The marketing world is once again all abuzz with talk about retargeting. If you don’t know what this is, you are not alone. Or, maybe you know it as remarketing. It’s a bit of a chameleon, but it’s been around the Internet forever. It’s transparent and effective and fairly inexpensive. Sounds like a wonder drug, right?
Let’s say you went to Lands’ End’s website preparing for winter by ordering a beefy flannel shirt, but you abandon the site before making a purchase. Lands’ End would love nothing more than to have you return, complete the order and maybe add a pair of woolies to the order. But you are gone.
Ah, but along comes retargeting. You know those fancy travel websites that buy up empty hotel rooms so they can be sold last minute for bargain rates? That’s kind of like retargeting. Media buyers gobble up unsold ad space all over the Internet. Online magazines and newspapers, blogs, forums, you name it. Those “leftovers” are used to display advertisements. Leftovers is an undersell, because you can get placed on some pretty well-to-do websites with retargeting.
Back to Lands’ End. While on their website they dropped a cookie on you. (A little clue that lets them know you stopped by for a visit.) You visit another website like wired.com or travel.com. Lo’ and behold there is a banner ad for Lands’ End. What a coincidence! You were just thinking about buying a flannel shirt. You click the banner ad placed in front of you by retargeting, return to Lands’ End, and buy the shirt. That’s retargeting at its best.
To wrap up this novella let me say that retargeting isn’t just for retailers. Retargeting is great for B2B marketers and a brilliant tie-in for a VLG direct marketing program. Next time you talk to Brett, Rafael, Lee, Greg or Coley make sure you ask about retargeting. Mail will get them to the web, a microsite will educate and qualify them, and retargeting will bring ‘em back.
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