Retargeting A Hot Trend in Online Advertising
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Online advertising takes over traditional methods
Online advertising has altered the creative business industry by maintaining a brand’s presence and standing through retargeting, the latest online trend. The digital world has taken brand advertising from traditional modes such as newspapers, television and radio to an online platform that society appears to live on. Today the industry is more commonly using social media networks, websites, content marketing and other digital methods to develop and strengthen brand image along with brand recognition and recall, brand positioning and value, greater customer relationships, and increased revenue. While above the line advertising such as newspaper, television and radio are still in use, online is proving to be a cheaper and more successful option for a majority of brands. Year-on-year digital advertising is growing by 16 percent according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau of Australia, with general display ads (website banner ads) growing at over 22 percent (Hewett, 2014). 2013 saw online advertising take over free-to-air television advertisements for the first time. It is expected for online marketing to grow from $4 billon to $5.8 billion by 2018, whereas traditional methods are forecasted to remain static (Hewett, 2014). As the digital world is rapidly growing day-by-day, society is becoming more reliant on technology. Thus for many brands, connecting with their consumers means online methods are becoming vital. The Internet has created platforms for companies to have real time communication with their market, gather user generated content, while also allowing them to place messages in front of their consumer any place and at any time. This increases the ease of developing stronger consumer relationships, brand awareness and positioning. As brands begin to opt for online advertising, it remains just as important to continue to be unique and creative in advertisements in order to cut through the clutter and target the desired customer. Retargeting and content marketing is the best way to do this as it allows a company to tailor ads specifically to their consumer while following them around the web wherever they go, reflecting positive brand awareness.
What is Retargeting? & How does it work?
Retargeting is an online advertising technique that allows businesses to target messages to people who have previously visited their website. Statistics show that only 2% of web traffic converts to making a purchase on the first visit, whereas retargeting is a tool designed to help companies track the 98% of users who do not convert right away (Retargeter, 2014). The purpose of retargeting is to spark recognition, build brand awareness and increase revenue with shoppers who have previously visited the brand’s site without following through with an investment. When a shopper is viewing items online then leaves the website, the company uses retargeting to advertise their products (that the customer has been viewing), on various places around the web. This sparks memory and desire with the customer while building brand awareness and recognition, good customer relationships, higher conversion rates and click through sales (Peterson, 2011). Retargeting works through placing a JavaScript code at the footer of a company’s website. This code creates a list of visitors by placing anonymous retargeting “cookies” in their browser. This allows retargeting vendors to display the ads to potential customers as they visit other sites, reminding them what had been viewed and considered for purchase (Retargeter, 2014). While this is a powerful conversion optimization tool, retargeting works best when part of a larger digital strategy. Strategies involving content marketing, AdWords, and targeted display are great for driving traffic, but they don’t help with conversion optimization. Although retargeting will not help drive traffic originally, it will successfully drive consumers back to follow through with the purchase (Charlton, 2010).
Why is Retargeting important for brands?
This trend is turning advertising on its head as it allows a brand to cut through the clutter of multiple advertisements their audience is faced with on a day-to-day basis. With promotional messages coming through in traditional methods as well as now more regularly through social media and web, it is important that a brand develops promotions that are tailored and personalized to the punter. There comes a point when consumers are almost desensitized to advertising, until that brand hits it on the nail and makes a message relatable or personalized to the consumer (Wilkey, 2014). Personalization in marketing today needs to be more than just addressing the customers’ name, or segmenting into locations, or even just cross-selling products based on people who bought the same product, but also ‘related products’. While these elements are important, truly personalization is what keeps the consumer coming back (Wilkey, 2014). Through retargeting, a company is sending a message that is highly applicable and subjective to its consumer, resulting in higher conversion rates. As the ads are personalized, the message is truly relevant to the person, creating positive perception of the brand through encouraging customer engagement and driving post click sales (Charlton, 2010). By only targeting consumers that are most likely going to click through and purchase, a company is essentially only spending advertising budget on consumers that will increase sales, rather than on eyeballs that will just skim past desensitsed or uninterested. Retargeting is extremely effective as it enables businesses to recover their marketing investment by reaching those users with uniquely tailored ads that will convert. Retargeting can be leveraged at every phase of the consumer lifecycle, from building awareness to driving purchases and customer loyalty. However it is most effective as it impacts the purchaser’s decisions at the perfect time during the purchase consideration phase. While retargeting is not the most effective customer-gaining tool, it is perfect for bringing the customer back to the website. Statistics show that 98% of individuals leave a website before converting, 49% of individuals visit a site 2-4 times a day before they actually make a purchase, and online shopping carts are abandoned over 70% of the time (Patel, 2014).
