64% of European marketers plan to increase retargeting budgets this year, according to a new report released by AdRoll.
Surveying 250 marketers across Europe, 125 of which were from the UK, the research found that 39% already spend 25-30% of their entire online advertising budget on retargeting, with three in five respondents ranking brand awareness as their top retargeting objective.
According to the study, which was carried out by research company Qualtrics, 74% of respondents reported a lift in search campaigns when retargeting was used, while 64% reported the same for email marketing.
However, separate research released last year by InSkin Media and RAPP media revealed that more than half of consumers are put off buying products or services if they see the same ad online multiple times – with just 10% more likely to buy something after seeing the same ad served repeatedly.
‘Annoying’ and ‘intrusive’ were just some of the words used to describe retargeted ads – with respondents likely to become ‘angry’ after seeing the same ad more than 10 times.
Commenting on the latest results, AdRoll’s managing director EMEA, Michael Bertaut, said: “Our report shows that marketers have expanded the way they think about retargeting, and are heavily increasing investment in the technology based on its high performance.
“Retargeting has moved from a niche tactic to a critical tool for turning data into successful strategies, helping marketers meet every marketing goal from driving sales to keeping your brand top of mind for audiences. It isn’t just keeping pace – retargeting is leading the charge in programmatic by paving the way for a deeper understanding of online customer behaviour.”
Not everyone is convinced, however. In a recent article on Newsline, Crimtan’s Robert Webster said that while retargeting can deliver great results, concentrating marketing budgets on retargeting alone has an obvious drawback.
“By definition retargeting does not attract new visitors, so only people who have already visited a website are getting the message, and this can be a relatively small audience,” explained Webster.
“It is vital that digital marketers lift their focus from the bottom of the sales funnel and talk to prospective new customers – the ones who haven’t visited their website yet.”
Webster added that essentially, digital marketers need to get back to “core marketing”.
“Activities such as direct mail and email marketing are both established direct response practices and retargeting is no different.
“By actively experimenting with different retargeting and prospecting strategies, by segmenting audiences, and by using dynamic creative, brands can arrive at a balance of activity that delivers the ultimate ROI for their digital marketing budgets.”
