What Asset is Used to Build a Remarketing List?

Creating a Google Ads campaign opens a lot of doors to new and exciting opportunities with customers. In the excitement of attracting these new customers, some marketers make the mistake of forgetting their current leads and past customers.

Yet, Google Ads has a lot of powerful targeting options and audience segmentation tools to create amazing remarketing campaigns that shouldn’t be ignored. This article will take a look at some of those tools and how you can build a remarketing list with Google Ads.

What Is Remarketing?

Also known as “retargeting,” remarketing is about engaging Internet users that have previously browsed your website, used your app and even converted in the past.

These individuals are a high-priority audience because they have demonstrated interest in your company. Strategically remarketing to these users can encourage them to revisit your site and complete that conversion, or convert for an additional time.

How Does Remarketing Work?

By inserting a Javascript tag into the background of your website, app or even an email message, you can put a cookie in the user’s browser data. This is what asset is used to build a remarketing list each time a customer visits your website.

This cookie signals to Google that this is a user with past behaviors or activities connected to your website and company. Thus, they are a valuable target worth engaging again.

The process of remarketing works in 5 steps:

1. A prospective customer visits your website.
2. During that visit, a cookie is placed into his or her browsing data.
3. The customer leaves your site.
4. Google tracks the user through that cookie and allows you to target them with ads on other websites.
5. The prospect sees the ad, clicks it and is brought back to your website.

Why Is Remarketing Important?

The majority of visitors to your website will leave without taking any action. Some of these visitors were simply not interested in your company and its products or services. However, remarketing aims to re-engage the customers that were interested, but left without converting.

Remember, converting doesn’t have to be a purchase. Getting a lead to convert can also mean having them sign up for a newsletter, make an information request, download a demo or another activity.

There are several reasons why a customer is interested in converting, but not follow through with the desired action.

• They were not ready yet
• They didn’t have the time and meant to return later
• They were still weighing options or comparison shopping
• They got distracted (after all, it is the Internet)
• They had an issue with the price or features

 
The goal of remarketing is to find these customers and entice them to return to your website and complete their conversion.

What Are The Benefits Of Building A Remarketing List?

The obvious power of remarketing is to engage with past leads and encourage them to return to your site and complete a conversion.

That said, this process holds a number of other key benefits that are worth noting.

Ensures Relevant Ad Messages

Relevance is one of the most significant components to a successful Google Ads campaign. Prospects aren’t going to engage with your ads unless they are relevant. In turn, relevant ad content improves your Quality Score, which Google uses to determine ad ranks and costs.

Since remarketing ads only target Internet users that have demonstrated past interest or activity with your brand, ad relevance is a guarantee.

Improves Brand Awareness and Recall

As mentioned, some of the reasons behind why an interested lead may leave your site before converting is because they are still comparison researching and not ready to make a final decision yet. They may remember you later or not.

In some cases, a customer may not be ready to make that decision for weeks or even months. Remarketing ads ensure that, during that stretch of time, your business and brand is kept fresh on their mind.

When they are ready to make that decision and convert, your company will be one of the first that comes to mind because they’ve seen your ad content repeatedly.

Tracking Behaviors and Page Visits

Remarketing data is not limited to simply who visited your site. It also provides insight into where they went on your site and what content appealed to them.

You can use this information to better understand what features or information encourages conversions and then use these clues to better improve your ad messages, landing page and content strategy.

How to Remarket Via Google Ads

Convinced that remarketing is a valuable and relevant addition to your Google Ads efforts? Then, your next questions are likely what asset is used to build a remarketing list and how do I get started?

Step 1: Tag Key Pages on Your Website

The first step in remarketing is choosing which pages on your website should include the tag to track visitors. Remember, this Javascript tag is what asset is used to build a remarketing list.

Ideally, you only want to select pages that are key in the conversion process. For example, a page devoted to the pricing of different software plans shows a lot more intent to convert than your homepage.

You need to think critically about what pages are indicators that a visitor is almost ready to convert and then tag those pages. Cart abandonment pages or conversion forms are high priorities.

Step 2: Include Rules to Create A Custom Segment

You want to further optimize your remarketing list by adding rules and segment options. For example, you will want to put a membership limit on your remarketing list. This will remove people after a certain period of time.

After all, if someone doesn’t convert after weeks of seeing your messages, they are likely not interested at all. You don’t want to continue wasting time and badgering them with irrelevant messages.

Step 3: Consider a Special Offer

In some cases, all customers need a little incentive. You may want to build a remarketing list around a special offer that will nudge those individuals towards a conversion.

For leads that are still in the research and comparison stages of their decision, this added incentive can give you a leg up on the competition and make you the more attractive option.

Conclusions

The final asset used to build a remarketing list? Optimization! As with any marketing strategy, your remarketing list is going to require time and attention to perfect.

When you first publish your remarketing campaign, pay close attention to the level of success it receives. If it doesn’t perform at the level you had hoped, then look into the data to understand why.

Are you using the right assets to build your remarketing list? Is the offer relevant enough to entice a conversion? What can be improved?

You want to continuously ask yourself these questions until your remarketing campaigns reach the level you want. You can further read about the art of dynamic remarketing in Google Ads.