Content Retargeting
Retargeting does not stop at advertising specific products to consumers, with OneSpot the leaders in opening a new platform to help businesses promote their content marketing posts by turning them in to retargeted advertisements (Ha, 2012). CEO of OneSpot, Matt Cohen, delivers a relative point that editorial content, not advertising, has a much bigger impact on people’s opinions. Although when reflecting on the thought stated “That’s false distinction. For most people it’s not about commercial versus non-commercial content, but rather annoying content compared to content that is interesting.” (Richards, 2014) This depicts that through online advertising in mediums such as retargeting and content marketing, a company can create a powerful brand image, recognition and awareness. OneSpot’s content retargeting works in the same way as general retargeting; the person visiting a (OneSpot client’s) website is embedded with a secret cookie that will track their web movements and deliver appropriate content driven ads to the right people (Brenner, 2014). Many retargeted ads are designed to reach a specific outcome such as the purchase of a product whereas promoting editorial content a business can build a customer relationship over time, and then try to bring about that outcome further down the road. SEO is a powerful lead generator tool, however it does not guarantee or increase visitor engagement and return. SEO combined with retargeting allows a brand to increase awareness, recognition and recall, which inevitably results in a successfully established brand positioning and value within the right market. Content marketing itself is shifting the way businesses do advertising due to the point Cohen mentioned; people will pay attention to content that interests them. Retargeting and content marketing paired together ultimately cut through the clutter on social media and websites through the personalization of products being sold, or the relatable content being used within the advertisement.
The Wrap Up
Online advertising has clearly altered the way marketers, advertisers, and PR executives do their job. Through multiple online mediums including retargeting, the industry can successfully launch and/or maintain a brand’s image. The extent of this shift is dramatic as the digital world continues to flourish and new and improved online methods are established, such as content retargeting. As the industry develops the more personalized and relatable brands will need to become in order to interest their audience. Retargeting will play a huge role in ensuring the message gets to the right people, and this method will only continue to grow as firms and online advertising gurus expand and develop more methods in this space. Retargeting is an advertising trend that businesses should adapt into their overall marketing plan. Through both generic and content retargeting an entire branding scheme can successfully be developed. Retargeting proves that a brand can stand out against competitors through personalization and relatable content. Companies will see an increase in brand recognition and recall all while connecting with their customer and building higher revenue.
Bibliography
Brenner, M. (2014, October 10). 3 Ways Brands Can Succeed As Advertising And Technology Evolve. Retrieved November 23, 2014, from B2C: http://www.business2community.com/branding/3-ways-brands-can-succeed-advertising-technology-evolve-01031117 Charlton, G. (2010, Decemeber 1). Retargeting: what does it mean for marketers? Retrieved Novemeber 3, 2014, from Econsultancy: https://econsultancy.com/blog/6911-retargeting-what-does-it-mean-for-marketers Ha, A. (2012, December 3). OneSpot Launches Platform For Turning Articles Into Ads, Raises $1.5M. Retrieved November 28, 2014, from TechCrunch: http://techcrunch.com/2012/12/03/onespot-content-marketing-relaunch/ Hewett, J. (2014, November 24). How retargeting is turning advertising on its head. Retrieved November 26, 2014, from Business Spectator: http://www.businessspectator.com.au/article/2014/11/24/paths-advantage/how-retargeting-turning-advertising-its-head Patel, N. (2014, August 15). How to Effectively Use Remarketing to Increase Your Revenue. Retrieved November 23, 2014, from QuickSprout: http://www.quicksprout.com/2014/08/15/how-to-effectively-use-remarketing-to-increase-your-revenue/#. Peterson, T. (2011, December). Email retargeting: no-brainer for brands. DM News , 1. Retargeter. (2014). What is Retargeting and How does it work? . Retrieved Novemeber 13, 2014, from Retageter.com : https://retargeter.com/what-is-retargeting-and-how-does-it-work Richards, K. (2014, August 27). This Is The First Company To Retarget A Brand's Content Into Your Facebook News Feed. Retrieved November 23, 2014, from Business Insider: http://www.businessinsider.com.au/onespot-facebook-sequencing-2014-8 Wilkey, A. (2014, June 12). Personalisation: You know it’s important, but do you know what it means? Retrieved November 24, 2014, from Digital Marketing Magazine: http://digitalmarketingmagazine.co.uk/articles/personalisation-you-know-it-s-important-but-do-you-know-what-it-means/682