BT: Retargeting � An Experiment

Thursday, July 13th, 2006 at 5:40 pm by Jeffrey Perren, AC Magazine

Sometimes advertisers act a little too much like used car salesmen: Get the sale now. Don’t let the prospect walk away with a promise to return later. 99 times out of a 100 they won’t come back and you’ll lose any chance at the sale.

However that may be in the realm of car sales, it shouldn’t unduly influence an affiliate marketer’s website design. Often ads are placed with the idea that it’s buy now or forever lose that particular customer. Nothing wrong with that, per se. But it’s not the only way to encourage buyers.

Behavioral targeting, at least in one of its forms, looks at visitor actions over time. One specific kind is called “retargeting”. Lots of users won’t fill out registration forms, nor make a purchase on the spot. Nevertheless, their visit is recorded. Spotting them next time they do, then serving an appropriate ad is what retargeting is all about.

In one test, retargeted ads showed an almost 200% increase in clickthrough rate and 167% increase in conversions versus non-targeted ads. Those are impressive numbers.

Advertisers should remember they are often a lot like their audience. Visitors sometimes need time to think about a purchase and may have to become comfortable with a product or merchant. Repeated exposure and research is one the way that happens.

Take the long view and make your site attractive for repeat visitors. One good way is to offer fresh content frequently. In the upcoming “The Art of the Article” issue of Affiliate Classroom magazine we give you some ideas about how to do that.

Then when they come back, display some content based on the knowledge that they have come back. Not necessarily in an obvious way. “Hi, welcome back” is both too bland and � to some � a little creepy. No one likes to think they’re being watched as they shop. Just a subtle change in graphic or text that nudges that shopper a little closer to a sale the second or third time around.

After all, didn’t you go back to the lot more than once to pick out just the right snazzy vehicle?

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