The marketing terms remarketing and retargeting are often confused with one another, but these two phenomena have marked differences and it is important for everyone who pays for media advertising to be aware of them.
If you can’t tell the difference between remarketing and retargeting you are far from being the only one. Although remarketing and retargeting technically serve the same purpose (to reach the target audience) there are still some key differences you need to keep in mind to adjust your marketing campaign better. This article provides a detailed definition of these terms to clear up this confusion, so keep reading if you want to find out more.
Retargeting And Remarketing Share Some Similarities, But They Are Not The Same
Firstly, let’s begin with highlighting the principal similarity between remarketing and retargeting which is their shared goal to convert leads into paying customers.
Digital advertising is a long and arduous process that requires a lot of creativity, constant testing, and data analysis. And after all of this effort, only a few of the people who click on your website actually convert.
For a person to purchase something after the first web visit is rare; brands usually need to build up trust and present leads with several enticing offers before they choose your product or service over your competitor’s offer. For this reason, people who have clicked on your website link on multiple occasions are usually a safer bet, and remarketing and retargeting give you a chance to turn them into customers.
Now that we have highlighted the similarity let’s discuss the key differences between remarketing and retargeting.
What Is Retargeting?
In simple terms retargeting refers to the practice of showing specific ads only to those users who have already visited your website and interacted with you digitally (however they have not made any purchases yet).
Web browser cookies are an essential part of that process; they track the visitors’ activity on your website. Once they live your site you can analyze their actions and retarget them (meaning show them ads you think they might be more interested in).
The ads are managed by companies such as Facebook or Google Display Network. Once a visitor enters another website these companies start showing your ads.
Overall, we can differentiate between two types of retargeting which are concerned with on-site events and off-site events. Let’s have a closer look at each one.
Targeting on-site interactions.
On-site interaction provides you with the necessary information to retarget prospective customers. These visitors have performed various actions on your website (clicking on various links, having a closer look at the products, etc.) but they have not made a purchase. Retargeting the visitors who have interacted with your brand on-site helps retain their attention and increases the conversion rate.
These individuals can be retargeted in a multitude of ways. Either based on the specific product they were interested in or based on which avenue led them to your website (social media post, Google search, etc.); they might even be the people who were on your promotional email list.
You can tweak these parameters and make your retargeting campaign more precise by using Google Ads, Google Analytics, Facebook Ads, and various other tools.
Data indicates that retargeting campaign is much more likely to have favorable results than any other marketing campaign which is logical since it is truly easier to convince people to buy something from you after they have already expressed an interest in your company on their own accord.
Targeting off-site interactions.
Earlier retargeting was mostly limited to the on-site interactions, however, this has changed since now more and more users spend their time on various social media websites. Now brands have the ability to showcase their products and services on multiple popular platforms even if they do not own any of these other sites. The social media giant Facebook is largely responsible for this new way of targeting potential customers. Now, in addition to targeting people who have actually visited their website brands also have an option to retarget the visitors of their Facebook pages (and more). Since various brands can retarget visitors of their Facebook pages despite now owning any shares of Facebook itself this is an example of off-site retargeting.
Now that you have an understanding of what retargeting is let’s have a look at remarketing.
What Is Remarketing?
This is where it gets a bit confusing since many people in the industry (even some of the experts) use the term “remarketing” when in reality they mean the practice of retargeting and vice versa. For instance, Google’s Remarketing Tools are in essence retargeting tools.
With this in mind, remarketing is basically concerned with encouraging prospective customers to make a purchase (mostly via an email campaign). Some of the classic examples of this are those promotional emails we all get from various companies telling us to try out their new product or service. It is a type of “reminder” to take action and make a purchase.
Remarketing campaign can also be used to show paid ads to current customers.
The Subtle Differences Between Remarketing And Retargeting.
In the past, email campaigns and paid ads were two separate entities, but today the line between these two digital marketing phenomena is getting more and more blurry, to the point where one now might be an inseparable part of the other.
So what caused this shift in digital marketing practices? Well, firstly, Facebook and Google Ads have enabled brands to target on their platforms using an email list. So the emails are no longer a separate island, now they could be just part of a multifaceted ad campaign. When you upload an email list to one of these platforms the addresses are matched to user login information; and if the email list is large enough to meet the minimum threshold of the audience size the platforms will show your ads to this group of people.
The Final Thoughts On Remarketing And Retargeting.
Over the past few years, the difference between remarketing and retargeting has become even more obscure. But these two terms are not the only ones with a blurred line between them; the world of digital marketing as a whole is becoming increasingly interconnected.
However, both of these practices ultimately share the same goal: to influence the people who are most likely to buy from your company and thus increase conversions.
The difference lies in strategy; while retargeting is mainly concerned with paid ads, and can assume various forms on multiple platforms, remarketing mainly has to do with sending emails to your prospective customers. However, these two practices are often used in combination in modern digital marketing campaigns and this trend is likely to grow.