketing Options in Google Ads

Google Ads offers various remarketing opportunities. They include:

Standard Remarketing

This tool enables you to show your ad to people who had visited your site before as they browse through websites on Google Display Network.

Dynamic Marketing

Have you seen ads of specific items you might have clicked on while using e-commerce websites like Amazon, Alibaba and others? That is what dynamic remarketing does. It shows past users, products or services they viewed on your site.

Remarketing for Mobile Apps

If you have a mobile app, this feature is for you. If someone uses your app, Google Ads will show them your ads when they visit other mobile apps and mobile websites.

Remarketing Lists for Search Ads

This tool, also known as RLSA, enables you to display your ad to past visitors on the search engine pages. You can customize ads to appeal more to this target group.

Video Remarketing

If you have a YouTube channel or other videos, Google enables you to display ads to people who have interacted with them. These ads will pop-up when users are watching YouTube videos, and when interacting with other video content on Display Network.

Email List Marketing

Email list marketing is also known as Customer Match. If you have a list of customer emails, upload them on Google Ads. When you do this, you can reach them if they have signed in on YouTube, Gmail, and Google.

How To Set Up Google Ads Retargeting

The first step is tagging. This depends on the retargeting goals of your business and the kind of campaign to plan to run. In general, it includes tags on mobile applications, YouTube, Facebook, Google analytics, and more.

If your goal is targeting people that were previously on your website, then use basic Google Ads tags.

If you want to get started on Google Ads retargeting, here is a step by step guide.

Step #1

Click on the tool icon in the Google Ads navigation bar.

Click on “Audience manager” under “Shared Library”.

Step #2

Click “Audience sources” on the left-hand menu.

Here you can choose which tags you want to set up for your remarketing goals.

Step #3

Click on “Set up Tag” under “Google Ads Tag”.

When you click to set up the Google Ads tag, you can customize the data collected depending on your field. If you prefer to just collect standard data, select the first option.

Step #4

Click “Save” to continue.

Step #5

Choose how you want to install the tag.

If you have a web developer in your company, you can either email them the tag for them to add to your website, or ask them to use Google Tag Manager.

The other alternative is to do it yourself.

Copy and paste the Google Ads retargeting script onto every page of your website (in between the <head></head> tags):

Wrap Up

Retargeting is such an important part of digital marketing. Are you experiencing poor sales, weak ROI, or no brand awareness? Retargeting is what will turn this around. It enables you to reach back to people that had already visited your site but left before buying. Online users are known to buy from brands they have built trust with.

Retargeting builds on brand awareness and that is how customers acquire familiarity and trust. To run a successful retargeting ad campaign, you need to create an exceptional campaign using the best retargeting practices we have discussed above.

To monitor the campaign progress you need a good tool like the PPC Signal. It helps you track the performance of your campaign to know areas of excellence and where you can improve.