Remarketing vs Retargeting: Are They the Same Thing?
Remarketing and retargeting are two digital marketing strategies used to reconnect with website visitors after they leave your site. Both approaches aim to bring users back to your website or convince them to complete a desired action, like making a purchase. However, remarketing and retargeting use different techniques and communication channels to achieve these goals. Marketers need to understand the key differences between remarketing and retargeting in order to determine which strategy will be most effective for their business. This article will provide a comprehensive overview of remarketing vs retargeting.
A Quick Comparison Between Remarketing vs Retargeting
| Feature | Remarketing | Retargeting |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Targeting ads to users based on past interactions with a brand or website. | Showing ads to users who have previously visited a website or taken a specific action. |
| Audience Targeting | Targets users based on their previous interactions with a brand or website. | Targets users based on their specific actions on a website. |
| Advertising Platforms | Can be done on various platforms like Google Ads, Facebook Ads, and LinkedIn Ads. | Typically done on display advertising platforms like Google Display Network and Facebook Ads. |
| Data Collection | Collects data on user interactions such as page visits, content engagement, and conversions. | Collects data on specific user actions like product page visits, cart abandonment, and form submissions. |
| Ad Relevance | Ads are generally more relevant to the user’s interests and past interactions. | Ads are highly specific to the user’s previous actions and purchase intent. |
| Conversion Rates | Can lead to higher conversion rates as users are already familiar with the brand. | Can also lead to higher conversion rates by reminding users of their previous actions. |
| Retargeting Pixels | May use a pixel or cookie to track user behavior and interactions. | Always uses a pixel or cookie to track specific user actions and target them. |
| Advertising Costs | Can be more cost-effective by targeting users familiar with the brand. | Can also be more cost-effective by targeting users with higher purchase intent. |
| Personalization | Allows for more personalized ad content based on user’s past interactions. | Allows for highly personalized ad content based on user’s specific actions. |
| Audience Segmentation | Allows for segmentation based on various user interactions and behaviors. | Allows for highly targeted segmentation based on specific user actions. |
What is Remarketing?
Remarketing is a strategy that involves re-engaging previous customers or subscribers through email marketing. This approach is commonly used to reach out to users who have already interacted with your brand, whether by purchasing a product, subscribing to a newsletter, or even just browsing your website. Remarketing can be an effective way to remind customers about your products or services, encourage repeat purchases, or promote new offerings.
How Remarketing Works
The basic steps for remarketing are:
- Identify your audience: Review customer data to find target groups like past purchasers, abandoned cart users, or subscribers.
- Define your message: Craft marketing copy and offers tailored to each audience based on their interest and purchase history.
- Reach out on relevant channels: Email is most common, but direct mail, phone calls, and other channels may also apply.
Remarketing Use Cases
Examples of common remarketing campaigns include:
- Winback Campaigns: Emailing past customers who have not made recent purchases to incentivize them to buy again. These campaigns often include special discounts or personalized offers to rekindle interest and encourage a return visit.
- Loyalty Programs: Creating exclusives and rewards to encourage repeat purchases from existing customers. By offering points, discounts, or exclusive access to new products, you can foster a sense of belonging and increase customer retention.
- Upsell Campaigns: Targeting customers who purchased lower-tier products with offers to upgrade to higher-end items. These campaigns can highlight the additional benefits and features of the higher-tier products, making it easier for customers to see the value in upgrading.
- Cross-Sell Campaigns: Suggesting complementary products to customers based on their previous purchases. By showcasing related items, you can enhance the customer’s experience and increase the average order value.
Benefits of Remarketing
The primary advantage of remarketing is its ability to increase conversion rates by re-engaging users who are already familiar with your brand. By reminding potential customers of their previous interests, you can gently guide them back to your site to complete their desired actions.
Additional benefits include:
- Improved Brand Recall: By staying in front of potential customers, your brand remains top-of-mind, which can lead to increased loyalty and long-term engagement.
- Cost-Effectiveness: Remarketing often delivers a higher return on investment (ROI) compared to other marketing strategies, as it targets users who have already expressed an interest in your offerings.
- Personalization: Remarketing allows for a highly personalized approach, delivering messages and offers that are tailored to the individual’s previous interactions with your brand.
Best Practices in Remarketing Campaigns
- Define Clear Goals: Establish specific objectives for your remarketing campaign, such as increasing conversions, boosting brand awareness, or recovering abandoned carts.
- Segment Your Audience: Divide your audience into segments based on their behavior, interests, and interactions with your brand. This allows for more targeted and relevant messaging.
