The Future of Remarketing: RLSA & Google Analytics Remarketing

Across the past several weeks, Google has significantly beefed up its remarketing offering.  In the process, they have eliminated the need for clunky pixels and added depth to the level of segmentation.  Both Remarketing Lists for Search Ads (RLSA) and Google Analytics remarketing offer new ways to advertise to individuals based on their interaction with your site

Considering the limited exposure for each of these, I have yet to confirm my excitement and expectations through data.  Eventually, I plan to follow up with a more thorough evaluation, but for now, here is a simple introduction.

Remarketing Lists for Search Ads Beta

RLSA is the largest step Google has taken towards Search Remarketing to date.  Before you jump for joy, understand that this is not true Search Remarketing based on impressions and queries; rather, it permits advertisers to differentiate search advertising based on whether an individual as visited their site or not.  Regardless, it’s still exciting stuff.

What Does It Do?

If you have ever employed remarketing through the GDN in the past, you’ve placed pixels across your site to cookie specific audiences.  RLSA allows you to leverage these audiences/remarketing lists in search.  In similar fashion to traditional GDN remarketing strategies, RLSA enables advertisers to augment bids and messaging on the search network based off a searcher’s previous interaction with your site.   Moreover, it also allows you to exclude audiences.

Why Is This  Awesome?

Someone who has visited your site before is more likely to convert and therefore holds more value than someone who hasn’t.  RSLA allows you to employ this principle on the search network.  Let’s take a look at a hypothetical use case to illustrate this more clearly.

Joe is in the market for a high-end fashion shirt.  He conducts a search on Google and clicks an organic listing for BestMensFashion.com and is immediately cookied by a remarketing pixel.  Joe shops around, but isn’t ready to purchase and exits.  A few days later, Joe resumes his search and types “affordable mens fashion.”  Usually, for that query, BestMensFashion.com would display an ad in position 7-8.  But through RLSA, BestMensFashion.com would be able to increase their bid and position due to the fact that Joe had been cookied.  In order to implement this, BestMensFashion.com would have to create a mirror campaign that contains this keyword, target it to the appropriate audience and adjust bids accordingly.  With that increased bid, BestMensFashion.com now displays an ad in position 2 for Joe.  We bid higher because we know Joe (and other members of this remarketing audience) are more likely to convert. The greater visibility and brand recognition leads Joe to click on it.  After a few minutes of browsing, Joe purchases a shirt and in the process unknowingly demonstrates the potential impact RLSA can have for any advertiser.

Google Analytics Remarketing

Another new offering from Google allows you to run remarketing using audiences from Google Analytics as opposed to just AdWords.  By incorporating a small DoubleClick parameter in your analytics code, you can leverage analytics audience segmentation for GDN remarketing:

What Does It Do?

Google Analytics allows you to segment data across a variety of metrics and dimensions.  These insights help advertisers optimize their websites and online marketing programs, but now they have an additional functionality.   Through Google Analytics (GA) remarketing, you can create remarketing lists based on audience segments (standard or customized) found only in GA.

Why Is This Awesome?

First and foremost, it negates the need to place a different Google AdWords remarketing pixel every time you want to narrow down on a specific segment.  Previously, if you wanted to target visitors who bounced with a full shopping cart, it took at least 2 unique pixels.  Now, all that is required is a slight addition to your existing Analytics code as demonstrated above.

Second, imagine the possibilities.  GA remarketing grants access to a devilishly appealing level of audience segmentation.  Previously, these data sets (new vs. returning visitors, direct vs. organic, etc) were exclusively used for evaluation.  Now, you can identify a particular segment of users that are quantifiably more valuable to your business and maintain a front-of-mind presence.  But take caution.  With such a wide plethora of opportunities, there may be a tendency to overcomplicate your remarketing strategy.  More than anything, this would result in over-segmentation and leave you with a convoluted list of audiences that make-up a minimal portion of site traffic.

You can use default or custom segments to define an audience.  Using Joe in another example, let’s take a look at how we could use the non-bounce default segment.  This time around, Joe is in the market for some organic underpants.  He conducts a search on Google and stumbles upon GreenUndies.com.  Once Joe visits this site, he is immediately cookied by GA.  During this visit, Joe engages with a number of pages, but does not purchase.  Through his active engagement, Joe defines himself as a non-bounce visitor.  Due to the fact that Joe did not bounce and was actively engaged, he is a valuable segment.  GreenUndies.com realizes this and creates an Ad Group that employs the non-bounce default segment as an audience to re-engage with Joe, and visitors like him, across the GDN.