The Complete Guide to RLSA: How to Boost Paid Search ROI with Remarketing Lists for Search Ads
Have you ever searched for a product online, visited a website, but left before making a purchase – only to start seeing ads for that same product popping up everywhere as you browse the web? This is remarketing in action, and it‘s one of the most powerful tools in a digital marketer‘s toolbox.
Remarketing allows you to target ads to people who have already engaged with your website or app, and are therefore much more likely to convert into paying customers compared to cold prospects. And with Remarketing Lists for Search Ads (RLSA), you can go a step further by crafting customized search ad campaigns that target your past website visitors when they search for relevant keywords on Google.
When used strategically, RLSA campaigns can significantly increase clickthrough rates, conversions, and return on ad spend. In this comprehensive guide, we‘ll dive into what RLSA is, how it works, best practices for effective implementation, and real-world examples of successful RLSA campaigns. Whether you‘re new to remarketing or a seasoned pro, read on to learn how to leverage RLSA to take your paid search efforts to the next level.
What Are Remarketing Lists for Search Ads (RLSA)?
Remarketing lists for search ads (RLSA) is a Google Ads feature that allows you to customize your search ad campaigns to target users who have previously interacted with your website. With RLSA, you can tailor your bids, ads, and keywords based on what you know about a user‘s past activity on your site.
For example, let‘s say you run an ecommerce store that sells running shoes. With RLSA, you could create a custom ad group to target users who viewed a specific product page, added an item to their cart but didn‘t complete checkout, or spent a certain amount of time browsing your site. You can then bid more aggressively and show these users highly relevant ads when they search for keywords related to running shoes on Google.
RLSA works by adding a snippet of code called a remarketing tag to your website. This tag places cookies in a user‘s browser when they visit your site, which adds them to your remarketing lists. You can then use these remarketing lists to target your search ad campaigns.
Setting up RLSA is easy and can be done right in the Google Ads interface. We‘ll get into the specifics of creating remarketing lists and RLSA campaigns later in this guide.
Why Use RLSA? The Benefits of Remarketing for Search Ads
RLSA offers significant advantages and can maximize the impact of your paid search marketing budget. Here are some of the top benefits:
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Higher clickthrough and conversion rates: Users who have already visited your site are much more likely to click your ads and convert compared to those with no previous interaction with your brand. Website visitors are 70% more likely to convert, according to Google.
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Improved ROI: With higher CTRs and conversion rates, RLSA helps you get more bang for your PPC buck. You can afford to bid higher on clicks since the traffic is more qualified.
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More relevant ad messaging: Since you know more about a user‘s interests and intent based on their past interactions with your site, you can craft ad copy that speaks directly to their needs. More relevant ads = higher engagement.
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Ability to exclude low-value audiences: In addition to targeting high-value prospects, you can use RLSA to exclude those unlikely to convert, such as users who bounced quickly or only visited your careers page.
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Competitive edge: Many advertisers aren‘t yet taking full advantage of RLSA. Implementing it in your campaigns can give you a leg up on the competition.
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Larger remarketing audience: Some users who visit your site may not convert on that initial visit, but will convert later on after being reminded of your brand through remarketing. RLSA helps you build a larger pool of qualified prospects to remarket to.
RLSA Campaign Best Practices and Pro Tips
To get the most out of your RLSA campaigns, keep these guidelines and tips in mind:
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Define your remarketing audiences: Be strategic about which website visitors you add to your lists. Create specific lists segmented by user behaviors that signal intent, such as product page views, items added to cart, etc.
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Use smart bidding: With RLSA, it often makes sense to bid more aggressively since the audience is highly qualified. Consider using automated smart bidding strategies like Target CPA or Target ROAS.
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Tailor your ad messaging: Ad relevance is key. Reference the specific products or pages a user viewed and consider offering a special discount or promotion to entice them to convert.
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Expand your keyword set: Since RLSA audiences have higher intent, you can afford to bid on broader keywords that you normally wouldn‘t. You can even bid on competitor brand terms.
