SEM - Search Engine Marketing, also known as Pay Per Click (PPC) is a great way to reach new customers. And while we run a lot of PPC campaigns for our clients, we rarely run Search Campaigns with Remarketing Lists for Search Ads (known as RLSA).
Retargeting ads are common place for Display advertising, in fact we are running a number of campaigns for clients today. Retargeting simply allows you to place your ads in front of individuals who have already visited your website while they visit other websites. The process is simply enough. When the consumer visits your website, a cookie is dropped on their computer. When they leave your site and visit other websites, the website Ad Manager recognizes that the current visitor has previously visited your site, so it selects your display ad to show the visitor. If you have ever shopped for shoes on Zappo's or Amazon, you will see ads for these companies "following" you around as you visit other websites.
Google allows you to do the same type of retargeting in your AdWords PPC account. In this case, instead of showing you ads based on a previous visit, it shows you ads based on the terms you are searching on Google.com. This is very important this time of year since it is the season of gift giving!
Let's say a visitor comes to your website and looks around, but doesn't buy anything. Later they jump back on Google and search for an item you sell, Google will recognize that this individual has already visited your site, so it shows your ad for that item to the individual conducting the search.
Google even allows you to adjust your bid based on this information. Keep in mind that Google Search is an auction. The companies that bid the most are listed at the top of the search results. To further complicate it, actually the companies that bid the most are not listed at the top - the companies that make the most money for Google are listed at the top. So while bid price is one of the determining factors, the number of clicks an ad is likely to generate is also factored in.
The reason Google allows you to adjust your bid price is so you can appear higher up the one the results page, generating more revenue for Google. Remember, Google only makes money if someone clicks on an ad.
Let's say that "Present for Uncle Bob" has an average bid price of $1.00. As a business, you are competing with everyone else at $1.00 per bid. But what if you had "insider information" about the individual sitting at the keyboard? What if you knew that they had already been to your website looking for a gift for Uncle Bob? What would this information be worth to you?
I beleive this is your competitive advantage over the competition. While they are slugging it out at a $1.00 bid price, I an going to add a 25% premium to any bid that includes the keyphrase "Present for Uncle Bob" AND with confirmation that they have visited my website before. This visitor moves up from "qualified sales prospect" to "highly qualified" sales prospect.
Here is a link from our friends at Google further explaining how this works.
If you want to learn more about this use of retargeting, give us a call at 419-776-7000, send me an email or click below to send us a message and we will call you!
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