Have you ever been 'stalked' by an ad? Here's why
Having recently moved to Montana, it’s become evident that I must explore this magical place. The mountains, lakes, trails and valleys beckon me, so naturally, I’ve had to buy hiking boots, bear spray, snowshoes, jackets, bike gear as well as various other items to help me “properly” get around. Not to mention the studded snow tires for my wife’s Prius. That was a necessary purchase.
I spend a LOT of time online researching things before I make a purchase. Maybe too much time, if you ask my family. I’m on dozens of websites reading descriptions and comparing prices, and all the while I’m reading review after review, looking for the pros and cons of buying specific brands, sizes, colors, etc. Reviews can have a lot of great information, but at the end of the day, I’m very tactile and I prefer to shop local, so eventually, I shut the laptop and visit my favorite stores to make my purchase.
One of the side effects of all this online research is that I end up seeing ads for everything I’ve ever researched. Amazon is particularly notorious. View one pair of Danner hiking boots and I start seeing ads for them everywhere — my email, my weather app, my Facebook page — EVERYWHERE. They are stalking me. And every ad I see reminds me of how cool those Danner boots are. They’re great quality, made in the Northwest and they’d be perfect for the hikes I’m planning for the summer. Long story short, I now have a pair of Danner hiking boots. I bought them here in town and thanks to my online research I knew exactly what I wanted.
So how does that work? How do those ads know that I’m looking to buy hiking boots? HOW DOES THE INTERNET KNOW EVERYTHING?
It’s called re-targeting and for most businesses, it’s a highly effective marketing tactic to “remind” you that you showed interest in their product or service with the hope you’ll buy it from them.
Do you own a business? Do you have a website? Did you know that 97 percent of first-time visitors to your website will leave without contacting you? This is a sobering statistic, especially if you’ve spent a lot of time and money building that cool website. What if you could reach out to that 97 percent with an ad that entices them to come back? Re-targeting can bring back 26 percent of those site visitors. Pretty cool, isn’t it?
Re-targeting and targeted display can reach potential customers, not only based on location, income, age and gender, but also through their online behavior. Everyone leaves a trail of digital breadcrumbs when they’re on the Internet and as a business, that is marketing gold.
Marketing has changed a LOT in the last few years. If you own a business, it can be overwhelming to know what works and what doesn’t. I’ve been in this industry long enough to hear “I know half of my advertising works … just not sure what half.”
Wouldn’t it be cool if your business followed your best customers and website visitors as they make their way around the Internet? Wouldn’t it be cool if you KNEW exactly what half of your advertising was working? I can help. Give me a call.
Anton Kaufer is the director of advertising at the Daily Inter Lake and Hagadone Digital Montana. He’d be happy to answer your questions about digital marketing and talk with you about your business goals. He might even buy you lunch if you tell him you read this column. You can reach him at 758-4410 or akaufer@dailyinterlake.com.