Kennon Vaughan is a Toronto-based Digital Marketing Specialist.
Ok, so this is one of those things that can be a head scratcher for many of us until we figure it out. A few of us may do the mental math and figure out why, coincidentally, we are seeing product ads for products that we have recently shopped for. The answer, of course, is Re-marketing.
If you are like me, when this first started happening you were probably baffled, even upset by the idea that someone 'knows' what you were searching for online and is now diabolically placing ads on your screen to make you buy the product.
Well, that's true, however, is not diabolical, its Re-marketing!
Re-marketing is the official term for the practice of serving ads to shoppers who were recently shopping on an online store but left without purchasing or perhaps with items left in their shopping cart.
So how is it done? By now, I think we've all heard about cookies. No, not the delicious treats your grandmother makes, but rather the technology that allows websites you visit to save a small piece of code on your computer, called a cookie, that informs ad networks of your product interest then serves those ads back to you while you are visiting other unrelated sites, in an attempted to get you to make a purchase.
While this may seem sinister, this is really what the Internet is all about. In fact, beyond cookies, one of the most popular ways to do this is through a 'pixel'. A pixel is similar to a cookie, essentially, its used by Facebook and other ads/content platforms to more directly and purposefully target you and/or people like you for the ads that you are more likely to be interested in based on your recent web traffic.
The good news if you are concerned about privacy or intrusion, is that you can disable this functionality either by choosing your 'cookie' preferences in your browsers settings control panel or by using a browser that does not allow this type of tracking to occur, like DuckDuckGo or the TOR browser.
For social media marketers and digital marketing specialists like myself, Re-marketing is an incredibly valuable tool that allows businesses the chance to stay top-of-mind while a customer is shopping and considering similar products to buy.
To learn more about Re-marketing., try a google search on the subject or Contact Me, and I would be happy to discuss how re-marketing could help you convert more sales online.
Wishing you the very best,
Kennon
Kennon Vaughan is Digital Marketing and Social Media Specialist living in Markham, Ontario, Canada.
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