AdRoll vs Google Ads
Which is better for growing your brand AdRoll or Google Ads? Explore how each helps you reach new audiences, boost engagement, and grow your brand!
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Youâre trying to boost your marketing for your online business and generate more sales â but no matter how hard you try at social media, search engine optimization (SEO), and Google Ads, there seems to be a growth bump thatâs impossible to get around. Sound familiar?
Due to the highly competitive ecommerce landscape, itâs getting increasingly difficult for brands to stand out from the noise. Thatâs where retargeting comes in, the ultimate tool to help re-capture the attention of shoppers who already showed some interest in your store. Not only are they a fantastic way to boost sales, but they can also stretch your marketing budget like never before â thanks to click-through rates that are 10x higher than regular display ads!
While new marketers may see retargeting as a strategy, the truth is that itâs simply a set of skills and tactics to help better connect with shoppers. Use this guide to understand what retargeting is, the different types, ways to get started, and best practices to keep in mind. Quick, letâs get your shoppers back!Â
Retargeting is a marketing tool or tactic that brands can use to show ads and messages tailored to a shopperâs behavior. For example, if a shopper visits your site and adds products to their cart but doesnât check out, retargeting allows you to show them an ad directly in their Facebook feed with a friendly âDonât forget these goodies!â reminder alongside the products they abandoned.Â
With tons of retargeting opportunities available within a host of channels â social media, mobile, email, and display, among others â itâs an awesome tactic if you:
Suffer from high cart abandonment rates
Want to encourage bottom-of-funnel shoppers to convert
Are looking to build brand loyalty within existing shoppersÂ
Experience large numbers of browsers and window shoppers who arenât purchasing
Have an enormous opportunity to cross-sell and up-sell products
Want to personalize your marketing messages
Arenât getting results from your CTAs, whether thatâs asking for a review or sign-ups to your newsletter
If youâre browsing the internet â say, on a news site or blog â and are seeing ads for products youâve just browsed on a different site, thatâs retargeting in action. Often presenting itself in the form of a visual dynamic banner or text ad, itâs an excellent way to remind shoppers of what theyâre missing out on by combining targeted messaging and tailored ad placement.Â
Ever left some products in a cart without checking out, then received an email reminding you that those items are selling out fast? Say hello to email retargeting! Just like with display ads, you can use retargeting emails to bring shoppers back to your site, encourage them to leave a review, or remind them to check out.Â
Platforms like Instagram and Facebook provide brands with a direct link to customers, and social media retargeting ads are a fantastic way to do just that. In addition, native features, including shares, likes, and comments, help your ads stretch even further and expand your reach.Â
Letâs be honest: Most of us spend too much time on our phones. While this may not have the best effects on our eyesight and thumbs, itâs great news for brands â mobile offers huge opportunities for retargeting. In fact, our data shows that brands who leverage mobile retargeting enjoy a click-through rate thatâs increased by a whopping 120%. It works especially well if youâre looking to encourage branded app installs.Â
Retargeting isnât only for encouraging conversions and boosting sales. Your goals may include:
Improving brand awareness
Engaging with existing customers to keep your brand top of mind
Recovering abandoned carts
Encouraging email subscriptionsÂ
Capturing more customer reviews
Make sure you clearly understand the objectives of your retargeting campaign, as well as what metrics youâre going to use to measure success. This will guide the structure of your campaign later on.Â
Pro tip: When you use retargeting ads and emails together, youâve got yourself a winning formula â our research has found that this can yield 2x conversions. Regardless of where shoppers hang out online, youâre bound to grab their attention.Â
Now itâs time to choose where you'll run ads, whether thatâs email, social media, or more. Your choice will depend on your budget, resources for creating ads, and your goals.
To save time and money, find a marketing platform that can help you run your campaigns all in once place.