- Craft Compelling Creatives: Design eye-catching and engaging ad creatives that resonate with your audience. Use strong visuals, concise messaging, and clear calls to action.
- Incorporate Seasonal Promotions: Align your remarketing campaigns with seasonal trends, holidays, or special events to promote relevant products or offers.
- Urgency and Scarcity: Highlight limited-time offers or low stock levels to create a sense of urgency. Phrases like “Only a few left!” or “Sale ends soon!” can motivate users to act quickly.
- Feedback Loop: Use insights from your campaigns to inform future marketing strategies. Continuously refine your audience segments, messaging, and creative based on performance data.
What is Retargeting?
Retargeting, also known as behavioral retargeting, is a form of online advertising that enables advertisers to display ads to people who have previously visited their website. Retargeting works by tracking user behavior on a website using cookies or other tracking methods.
For example, suppose a user visits an ecommerce store and views a particular product page but leaves without making a purchase. In that case, that user can later be targeted with ads for that same product when they visit other websites that are part of the retargeting network.
Retargeting ads appear on other websites or social media platforms, reminding users of your brand and encouraging them to return and complete their purchase.
How Retargeting Works
Retargeting relies on tracking user behavior on a website in order to create targeted ads that follow the user as they browse other sites. Here’s how it works:
- Tracking website visitors: Retargeting starts by adding tracking codes like cookies or pixels to a website. This allows the retargeting platform to assign each visitor a unique identifier and monitor their on-site activities.
- Displaying targeted ads: Once a user leaves the site, the retargeting platform uses the collected data to determine what types of products or services that visitor showed interest in. Targeted display ads for those items are then shown to the user as they browse partner websites.
Retargeting Use Cases
Some of the most common uses of retargeting include:
- Dynamic product retargeting: Tailoring product ads based on the specific items each user viewed or interacted with on the website. Much more effective than generic product ads.
- Re-engagement: Targeting visitors who have not returned to the website in a while with ads aiming to bring them back for another visit.
Benefits of Retargeting
Retargeting offers several key benefits that make it an essential strategy for many businesses:
- Higher Engagement: Research shows retargeted ads have much higher engagement and conversion rates compared to ads shown to cold traffic. Existing familiarity drives clicks and sales.
- Enhanced Brand Exposure: Retargeting ads ensure that your brand stays visible to potential customers as they browse the web, increasing the likelihood that they will return to your site.
Best Practices in Retargeting Campaigns
- Personalize Your Ads: Use dynamic ads to show products or services that users have previously viewed. Personalization can significantly improve click-through rates and conversions.
- Limit Frequency: Avoid overwhelming users with too many ads. Set frequency caps to limit how often your ads are shown to the same user, preventing ad fatigue and annoyance.
- Test Different Ad Formats: Experiment with various ad formats, such as display ads, video ads, and carousel ads, to see which performs best for your audience. A/B testing can help identify the most effective options.
- Utilize Exclusion Lists: Create exclusion lists to avoid retargeting users who have already converted or taken the desired action. This helps optimize your ad spend and improves user experience.
- Leverage Multi-Channel Strategies: Implement multichannel marketing in retargeting, including social media, search engines, and email. This increases your chances of reaching users where they are most active.
- Dynamic Ads: Use dynamic ads to show users the exact products or services they viewed on your site, increasing the relevance and effectiveness of your ads.
- Use Retargeting Lists for Search Ads (RLSA): Implement RLSA to adjust your search ads based on user behavior. For instance, you can increase bids for users who have previously visited your site, making your ads more competitive.
- Duration of Campaigns: Based on users’ behavior, determine how long to continue showing ads to them. For example, users who abandoned their cart may warrant a shorter retargeting window than those who simply browsed.
Key Differences Between Remarketing vs Retargeting
While both remarketing and retargeting aim to bring users back into the sales funnel, they differ significantly in their approaches:
Primary Communication Channel
- Remarketing: Direct communication via email, direct mail, phone, etc.
- Retargeting: Display ads on third-party websites visited by the user.
Objective and Focus
- Remarketing: Primarily focused on re-engaging users who have interacted with your brand through personalized email campaigns or similar follow-ups. It’s often used to nurture leads and encourage repeat engagement.
- Retargeting: Focuses on driving immediate conversions by serving ads to users who have visited your site without taking a desired action. It’s more about closing the deal than nurturing a long-term relationship.
Timing of Communication
- Remarketing: Communication occurs after the user has exited the initial marketing funnel to re-engage known prospects.
