by samGoogle’s remarketing service is a means of distributing relevant PPC advertisements based on a user’s previous browsing activity across the Google display network. The service is loosely built around the idea that interest in a given service or product can be rekindled under different circumstances. It offers purveyors of internet marketing a second chance to reach potential customers who have already displayed an interest in your product or service.
Google’s service works by tracking user activity via the use of their ‘double click’ cookie as they visit various tagged parts of your website. Webmasters set categorising ‘remarketing tags’ on different pages of their websites that, when visited, represent an interest in a particular facet of your service. When a user visits the tagged area, their (anonymous) cookie information is saved as part of a remarketing list, which can be as broad or as narrow as the online marketer sees fit. The collected interests can then be used to target the same potential customers at a later date with the same or similar products. Remarketing can be used as a reminder of the suitability of your service or in light of any offers that you may have initiated that may increase the likelihood of potential customers becoming ‘conversions’.
The biggest advantage of using Google’s remarketing is that it can be used as part of an integrated online marketing campaign. Both PPC advertisements and organic SEO results can drive traffic to your website, which, depending on the activity of the users while on your website, can be targeted again once they depart. For example, if I’m based in London and I need an SEO firm to optimise my website, I would search ‘SEO London’. Once arriving at a relevant website, if I found myself interested in a company’s service but ultimately decided to delay the buying process, that company would be able to target me and specialised others with relevant offers that may later swing the decision that I didn’t make before. At its most useful on both sides, remarketing is a second chance for advertisers and consumers to reconnect as services and needs develop.