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Don‘t overdo frequency: Resist the temptation to hammer your audience with remarketing. Aim for an impression share of around 20-30% to start and adjust from there. Use frequency capping to avoid annoying your prospects.
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Combine with other targeting: RLSA works great on its own, but you can get even better results by layering on other targeting criteria like demographics, devices, locations, and ad schedule.
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Monitor and test: As with any PPC campaign, keep a close eye on performance metrics and continually test different audiences, ad copy, bids, and landing pages to optimize for the best possible ROI.
RLSA Success Stories: Real-World Campaign Examples
To give you an idea of what‘s possible with RLSA, let‘s look at a few examples of successful campaigns:
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Retail brand Nordstrom Rack saw a 228% increase in ROI from search ads with RLSA, including a 195% boost in conversion rate.
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Design software company Autodesk combined RLSA with Customer Match (which allows you to target ads based on email addresses) to target high-value prospects. It achieved a 641% return on ad spend.
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After implementing RLSA, the University of Texas at Austin experienced a 19.4% higher CTR and 10% lower CPC than their non-RLSA search campaigns.
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Luxury watch retailer The Watch Gallery used RLSA to adjust bids and target ads based on where a user was in the purchase funnel. This resulted in 280% higher CTR than campaigns without RLSA.
These examples demonstrate that with the right strategies, RLSA can have a major positive impact on campaign performance and ROI across industries.
Advanced RLSA Strategies to Maximize Impact
Once you‘ve mastered the basics of RLSA, try these more advanced techniques to get even more out of your campaigns:
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Sequential remarketing: Deliver a series of ads that guide a prospect through the purchase journey. For example, show a general brand awareness ad first, followed by a product-specific ad, followed by a purchase incentive.
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Remarketing lists for dynamic search ads (RLDSA): Similar to RLSA, RLDSA lets you overlay remarketing lists onto your dynamic search ad campaigns. This is a great way to combine the automation of DSA with the specificity of remarketing.
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RLSAs for Shopping campaigns: If you run Google Shopping campaigns, you can use RLSA to adjust bids and tailor your product listing ads for past website visitors.
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Similar audiences for search: This Google Ads feature finds new users with similar search behavior as an existing RLSA audience, expanding your remarketing reach to qualified prospects who have not yet visited your site.
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Remarketing for video: While not specific to search, you can also remarket to YouTube viewers based on their interactions with your videos. This can be a great complement to RLSA, driving brand awareness in the early stages of the funnel.
The Future of RLSA: Where Are We Headed?
As Google and other ad platforms continue to evolve their capabilities, expect to see remarketing become even more sophisticated and effective in the coming years. Recent and upcoming developments in RLSA and remarketing include:
- Improved audience targeting based on machine learning and user behavior signals
- Integration of remarketing across Google surfaces like Gmail, Maps, and Discover
- More opportunities to personalization remarketing based on user data
- Greater transparency into attribution for remarketing campaigns
Even as third-party cookies become less available due to privacy regulations and browser changes, first-party remarketing data from sources like Google Ads will continue to be invaluable for marketing. Building robust remarketing lists now will set you up for success long-term.
Get Started with RLSA to Boost Paid Search ROI
No matter where you are in your PPC journey, RLSA is a powerful strategy that should have a place in your marketing mix. The ability to customize search campaigns for people who have already shown interest in your business is incredibly valuable, and can help you get the most out of every dollar in your paid search budget.
Follow the best practices outlined in this guide and don‘t be afraid to experiment. Monitor your campaign performance closely, and continually iterate and optimize your RLSA strategy based on the data. Over time, you should see your warm remarketing audiences driving higher clickthrough rates, conversions, and ROAS compared to non-RLSA campaigns.
The world of remarketing and paid search is always evolving, but the fundamental power of RLSA remains the same. Master the techniques of segmenting your audiences and tailoring your messaging, and you‘ll be well on your way to RLSA success.
Ready to get started? Head to the Audiences section of your Google Ads account to start building your remarketing lists. Happy remarketing!
