What is the difference between remarketing & retargeting?

Any thriving business will utilise different marketing techniques to bring consumers to their site, and inevitably become successful. As technology rapidly grows, so do the methods we use in which to attract consumers and keep them interested. Two of these methods, remarketing and retargeting, are often confused with one another, leading to the processes not being fully utilised. We’ve put together a guide on the differences between remarketing and retargeting, what each of the methods can do for your business and how to input them into your marketing strategy.

Retargeting

You will already have a marketing strategy in place for bringing visitors to your site, but retargeting is effectively about ensuring they don’t forget you. It is essentially like stalking consumers who have previously visited your site with targeted ads, so that they are reminded to come back to your site and make a purchase.

How Does It Work?

Retargeting is a fairly simple process and one that should definitely be set up with any eCommerce store.  The beauty of retargeting is that it is done through third-party sites like the Google Display Network and Adbrite, which means you’re able to reach consumers across a multitude of sites and apps. The way retargeting works is by a cookie being dropped by the code every time a visitor comes to your site, this cookie will then allow you to retarget that consumer with online ad placements as they browse other sites/apps.

The great thing about retargeting is that it drives a return on investment by targeting consumers when they’re most engaged. They could have been searching for a particular product and stumbled across your site, and retargeting will make sure your brand is kept always in mind.

Remarketing

While retargeting often relies on cookies, remarketing usually uses email. Despite this differentiation in strategy, they both aim to target consumers when they’re most engaged by reminding them of your brand.

How does it work?

Remarketing works via utilising stored emails that customers may have given you in the past. When they are signed in to this email and engage with posts, visit your site, or conduct cart abandonment, remarketing works by sending them an email within a short amount of time after the event, in order to hit them when they’re most likely to make a purchase.

While cart abandonment emails are one of the most popular routes of remarketing, sending personalised emails can also bring a strong ROI. This can be done by targeting customers with items similar to their previous purchases or inspired by their browsing history. The most important thing to acknowledge with remarketing is that it must be done in a timely manner to ensure you’re targeting the consumer when they’re at their highest level of engagement.

While retargeting and remarketing are successful ways of increasing customer purchases, they both do have their pitfalls. Retargeting could come across as annoying for the consumer, with targeted ads following their every move, and this could result in a loss of trust. Similarly, with remarketing, it can come across as invasive, with personalised emails potentially resulting in the consumer feeling ‘watched’. Despite this potential for a lack of browsing privacy being recognised by the consumer, both methods do have a strong, reliable record for bringing customers back to your site and improving your click-through rate. If you’re an eCommerce business, both retargeting and remarketing should be added to your marketing strategy to ensure a successful ROI.

Here at 5874, we have extensive experience in retargeting and remarketing and can help you get your business’ marketing strategy off the ground. For more information, contact us here.