What Is Retargeting? How To Set Up an Ad Retargeting Campaign

Are you tired of seeing a vast majority of your website visitors leave without converting? You‘re not alone. On average, only 2% of website visitors convert on their first visit, leaving a whopping 98% of potential revenue on the table. But what if there was a way to bring those visitors back and give them a second chance to convert? Enter retargeting.

Understanding Retargeting: How It Works and Why It‘s So Effective

Retargeting, also known as remarketing, is a powerful form of online advertising that allows you to keep your brand in front of bounced traffic even after they leave your website. By strategically placing cookies in visitors‘ browsers and leveraging tracking pixels, retargeting enables you to "follow" your audience as they browse the web and serve them highly relevant ads based on their past interactions with your site.

Here‘s a closer look at how retargeting works:

1. A visitor lands on your website and browses various pages
2. A small snippet of JavaScript code called a pixel is loaded in their web browser, dropping an anonymous cookie
3. As the visitor continues surfing the web, the cookie notifies retargeting platforms to serve specific ads based on the pages or products they viewed on your site
4. The visitor sees your tailored ads on other websites or social media platforms, keeping your brand top-of-mind and enticing them to return

But why is retargeting so effective? It all comes down to psychology. Studies show that it takes an average of 7 interactions with a brand before a prospect takes action. Retargeting allows you to accelerate that process by increasing touchpoints and providing timely reminders. Plus, since retargeted ads are served to people who have already expressed interest in your offering, they tend to see significantly higher engagement and conversion rates compared to traditional display ads.

Consider these eye-opening statistics:

• Website visitors who are retargeted with display ads are 70% more likely to convert on your website (Invespcro)
• Retargeted ads led to a 1046% increase in branded search and a 726% lift in site visitation after four weeks of retargeted ad exposure (Wordstream)
• 3 out of 4 consumers notice retargeted ads (Marketo)
• Retargeting can boost ad response by as much as 400% (Webmarketing123)

Clearly, retargeting is a must-have tool in any marketer‘s arsenal. But how do you actually go about setting up a retargeting campaign? Let‘s dive in.

Step-by-Step Guide: Setting Up a Facebook Retargeting Campaign

Facebook is one of the most popular and effective platforms for retargeting, thanks to its vast user base and sophisticated targeting capabilities. Here‘s a step-by-step walkthrough of how to launch your own Facebook retargeting campaign:

Step 1: Install the Facebook Pixel on Your Website

The Facebook Pixel is a piece of code that you place on your website to track visitor activity and build retargeting audiences. To create yours:

1. Go to Events Manager in Facebook Ads Manager
2. Click "Connect Data Sources" and select "Web"
3. Choose "Facebook Pixel" and click "Connect"
4. Name your pixel and enter your website URL
5. Choose how you want to install the pixel code on your site:
   • Manually add pixel code to website
   • Email instructions to a developer
   • Use a partner integration (e.g. Shopify, WordPress, Wix)

Once your pixel is installed and you‘ve started tracking events, you‘re ready to create your retargeting audiences.

Step 2: Build Your Retargeting Audiences

Facebook allows you to create retargeting audiences based on a variety of parameters, such as:

• People who visited specific pages on your site
• People who spent time on your site
• People who completed specific actions, like adding an item to cart or initiating checkout

To create a retargeting audience:

1. Go to Audiences within Facebook Ads Manager
2. Click "Create Audience" and select "Custom Audience"
3. Choose "Website" as your source
4. Use the drop-down menu to target people based on pixel events and URL visits
5. Select a timeframe (e.g. last 30 days) and give your audience a name
6. Click "Create Audience"

Best practice is to create multiple retargeting audiences segmented by behavior or funnel stage. For example, you might have separate audiences for blog readers, product viewers, cart abandoners, and past purchasers.

Step 3: Craft Your Retargeting Campaigns and Ads

With your audiences built, it‘s time to create your actual retargeting campaigns and ads. Here‘s how:

1. In Ads Manager, click "Create" to start a new campaign
2. Choose your campaign objective (e.g. conversions, catalog sales, reach)
3. At the ad set level, choose your retargeting audience under "Custom Audiences"
4. Set your budget, schedule, and placements
5. At the ad level, select your format (e.g. single image, carousel, video)
6. Craft compelling ad copy and visuals that speak directly to your retargeted audience
7. Add a clear call-to-action (CTA) that aligns with your campaign objective

When creating your ads, it‘s essential to tailor your messaging and creative to each specific retargeting audience. For example, if you‘re retargeting cart abandoners, you might want to offer a limited-time discount or free shipping to nudge them to complete their purchase. If you‘re retargeting blog readers, you might promote a relevant gated content asset to capture their contact information.

Step 4: Launch, Measure, and Optimize

With your retargeting campaigns built, it‘s time to launch! But your work doesn‘t end there. To ensure you‘re getting the best possible return on investment (ROI), you need to continuously monitor your campaign performance and make optimizations based on data.

