A bad fitness marketing campaign is one where you spend time and money trying to convince untargeted people to become customers. Retargeting offers a completely different approach, with only those who have shown active interest seeing your ads. When you add in the additional branding benefits, it is easy to see the appeal of retargeting.
What Is Re-targeting?
Retargeting is a method of advertising whereby you place your ads in front of visitors who left your fitness website without taking action. A retargeting company like Facebook will provide you with a line of code to add to your site, resulting in a cookie being sent to a visitor's web browser.
This cookie informs the retargeting company when the visitor accesses other sites, resulting in your ads being served up across multiple locations. The average conversion rate based on a single viewing is likely to be in the low single figures, but repeat viewings of your brand can lead to far better results. Six Benefits:
This cookie informs the retargeting company when the visitor accesses other sites, resulting in your ads being served up across multiple locations. The average conversion rate based on a single viewing is likely to be in the low single figures, but repeat viewings of your brand can lead to far better results. Six Benefits:
- Improved Conversions - Retargeting can provide good conversion rates as you are speaking to people who have already shown a level of interest in your company. Even if a visitor discovered your site unexpectedly, they will usually have an interest in your niche.
- Better Click-Through Rate (CTR) - Banner blindness is the phenomenon where visitors subconsciously ignore surrounding advertising as they consume the main content. By placing branded ads that people have an awareness of, the average CTR will improve. Keeping a consistency between your website and ads can be a way to overcome banner blindness.
- Targeted - Targeted advertising is always going to perform better than broader, untargeted campaigns. You can perform a lot of research, identifying demographic data that pinpoints your average customer, but this cannot beat people who have already shown an interest. Instead of finding new prospects, retargeting lets them find you and then puts an offer in front of them.
- Affordable - The sky is the limit for most online advertising costs, but retargeting offers an affordable way to get started. Most companies charge based on either the number of clicks, views, or conversions, with the option of setting a maximum budget. This flexible pricing structure enables businesses of all budgets to start experimenting.
- Branding - Not every visitor has reached a point where they are ready to make a purchase. Even if a prospect decides not to buy, re-engaging them on another site is not a waste of your marketing efforts. The benefits of repeat targeting can last long into the future as your brand becomes familiar. Multiple exposures to your brand can be enough to raise awareness and start industry conversations.
- Speak to Existing Customers - Re-targeting might be a great way to find new customers, but you can also use it to improve relationships with existing customers. If you are releasing new products or services, a campaign directed towards your customers can bring in plenty of sales. Marketing to existing customers is not something that stops at the point of initial purchase, and you can transform your existing customer base into long-term, high-spending clients.
Re-Targeting For Your Fitness Marketing Campaign
Effective frequency is the term used to discuss this optimal level of advertising exposure, with Herbert E. Krugman famously declaring that three exposures were required. Krugman, and many marketers since, believed that the first exposure generated curiosity, the second led to recognition, and the third resulted in a decision. Whether this is accurate may be disputed, but it is generally accepted that prospects will need multiple viewings of an advertisement before the make a purchase.
Successful fitness businesses, even those with a well-established product, know they have to find ways to repeatedly put their brand in front of prospects. One of the newest online forms of advertising that allows this is called re-targeting. While many businesses focus all their efforts on constantly finding new prospects, others are using re-targeting to make the most of each visitor.
Professional fitness marketers like David Ogilvy the “Godfather of Marketing” and Conrad Gessner the “word of mouth marketer” have long argued over the average number of times a prospect must see an advertisement before making a purchase.
Successful fitness businesses, even those with a well-established product, know they have to find ways to repeatedly put their brand in front of prospects. One of the newest online forms of advertising that allows this is called re-targeting. While many businesses focus all their efforts on constantly finding new prospects, others are using re-targeting to make the most of each visitor.
Professional fitness marketers like David Ogilvy the “Godfather of Marketing” and Conrad Gessner the “word of mouth marketer” have long argued over the average number of times a prospect must see an advertisement before making a purchase.
The Problems With Retargeting
Overexposure. While you may start to see new customers and greater interest, there may be some people who are frustrated at seeing your ads. There is a balance you will want to strike between interest and overexposure, with no real way to please everyone. If you show the same ads to customers repeatedly they will start having no effect, so there is a financial benefit to throttling your views.
Objectionable Placement. There may be certain sites you would rather your ads didn't appear. An association with a website you don't approve of could be seen to damage your brand. Many companies allow you to block certain websites, so you can maintain an element of control, but it is not always essential to do this. It is worth considering that the ad is not a permanent fixture, with the only people seeing it being those who also accessed your own site.
Limited Views. You may find that your ads are only getting limited impressions, reducing the chances of a successful campaign. Certain industries, particularly the highly competitive ones, will be more expensive, so it might be necessary to increase your cost-per-click. As with many advertising methods, there is a point where the costs are too high to make a return on investment (ROI), but you will need to track your results carefully to know for sure.
Objectionable Placement. There may be certain sites you would rather your ads didn't appear. An association with a website you don't approve of could be seen to damage your brand. Many companies allow you to block certain websites, so you can maintain an element of control, but it is not always essential to do this. It is worth considering that the ad is not a permanent fixture, with the only people seeing it being those who also accessed your own site.
Limited Views. You may find that your ads are only getting limited impressions, reducing the chances of a successful campaign. Certain industries, particularly the highly competitive ones, will be more expensive, so it might be necessary to increase your cost-per-click. As with many advertising methods, there is a point where the costs are too high to make a return on investment (ROI), but you will need to track your results carefully to know for sure.
Popular Retargeting Companies
As retargeting has grown, more companies have created solutions for advertisers. Ultimately, you will want to reach as many people as possible, but you need to ensure you are receiving a good ROI. Retargeting is easy to scale when you are comfortable with the process, so you can begin with a modest budget and grow from there. The following companies are established within the retargeting space:
To Re-Target Or Not To Re-Target?
Retargeting can be an important part of your fitness marketing, but it will work best as part of a wider blueprint. Targeting your visitors will only work if you are able to generate traffic in the first place, so you also need a strategy to bring people into your site. Many of the typical online methods can drive traffic, with SEO and traditional paid advertising getting results. Regardless of the effectiveness of retargeting, you need to take a broader approach to traffic and conversions.
