The evolution of marketing strategies from mass market campaigns such as billboards and TV commercials to personalized experiences like Facebook and Google ads has changed the way businesses promote themselves.
Any marketing adage that could survive such a foundational shift is bound to be common knowledge then…right?
Well, have you heard of the Rule of 7?
It goes a little something like this:
Few business owners can recite this rule from memory, but even fewer are actively working toward achieving it.
Despite what many believe, digital ad space costs a fraction of what old-school advertisements did, and the Rule of 7 is just as achievable for the Marketing Director at Microsoft as it is for the one-man shop down on Main St.
Tech titans like Google and Facebook make it easy to buy ad space on their sprawling search and social networks, but tucked away in these services is an option specifically designed with the Rule of 7 in mind: retargeting advertisements.
Two-sentence review: What are retargeting ads?
By placing a short piece of code on your website, every visitor will automatically download a file called a “cookie” to their computer or mobile device. When your site visitors navigate to other web pages, that tiny file tells advertising providers (like Google and Facebook), “This user has been to acmeincorporated.com, display one of its ads here!”
This allows you to create marketing campaigns specifically for people who have visited your site, but left before taking the next step.
If you choose to market yourself through the Google Display Network, retargeting grants you access to ad space on more than two million sites. With that kind of selection, you can make sure your ads are placed on pages relevant to your industry. If you’re an IT provider, that might be WIRED; if you’re a business consultant that might be Fast Company.
On top of the one-two punch that is targeting your site visitors while they are on other pages relevant to your product or service — displaying a single retargeting ad usually costs a fraction of a penny.
Even mom-and-pop shops can develop name recognition on par with heavyweights.
But instead of getting carried away shoveling money into a generic retargeting campaign, take some time to plan how your campaigns will build confidence when prospects see your ad the fifth, sixth and even seventh time.
4 Insider tricks for keeping your retargeting campaigns fresh and interesting
- Create landing pages for each campaign – The trouble with billboards and TV commercials is that they appeal to the lowest common denominator. With retargeting ads, you’re marketing to a distinct group; why waste time creating a personalized ad just to send them to an imprecise product or service page? Link your ads to landing pages with content that zeroes in on the unique experience of this audience.
- Add some variety to your ads – You don’t want your prospects to see the same ad with the same message over and over. Always create multiple sets of ads and refresh them with new content as often as possible. For example, Pronto’s Managed Retargeting Service comes with two ad sets that get updated every three months based on performance.
- Ignore site visitors who view only one page – If your ads are shown to anyone who has visited a specific page on your site, you could end up wasting a significant amount of money targeting people who arrived there by mistake. Did they click the wrong link? Did they misunderstand what you sell? Who knows. But you can prohibit cookies from being downloaded until after a visitor has viewed at least two pages.
- Show retargeting ads on more than one network – Google and Facebook have excellent, albeit totally separate, networks where they displays ads. Instead of managing campaigns on more than one platform, Pronto’s retargeting service uses Adroll. This company integrates hundreds of ad networks (including Google, Facebook and more) so everything can be managed from a centralized account.
Of course, we wouldn’t be telling you how incredible this 21st marketing strategy is if we didn’t know a thing or two about it. Our marketing consultants have spent years working with Pronto designers and copywriters to create ads for clients that moved their prospects to purchase.
Need some help?
If you feel confused or overwhelmed, don’t be. Pronto has you covered. With over 1500+ WordPress websites under our belt, we can help you with all your WordPress needs and more. From retargeting all the way to integrating platforms.
Schedule a call with one of our Pronto Experts and learn how we can secure your website and marketing so you can focus on your business.
