Remember those ads you’ve seen for web sites that “follow you” as you surf the web? They’re called retargeting ads and they are about to become much more prevalent.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Google is in discussions to allow advertisers to target ads in search results at their existing customers. Unlike traditional retargeting ads which can be served to anyone who visits a web site, the ads Google is planning would be targeted to specific individuals whose email address is known by the advertiser. That’s right, if you have someone’s email address you can target display ads to those individuals. This capability, called CRM Targeting, is already available in the market and is quickly picking up steam. Facebook has been offering this capability for a few years now. Think of the use cases for subscription based companies:
- Promoting premium services to prospects who signed up for a free offering
- Attempting win back campaigns by targeting former subscribers
- Re-engaging less active subscribers
- Marketing special offers to VIP customers
CRM retargeting can also make your other digital marketing work harder for you. Retargeting ads can keep your brand or product top of mind so your audience is more likely to notice and respond to your emails, content and other marketing.
However, like any emerging marketing tactic, CRM retargeting is susceptible to over use and abuse. I predict that in the coming years many marketers will “over do it”, which cause retargeting banner blindness (at best) and subscriber backlash (at worst). Excessive retargeting will reduce its effectiveness, which may also hurt email opt-out rates. We advise subscription based companies to follow these best practices:
- Update your privacy policies and be transparent about how you use subscriber data.
- Segment your lists when retargeting. Tailor messages for key segments.
- Put a frequency cap in place. Use a rule that says no one segment will see ads more than a certain number of times in a given time period.
- Use retargeting ads as part of a broader tactical mix to reinforce campaigns in SEM and email marketing campaigns.
- Use data overlays and do modeling to find prospect “look alikes” who share the same characteristics as your best customers-and then retarget them with ads.
Employing these practices will ensure you get the most of CRM retargeting over time, add to the effectiveness of other marketing channels and minimize opt-out rates of your email file.
Brad Mehl, our INSIDER Guide to Subscriber Engagement, is President of Boundless Markets, a marketing and sales consultancy/agency for the information and software industry. Boundless Markets’ expertise is growth through digital channels, transformation of marketing and sales functions, and gaining unique audience insights. (Read Brad’s full Bio)
