In the effort to convert more of your website visitors into paying customers, retargeting and remarketing are essential strategies that every digital marketer should know. While you may have heard these terms used interchangeably, there are key differences that make them different from one another.
What is Retargeting?
Retargeting is sometimes called behavioral retargeting. The user’s online activities trigger these actions.
For example, when someone visits your website and looks at a specific product or takes an action that you’ve predefined as part of your campaign, a tiny piece of data called a cookie is added to their web browser. Essentially, your ads can follow them around the internet and display when they visit another ad enabled site.
Retargeting ads are helpful in reminding visitors about products and services they’ve already expressed interest in. The philosophy is that the more they see the item, the more likely they are to make the purchase. From a marketer standpoint, this is quite valuable.
What is Remarketing?
Remarketing describes a way to reengage customers using either personalized emails, pop ups, or other notifications.
Here’s an example, a user adds items to a shopping cart and only partially completes the checkout cycle. That contact information triggers an email reminder prompting the customer to come back, sometimes accompanied by a promotional offer, discounts or other incentives.
In another instance, a pop up with discount code will present to the user should they abandon a website cart. Or a personalized notification can suggest similar items based on their recent browsing history. In a nutshell, retargeting is mostly about serving ads to potential customers based on cookies, while remarketing is usually based on personalized notifications.
Both retargeting and remarketing direct its efforts to users that have already shown interest in your product or service separately or together. They are both effective approaches and helping you close more sales as they keep your brand top of mind.
Ready to implement retargeting or remarketing strategies? Contact us today to schedule a free marketing consultation, and let’s talk about how we can work together to help you grow.
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