First, determine your target audience â who are you trying to reach? Existing or potential customers? Where do they spend their time? What makes them tick?Â
Then, rather than use the same retargeting strategy and creative on all of your shoppers, youâll want to segment them into different subsets. Trust us, your ads will be more effective this way. The last thing you want is for shoppers to see an ad and think, âThis isnât relevant to me.â Or, even worse, annoy customers who just completed a purchase with a barrage of ads encouraging them to buy.Â
You can segment by:
New vs. repeat customers
Behaviors, e.g., which pages of your website theyâve clicked on, whether theyâve engaged with you on social media
Estimated customer lifetime value
Location in the marketing funnel
Cart status (empty vs. abandoned carts)
Products theyâve shown an interest in
Products theyâve purchased previously
Demographics
LocationSil
Thereâs nothing more frustrating than seeing the same ad or receiving the same email over and over again. Enter sequences: Create different versions of retargeting ads with unique content, then rotate.Â
Here are some ideas:
Provide a free shipping coupon
Offer a 15% discount or other small incentives
Show a testimonial praising your brand
Promote a 5-star review for a product they had abandoned in their carts
Use a countdown timer to drive urgency
Have the ad consist of a recommended best-sellers list
Feature urgency and FOMO-inducing copy
Remind shoppers of the items they had previously browsed or purchased
Cross-sell or upsell shoppers who have just checked out
Share your brand story, complete with values and promises
Thank existing customers for their support and loyalty
Ever feel creeped out by ads that follow you everywhere? Without frequency caps, retargeting ads can quickly feel intrusive and stalker-ish. We recommend limiting the same ad creative no more than twice. More than that, and it can feel stale or annoying. Instead, mix up your retargeting ad roster with different combinations of images, copy, and messaging to keep things novel.Â
If youâre using retargeting emails to recover abandoned carts, we recommend sending them out relatively soon after a shopper exits your site â ideally within the hour. One survey from BI Intelligence concluded that retargeting emails sent within three hours after cart abandonment have a 40% open rate and a 20% click-through rate. However, youâll want to conduct your own analysis to find the perfect timing for your needs â ultimately, itâll depend on why people are abandoning their carts in the first place.Â
Pro tip: If youâre already using AdRoll, use this Marketing Recipe to turn cart abandoners into happy shoppers. Yum!Â
Crafting the right message and developing the perfect visual assets for your retargeting ads is no joke, especially for marketers with more of an âanalyticalâ rather than âcreativeâ brain. Luckily, weâve got you covered with these pro tips to get your creative juices flowing:
Copy
Feature your value proposition
Make it clear what you want shoppers to do next, whether thatâs leaving a review, checking out, or visiting your website
Use power verbs
Keep things short, simple, and straightforward, rather than lengthy storytelling
Transparency is crucial â donât include any false promisesÂ
Craft CTAs that set clear ânext stepsâ for shoppersÂ
Consider speaking to shoppersâ common pain pointsÂ
Anthropologieâs retargeting message has a strong (and prominent) CTA: âKeep Shopping.â
Visuals
Limit the number of fonts, colors, and graphical elements
Make sure your images are high-res (not blurry nor overly crisp)
Feature your CTAs prominently â put them in a box and turn them into buttons!
Banish large chunks of text by mixing it up with images or graphics
Choose lifestyle shots whenever possible over product shots with white backgrounds
Review the guidelines of your chosen platforms for image specs
Resize your visuals and A/B test different placements (e.g., Instagram Stories ads vs. in-feed ads)Â
Check that any text that overlaps with images is readable
Ensure that visuals scale correctly for mobile
The big day has come! Give yourself a pat on the back, but remember â itâs not over yet.Â
Retargeting is not a set-and-forget tactic. For maximum success, you need to review your data continuously, A/B test your offerings, messaging, and delivery, and optimize based on trends and insights. The key is not getting too attached with any element in your campaign â yes, even if that snazzy headline youâve spent ages writing â and continue experimenting as you go along. If itâs not working, donât be afraid to ax it!Â
Just like with any type of marketing, there are best practices to keep in mind if youâre looking to master the art of retargeting. After all, a poorly executed campaign could very well annoy shoppers, destroy brand loyalty, and drain your budget â and nobody wants that.Â
Retargeting is not a get results fast tactic. In fact, itâs far from it. If youâre not seeing results roll in as quickly as youâre hoping, donât worry. Give it some time before you start changing things up.Â
To take your retargeting campaigns to the next level, consider personalization â surveys have found that nearly 45% of consumers are likely to come back for more after receiving a personalized shopping experience. Similarly, thanks to personalization, 40% of shoppers will purchase something pricier than they had initially planned.Â
When it comes to personalizing your retargeting efforts, this may involve featuring products shoppers have recently clicked on or shown an interest in or using relevant messaging that speaks to their previous purchases.Â
For more tips on how to get started with personalization, check out this post.Â
With all the different types of retargeting you can play around with, thoughtfully planning your campaigns is crucial. You donât want to overwhelm shoppers by inundating them across different channels â personalized content can quickly feel like spam if not treated carefully.Â
Thereâs a leader in the retargeting space, and thatâs AdRoll. Our platform makes retargeting easy â so easy that weâve even developed ready-to-use templates (with proven results!) so you can quickly turbocharge your ads and emails. Even better, our dashboard makes analytics and optimization simple â in just a few clicks, you can see everything thatâs working and fine-tune your strategy.Â
Already using AdRoll? Check out how easy it is to launch your retargeting campaign with this Marketing Recipe â all ingredients provided, just follow the steps!Â
Now that youâve got the details on how retargeting can transform your brand and sales, what are you still waiting for? Itâs time to capture attention, increase conversions, and watch your brand grow. Use our retargeting resources and guides below to continue building your strategy.
Last updated on December 16th, 2022.