We often find that the most effective way of targeting PPC ads is by focusing on users who have interacted with us previously. This is because those people are probably more likely to purchase than first-time visitors simply because they are already familiar with the brand. Retargeting and remarketing both provide great opportunities to reach these customers.
Now, both online marketing terms are used interchangeably within PPC – but do they share the same meaning?
In a nutshell, they are not the same – but, they do drive the same results. They also share the same marketing goals.
The differences come into it when we look closely into strategy and targeting. We are going to explore both terms individually to help explain the differences between the two, starting with retargeting:
What Is PPC Retargeting?
Retargeting typically refers to online ad placement or display ads targeting users who have had some sort of interaction with your business. This could be visiting your site or even reaching the checkout phase but not purchasing.
Once a user visits your site and takes an action (clicks on a product, fills in a form, watches a video etc.), a cookie is set in their browser which enables them to be targeted with an ad in the future. The ads you retarget a user with will depend on the action they took on your site.
Retargeting ads are placed by third parties such as Google Display Network and Facebook. This means that ads can appear on Googles partner sites and social platforms when consumers are browsing online.
There are essentially two types of retargeting – on-site and off-site. The kind of retargeting you use will depend on the interactions you are targeting. We have explained more on both of these below:
On-Site Interactions
This is the most common type of retargeting which involves targeting users who have already visited your site or app. We would retarget users who have already had an on-site interaction if we wanted to increase conversions.
It is a way of encouraging users to complete a desired action on your site, as well as retain those who have already shown some interest in your brand.
Here are a few of the most common methods you can use to target users with previous on-site interactions:
- Use an ad to remind them of a product that they interacted with but did not purchase.
- Target users based on how they became familiar with your site (social media, a search)
- Target users who filled in a contact form or subscribed – but did not convert.
You can utilise different digital marketing platforms to build these ads. We would recommend:
Retargeting campaigns usually show much higher engagement and conversions than non-retargeting campaigns do. This makes sense because it is generally easier to advertise to people who already have an interest in your brand, product or service.
There are so many options for consumers online – so sometimes they need a gentle reminder to complete an action or purchase.
Off-Site Interactions
Since more users started to acknowledge and interact with brands on social media, retargeting has become possible off-site as well as on-site. This means that the interactions we have with our target audience is now in several places.
We can now focus the delivery of product information on social platforms – so it’s equally as important to retarget potential customers that are interacting within these platforms.
Facebook is a prime example of this – which is why they made engagement targeting possible. Within Facebook, you can now retarget users based on their actions such as Likes, Events and Shares.
It can be as simple as targeting “users who interacted with your Page.” In a nutshell, off-site retargeting is the process of reaching out to users who have interacted with your brand somewhere other than your own site.
What Is PPC Remarketing?
Often, retargeting is referred to as “remarketing” – and that is because they are very similar. As we mentioned, both of these terms share the same digital marketing goals. The term you use is not as important as your strategy. It is, of course, still good to understand the difference.
The main difference between the two is in the strategy. Retargeting consists of serving ads to potential customers. Remarketing is usually based on email interaction.
It’s the process of collecting information about users which can then be used to send remarketing emails. Things such as emailing a customer to renew a product or upsell are an example of remarketing.
These two tactics (email and paid media) have become more interchangeable in recent years. That is mostly because platforms such as Google Ads and Facebook offer the capability to target on-platform using email customer lists. You can now target your email users with a paid advertisement.
So what is the difference?
Retargeting uses cookies to present ads to your prospects, while remarketing collects email addresses and reaches out to users via email.
You would use a remarketing email to reach out to users at a specific stage of the buying cycle. For example, once they’ve shown an interest and read about your product – you might email them with an offer to encourage a conversion.
Remarketing & Retargeting share a goal
The only real difference between each term is the associated strategy. Retargeting is mainly focused on paid ads while remarketing is focused more on email lists. More importantly, the shared end goal of the two is to increase conversions by targeting users who are most likely to buy your product or service.
Which should you use?
Retargeting and remarketing are both highly effective methods often used in PPC. We would recommend using a combination of both to ensure you are reaching as many valuable users as possible.
Using remarketing alone, for example, could be restrictive as not everyone will open or read their email. On the other hand, it is often more personal.
A combination of the two is, therefore, typically the best strategy to boost your PPC and overall digital marketing activity. If you have any questions, you can contact our London based PPC experts who can help you out.