As a frequent internet user, you’ve probably experienced this scenario multiple times:
- Search for a restaurant, clothing brand, or other product or service via a search engine.
- Browse the site for a few minutes or order something.
- A week later, that company or brand shows up in a Facebook, website, or Google advertisement.
At first, you may assume this is some strange coincidence. A few more times later, you’ll probably begin to realize that something calculated and determined is happening here. Well, what’s occurring in this phenomenon is actually an extremely common online advertising strategy known as retargeting ads. Retargeting ads utilize cookie tracking tools to provide data about website visitors to advertisers.
So, what exactly are cookies? Well, besides being a delicious treat, cookies play a vital role in digital advertising and are actually at the forefront of some of the most contested debates on data security and online privacy. Most significantly, they track, analyze, and calculate browsing history to provide advertisers relevant information about user preferences, interests, and shopping habits.
Through cookies, advertisers significantly increase their chances of completing sales through retargeting online shoppers who have already shown interest in their product or similar products. Or, at least they used to.
Google has recently announced its grand initiative to completely remove third-party cookie tracking parties that are certified as non-secure, and also phase them out entirely by 2022. The question begs for digital advertisers, how can we use these extremely powerful tools without the help of cookies?
Well, shifting away from third-party cookies means introducing online advertising initiatives that focus on first-party cookies.
Your Website:
The efficiency and power of third-party cookies will be difficult to match. After all, if you locate a new audience who is actively looking for your product or services, completing a sale becomes much easier. This predicament may cause advertisers to get more creative and force them to put more research hours in. First-party cookies are cookies created, (as you can imagine), by the publisher of the website owner themselves. Through these analytics, we’re not necessarily able to retarget ads, but we can still gain information on targeting advertisements and selecting demographics.
Your Social Media:
Social media platforms, which have for years benefited from third-party cookies, now are pivoting their efforts in regards to advertising as well. Using their own website information or the behavioral data collected, advertisers can build custom audiences and send messages through Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. As we all know, the amount of time spent on social media for people of all ages and demographics continues to rise every year.
Your Specific Campaigns:
Does your company have a sale or specific service offer running? A great way to increase leads is by establishing a landing page for your original content campaigns. Once these have run, as the site owner, you’re able to track and collect visitors who visited this specific page and run a similar retargeting campaign. The best part is, you’re only retargeting customers that showed interest or curiosity in your campaigns.
Partner with Marketers that Hit the Target:
beMarketing is a full-service digital marketing and advertising firm with decades of experience in pay per click, website hosting, targeted advertising, and more. Our expert digital team are industry leaders in optimizing web content, increasing website traffic, and building up Google search rankings. As a certified Google Partner, we have access to unique tools to help grow your business to the next level. Interested in learning more? Let’s Talk Today!
