In a previous post entitled Three Reasons Display Advertising Should Be On Your Radar we discussed the business benefits of display advertising. Today, let’s discuss the first cousin of display you might consider in your Internet remarketing arsenal which is called website retargeting. You know, those ads that follow you around the Internet offering you the exact same product, service or possibly even a related product you searched for recently.

Consumers come to your website via a various number of ways including search engines, local online Internet yellow pages and directories, social media and many, many other ways. The key to remarketing is to keep that consumer aware of your brand once they hit the back button or leave your website without taking an action to engage with you. That is where retargeting comes into the picture by showing custom display ads to those consumers as they surf the web with the intent bringing them back to your website for another look.

This is how retargeting works:

1. A consumer visits your website.
2. Retargeting technology places a “cookie” on the consumer's browser.
3. The prospect hits the back button or leaves your website to surf the web.
4. Once the prospect visits a website of interest and within the technology ad network a custom display ad is presented on that webpage.
5. The prospect may click on that display ad and return to your business website or proceed browsing on the web.

The results of retargeting can be highly effective. Here are a few tips on successful campaigns:

1. Filter out consumers who bounce immediately or only browse around a couple of website pages. Your Internet technology vendor can manage this process.
2. Retarget known repeat vistors via other Internet marketing means such as email marketing. Offer incentives through promotions and coupons and reviews of your products or services.
3. Previous customers can be also be retargeted with display ads for complimentary products or services and promotional offers.
4. Test different ad display creatives on a continued basis to determine and measure which creatives deliver the maximum ROI for your business.

The business benefit of website retargeting is all about branding your business to TARGETED consumers creating a top-of-mind awareness bringing back those consumers to your website for an opportunity to engage with your business. Consumers check out on average five sources of information before making a purchasing decision, why not influence those consumers to do business with you on other websites they view as trusted sources!