- Retargeting: Typically deployed when users first visit the website to keep the brand top of mind during the initial research phase.
Target Audience
- Remarketing: Targets users who have already engaged with your brand in some capacity, such as by signing up for your newsletter or abandoning their shopping cart.
- Retargeting: Targets users who have shown interest but haven’t yet taken the final step, such as by making a purchase or filling out a contact form.
Tools and Platforms
- Remarketing: Often relies on email marketing platforms (Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign, Hubspot, etc) and customer data to deliver personalized messages.
- Retargeting: Primarily relies on ad networks and platforms like Google Display Network, Facebook Ads, and other programmatic advertising platforms to deliver targeted ads across the web.
These differences demonstrate how retargeting casts a wider net, trying to nurture continued interest from website visitors. Remarketing takes a more targeted approach focused solely on bringing back engaged users already familiar with the brand.
Using Retargeting and Remarketing Together
While they have distinct approaches, retargeting and remarketing can complement each other very effectively. Some ways they can work together:
- Retargeting sustains awareness during the initial research phase, while remarketing converts high-intent website visitors.
- Retargeting messages pique interest, while remarketing aims to close the sale with offers and custom messaging tailored to the user’s needs.
- Retargeting reaches a cold audience, while remarketing focuses solely on individuals already engaged with the brand in some capacity.
To maximize results, marketers should leverage their existing first-party data and integrate their ad channels. For example, using a customer data platform (CDP) to build audiences for both remarketing and retargeting campaigns can amplify reach and conversion across channels.
Common Myths and Misconceptions
Despite their effectiveness, both remarketing and retargeting are often misunderstood, leading to confusion about their best uses and potential benefits.
Myths About Remarketing
- Remarketing is Spamming: Some believe that remarketing is just another form of spamming users with emails, but when done correctly, it’s about providing value and relevant offers to users who are already interested.
- It’s Only for E-Commerce: While e-commerce businesses often use remarketing, it can be equally effective for B2B companies, SaaS providers, and other industries where customer engagement and lead nurturing are critical.
Myths About Retargeting
- Retargeting is Invasive: While retargeting does involve tracking user behavior, it’s not about invading privacy but delivering relevant ads that align with the user’s interests.
- It’s Only for Big Brands: Retargeting is not just for large companies with big budgets. With the right strategy, even small businesses can benefit from retargeting by focusing on high-intent users and optimizing their ad spend.
Final Thoughts
Understanding the difference between remarketing vs retargeting is crucial for any business looking to optimize its digital marketing strategy. Both tactics offer unique advantages and can be incredibly effective when used correctly. The key is knowing when and how to use each strategy to maximize engagement and drive conversions. Marketers should consider leveraging both remarketing and retargeting as part of an integrated strategy to boost results. Focus retargeting on lower-funnel awareness and remarketing on driving conversions from high-intent website visitors for the optimal combination.
FAQs about Remarketing and Retargeting
How do remarketing and retargeting differ in terms of tools and platforms?
Remarketing primarily uses email marketing platforms and customer data to re-engage users while retargeting relies on ad networks and platforms like Google Display Network to deliver targeted ads across the web.
Can small businesses benefit from remarketing and retargeting?
Absolutely. Both strategies can be highly effective for small businesses, particularly when budgets are limited and targeting is precise.
Can remarketing be used for B2B companies?
Yes, remarketing can be very effective for B2B companies, especially in industries with longer sales cycles where lead nurturing is essential.
Which is better: retargeting or remarketing?
Retargeting and remarketing serve different but complementary purposes. Retargeting is better for sustaining awareness with a broader audience at the top of the funnel. Remarketing is preferable for driving conversions by re-engaging high-intent users like past customers. The two strategies work best used together.
What are the disadvantages of remarketing?
Some disadvantages of remarketing include annoyance if users feel they are contacted too frequently, decreased effectiveness if offers are not customized well, and lower reach compared to retargeting. Privacy regulations may also limit remarketing strategies in some regions.
Can you do remarketing on Facebook?
Yes, Facebook advertising provides options for both retargeting and remarketing. You can create Custom Audiences in Facebook Ads Manager to reach users who have already engaged with your website or brand. Facebook also enables Lookalike Audiences to get new users similar to your existing customers.
What is an example of remarketing?
A common remarketing example is sending an abandoned cart email to a customer who filled their online shopping cart but did not complete the purchase. The email may offer a discount or free shipping to provide an incentive to finalize the transaction. This directly targets the user most likely to convert based on their shopping behavior.
