Chango Insights: Search Retargeting Barometer, Q3 2012
As advertising evolves with the latest technology, brands continue to look for innovative ways to connect with online consumers. Search retargeting has emerged as a powerful new tool that can be used for acquisition, prospecting, and competitor conquesting. Chango's new “Search Retargeting Barometer, Q3 2012” offers a unique look at how cutting edge brands are using search retargeting to drive sales and gain a competitive advantage.
To form our Search Retargeting Barometer, we asked 33 Chango clients — both brands and agencies — to answer seven short questions anonymously. Clients featured in the report represent industries as diverse as retail, financial services, travel, auto, education and B2B.
We weren't entirely surprised to find that 93.9% of our clients use traditional display advertising, or that 93.5% percent of brands and agencies that run search retargeting campaigns also run site retargeting campaigns. Site retargeting, after all, is older and better understood than search retargeting. To this day, many people assume that retargeting means "site retargeting."
More surprising was that 63.6% of our respondents use search retargeting to conquest customers from competitors. This is an important finding because it reveals the critical difference between site retargeting and search retargeting. While site retargeting can be useful for luring back visitors, it doesn't give brands the ability to target intent, and thus doesn't allow for finding new customers.
Also surprising was that 66.7% of respondents are funding their search retargeting campaigns by transferring money out of their traditional display budgets. This shifting of resources indicates that brands and agencies are growing increasingly focused on making sure that their banners are appearing before the right eyes. One client in the report noted that “retargeting had become an online marketing budget in itself.”
Perhaps the best indicator of the rise of search retargeting is that 65.6% of brands and agencies revealed that they intend to increase their search retargeting budgets in the next six months. And fewer than 10% of respondents said that they planned on decreasing their search retargeting budgets.
The report also uncovered some challenges the young search retargeting industry still faces. Asked about the challenges of using search retargeting, 37.9% of respondents cited a “lack of budget/time." Almost a quarter of respondents also cited “integration with other marketing initiatives” as a challenge.
These small obstacles notwithstanding, Chango's Search Retarging Barometer is a testament to how quickly search retargeting is finding its place among more established online advertising tools. The days of people confusing site and search retargeting are numbered.