Any internet marketer who isn’t prepared to effectively reach consumers who use multiple devices over the course of the day is losing money. When a prospective customer is treated as a new lead each time they switch to another device, they are presented with the same ads they saw earlier in the day. This is expensive and annoying to prospects.
What is Cross-Device Retargeting?
The use of cookies has been the traditional method of retargeting an individual but was far from a perfect solution. In the real world, people today tend to research a product on their smartphones but may conclude the purchase on their computer. Without being able to make the connection of the customer’s use of two devices, you don’t really know what caused the customer to arrive at the website. Was it good reviews or because the website ranked high on a search?
Cross-device retargeting follows the customer regardless of the device used and doesn’t interfere with frequency capping that limits the number of times ads are shown to the same person. This is important because ads become less effective over time. Without cross-device retargeting, the user is listed as new each time the website is accessed on a different device, an expensive and counter-productive occurrence.
What Has Changed?
Until now, only Facebook has been able to offer marketers the significant advantage of cross-device retargeting. Now, Google has announced they will also be offering cross-device retargeting for Google remarketing campaigns on Google Display Network and DoubleClick Bid Manager. As is the case on Facebook, this will be limited to those who have signed in but, on just Gmail, there are one billion users per month.
The Advantages of Cross-Device Retargeting
Manage your engagement and your results. Advertisers are able to decide which ads are shown to an individual user. The advertising can be adjusted according to time and which device is being used. Customers are not lost as they switch back and forth between devices. Campaign reporting and measurements become more accurate, ensuring the budget is spent most effectively and not wasted. Without accurate data, overall strategic planning is hampered. Cross-device retargeting offers a significant advantage to marketers, especially if all of their competitors are not yet benefiting from it.
Why is Cross-Device Retargeting So Important?
Marketers can tell a story with a series of fresh ads as they track the user, regardless of where the consumer is or the device being used. Consider how advantageous it would be to have an ad appear to a user who may have visited your website yesterday on their home computer and is now approaching your store with their smartphone. Display an ad at the best possible time for a conversion.
Cross-device retargeting has the potential to dramatically affect your bottom line, especially now that Google has jumped on board. Implement this in your Google campaigns and you’ll wish that Google had offered this long ago. It’s that important.
