Remarketing is a very effective way of staying in front of people who have seen your brand by visiting your website but didn’t take further action, as in they didn’t contact you or purchase from you.

Once a visitor has visited your website, you can show that person ads about your company when they visit other websites besides your own. For example, let’s say Jim visits a couple pages of your website, might be interested, but then leaves and doesn’t do anything else.  Later he visits the ESPN website. When he does, he can see an ad about your company that you can run through Google Ads.  Or maybe later, he visits Facebook.  Facebook can show him your ad.

There are many benefits to running remarketing campaigns in Google and Facebook.  For one, the person has already seen your ad once. With remarketing, you’re simply keeping your brand top of mind. For another, it’s one of the more cost-effective forms of advertising.

Getting Started

To get started with remarketing, the learning curve is a bit daunting. First you need a Google Ads account. Next you need to install a pixel – a piece of code – on your website. This builds the audience that will see your ads.  You can qualify your pixels based on specific page views or your entire site.  Your site needs to have enough traffic so that the pixel can build an audience over time.  Generally, visits older than 60 days or so roll off the audience build.

Next you need to build graphics in the correct sizes to accommodate all of the shapes available in the display network.  The display network is the list of websites your ad will show up on; there are literally millions of sites in the display network. You’ll want to set goals for your campaign and create landing pages specific to the ads you’ll be running.  You’re now ready to write your ad and set the parameters of your ad in Google Ads.

Monitor your results by discovering how new clients found you and whether remarketing played a part. Get better at your remarketing ROI by making sure you run the ad at the right frequency and that you exclude current clients who have already purchased. These are common beginner mistakes with remarketing.

The Display Network

The display network is very different from the search network. Once you’re past the learning curve, you’ll find remarketing to be a key tool in the advanced marketer’s toolkit.