Key metrics to track include:

• Reach
• Frequency
• Click-through rate (CTR)
• Cost per click (CPC)
• Conversion rate
• Cost per conversion/acquisition (CPA)
• Return on ad spend (ROAS)

Use these insights to identify which audiences, ad formats, and messaging are resonating best, and double down on those elements. Regularly refresh your ad creative to avoid ad fatigue, and be sure to exclude converted users from your retargeting lists to avoid wasted spend.

Advanced Retargeting Tactics to Take Your Campaigns to the Next Level

Once you‘ve mastered the basics of retargeting, you can start exploring more advanced tactics to supercharge your results. Here are a few strategies to consider:

Dynamic Product Ads

Dynamic product ads (DPAs) are a type of retargeting that automatically promotes products to shoppers based on their browsing history and behavior on your site. By connecting your product catalog to Facebook, you can serve personalized ads featuring the exact products a user viewed or added to cart, along with similar or complementary items they might like. This level of hyper-relevance can dramatically boost click-through and conversion rates.

Sequential Retargeting

Sequential retargeting involves serving a series of ads to users in a specific order based on their previous interactions with your brand. For example, you might show one ad to cold prospects who visited your site but didn‘t take any action, another to those who viewed a product page, and yet another to those who abandoned their cart. By tailoring your messaging to each stage of the funnel, you can gradually guide prospects toward conversion.

Cross-Channel Retargeting

Cross-channel retargeting allows you to reach your audience across multiple touchpoints and devices for a truly omnichannel approach. By combining data from various sources like your website, mobile app, email campaigns, and social media, you can create a seamless experience that keeps your brand front-and-center no matter where your prospects are engaging. Tools like AdRoll and Criteo specialize in this kind of cross-channel retargeting.

Real-World Retargeting Success Stories

To help illustrate the power of retargeting, let‘s take a look at some real-world success stories from brands across different industries:

• Lululemon: The athletic apparel retailer used dynamic product ads to retarget shoppers with items they had viewed or added to cart. The result? A 157% increase in conversion rates and a 167% boost in revenue.

• Airbnb: The vacation rental platform leveraged sequential retargeting to drive more bookings. By serving tailored ads based on where users were in the booking funnel, Airbnb saw an 80% increase in conversions and a 52% higher return on ad spend.

• Tile: The Bluetooth tracking device maker used cross-channel retargeting to reach users across web, social media, and mobile. By serving consistent messaging across touchpoints, Tile achieved a 2,160% increase in total revenue from retargeting.

These examples demonstrate that no matter what you sell or who you‘re targeting, retargeting can be an incredibly effective way to drive conversions and revenue.

The Future of Retargeting: Trends and Predictions

As we look ahead to the future of retargeting, there are several key trends and developments to keep an eye on:

The Impact of Privacy Regulations

Privacy regulations like GDPR and CCPA have made it more challenging for marketers to collect and use customer data for retargeting purposes. As these regulations continue to evolve, it will be crucial for brands to prioritize transparency, consent, and data security in their retargeting efforts. This may involve updating privacy policies, giving users more control over their data, and finding ways to leverage first-party data.

The Rise of Cookieless Retargeting

With third-party cookies on the decline due to privacy concerns and browser crackdowns, marketers are exploring new ways to retarget without relying on cookies. Solutions like browser fingerprinting, device graphs, and contextual targeting are gaining traction as alternatives. While cookieless retargeting presents challenges, it also opens up new opportunities for innovation and creativity.

Increased Personalization and AI

As artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning become more sophisticated, we can expect to see even greater levels of personalization in retargeting. By analyzing vast amounts of user data and behavior patterns, AI-powered tools will be able to serve hyper-relevant ads in real-time based on individual interests, preferences, and likelihood to convert. This will not only improve the user experience but also drive better results for advertisers.

Expansion into Emerging Channels

While web and social media have traditionally been the main channels for retargeting, we‘re starting to see retargeting expand into newer channels like connected TV (CTV), digital out-of-home (DOOH), and voice assistants. As consumers spend more time on these platforms, savvy marketers will find ways to incorporate retargeting to deliver a consistent, cross-channel experience.

Conclusion: Retargeting Is a Must-Have for Every Marketer

In today‘s crowded digital landscape, retargeting is no longer a nice-to-have – it‘s a necessity. By leveraging the power of retargeting, you can keep your brand top-of-mind, drive more conversions, and maximize the ROI of your ad spend.

Whether you‘re just getting started with retargeting or looking to take your campaigns to the next level, the strategies and tactics outlined in this guide will help you succeed. From setting up your first Facebook retargeting campaign to experimenting with advanced techniques like dynamic product ads and sequential retargeting, there are endless opportunities to engage your audience and drive results.

As you embark on your retargeting journey, remember to:

• Start with clear goals and target audiences in mind
• Segment your audiences based on behavior and funnel stage
• Craft compelling ad creative and copy that speaks directly to each audience
• Continuously test, measure, and optimize based on data
• Stay on top of industry trends and adapt your approach as needed

By following these best practices and staying committed to providing value to your audience, you‘ll be well on your way to retargeting success. So what are you waiting for? Get out there and start bringing back those lost prospects!