Comments on: Remarketing, are you doing it and if you’re not, should you be?

By: Ben F.

Ben F. — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 17:17:00 +0000

I’ve recently been going over this as well as I am in real estate but for the last few months I have been working for a retargeting vendor who supplies this for online retailers.

Ideally, like how they do it with online retailers, I would like to serve ads to the users who already saw my site. This in itself gets tricky as you have to cookie users who come to the page. Not sure if there is a solution for this on a small scale so google may be the best option.

This is pretty new for the real estate world it seems, maybe there will be a better solution in the near future to really be able to target users.

By: Joe Segal

Joe Segal — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 07:19:29 +0000

Has anyone actually tested this themselves with Real Estate?

By: geordieromer

geordieromer — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 01:56:45 +0000

There are a number of different companies that offer retargeting and on multiple ad networks, not just Google.

Much like PPC I think this would work best for very specific niches. For example, do you have a specific landing page for specific condo development or neighborhood? Retargeting visitors who visit that page would convert much better than just folks who visited your home page.

Here's a great way to use retargeting in my mind. Let's say you have a specific landing page for prospective sellers or maybe FSBOs. Instead of serving them ads convincing them to list with you, why not show off your listings? The prospective seller will see your ads everywhere they go and think "wow, that real estate agent does a great job advertising!" (And you don't pay for the impressions... you just pay when they click.)

By: samirsoriano

samirsoriano — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 22:42:53 +0000

I'm not sure how Google does it, but other ReTargeting platforms give controls over impression caps, and removing users from the ReTargeting pool after making a conversion. That said, you didn't buy anything, but you still saw ads. The fact that you noticed the ads is testament to something (I never notice ads unless they're for things that I have some interest in)– and while you may not have converted right a way, someone else who went to the Infiniti site very well may have.

That said, as far as whether or not your company should be using ReTargeting — it depends how big your company is, and what you're looking to get out of it. For really small businesses, ReTargeting is a great tool for brand scaling. ReTargeting will let the small business' audience think that the brand is bigger than it actually is.

For advertisers who are a bit bigger, then ReTargeting can be very useful for driving conversion by staying in front of the visitors (just like in your example – you didn't convert, but the reminder could have very well lead someone else to convert).

By: Samir Soriano

Samir Soriano — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 17:38:00 +0000

I’m not sure how Google does it, but other platforms

By: AgentSteph77

AgentSteph77 — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 10:15:21 +0000

Wow. I didn't know about this feature. I can see how this could be uber-powerful. I have very small Adwords budget. I do get clicks, but I don't know if they “convert”… I can't tell if those clicks translated into IDX registration or if it was a registration from another source like trulia or craigslist. I'm sure there is a way to figure that out, but it must be over my head.

At any rate, I don't think the average surfer would know or understand what “retargeting” is. I think they would get further exposure to your brand and think “Wow. He must be a really successful real estate agent… Maybe I should give him a second look.”

Here is my question. Can you set your Retargeting ads to only show up to those who spent more than a few seconds on your site? In other words, can you weed out the “bouncers” who didn't find what they needed on your site?

By: matthewswanson

matthewswanson — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 01:14:06 +0000

Great points Alex! Anyone else have thoughts on this? I can definitely see your point. I would think at some point in time, it would make sense to not show the remarketing ad any longer – maybe after 3 days or something? (thanks for the tip on the g sedan )

By: Alex

Alex — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 08:50:46 +0000

Intersting post, Matthew. I haven't used this (or PPC, for that matter), but from a consumer's standpoint I would think that it becomes a bit too intrusive and I would be less likely to follow up. In your example, you were looking for info the G37 (btw, the sedan is phenomenal, I was disappointed with the coupe), did you have any interest in having that in your face AFTER you left the site and progressed to different interests? It's a bit too 'in your face' for my taste but I'd love to hear from someone who has firsthand experience on this.