When Cookies Become Monsters

Retargeting: The Digital Stalker

Is this your experience?

You search the Internet for something for work and then you get home to check your personal email and – boom – retargeted.

And it doesn’t matter how many places you’ve toggled off the 3rd party website location apps on all your devices, they still trail you like an obsessed hunter bearing down on you until you capitulate and buy-buy-buy (or is it convert-convert-convert?)

Okay. Let’s step back. What is retargeting anyway?

Classic definition: Retargeting primarily uses paid ads to target?audiences who have visited your website or social media profiles.?Retargeting is done with the help of browser?cookies.

At one point, advertisers believed retargeting was about to meet its maker (in other words, go away)

In January 2020, Google announced that it will end support for third-party tracking cookies in the Google Chrome browser “within two years” signifying major changes for retargeting Google ads.

?

Call it the Retargeting Lobby or whatever influencer group stepped in. In June 2021, this timeline was extended to 2023.

The present-day truth is Retargeting, as effective as it might be in staying in front of the casual searcher or recent customer, eventually reaches a point of antipathy.

According to Neil Patel of NP Digital, one of the industry’s top web influencers, “Retargeting Can Annoy or Anger Customers.”

As Neil further expounds: “When it comes right down to it, what does your customer think of retargeting? This is a significant issue because ultimately, retargeting is about them (not you).

Take a look at the data.?InSkin Media’s consumer survey?found that the two main responses to a retargeted ad were annoyance and anger.

Based on the data, the more frequently an ad is displayed, the more aggravating it can be. By the tenth time someone sees an ad, they get the message. More impressions aren’t going to compel them. You’ve driven them off a cliff. It’s too late.”

Neil is not alone in his perspective. Follow the line of thought coming from Joe Warnimont of Ecommerce Platforms:

“Studies show that high-frequency ads?have a negative impact on the way consumers view a brand.

If you've ever gone on a date and realized that the person is way too clingy, you know the feeling. Customers get a more creeped out vibe when they see your ads over and over again. They think, “How are they finding me wherever I go?” And it almost looks desperate to the point that the customers might think that your company isn't all that great to begin with.

Instead of being annoying, put a limit on your ad frequency. This not only makes your retargeting efforts more appealing, but it creates an environment where the consumer isn't bothered.”

After looking at this issue from all sides, I’ve concluded that it’s fine for re-targeting those customers at the end of the conversion funnel to be “re-solicited.”

Amazon (and similar sites) do a much more palatable job with their algorithm that generates Recommendations based on preferences data that suggest “Recommend Other Items” or “Customers Also Liked/Bought” “Frequently Bought Together” prompts during the purchase process.

Stalking is not friendly. Consumers are looking for a warm relationship with brands, not a clutching, persistent, pushy, intrusive coexistence particularly with brands they just met for the very first time.

Brand attraction is no different than attraction in the real world. In the beginning, keep a reasonable distance. Don’t come on too strong. Build up to things. Check back in on occasion. And, when the time or situation feels right, becomes more present in someone’s life. They might even welcome you.

At this point, chances are good you’ve created something between you and your “target” and the “re” part might be more inclined to convert from “retarget” to “re-turn.”