Behavioral retargeting (also known as behavioral remarketing, or simply, retargeting) is a form of online targeted advertising by which online advertising is targetted to consumers based on their previous Internet actions, in situations where these actions did not result in a sale or conversion.[1]
In its most basic form, retargeting serves ads to people more frequently after they have left an advertiser's website. Some companies specialize in retargeting, while other companies have added retargeting to their list of methods of purchasing advertising. Retargeting helps companies advertise to website visitors who leave without a conversion - this accounts for about 98% of all web traffic.[2]
Retargeting is done by displaying ads to the user as they browse the internet, via various ad networks that the agency buys media from on behalf of their Business Customers. Retargeting only serves banner ads to people who have shown at least some amount of engagement in the original brand, which can make it more effective than an untargeted advertising campaign. Where a company has already spent money driving a user to their site in the first place, the term "retargeting" is derived from the concept of marketing to that same user again, in a different manner. Search retargeting, a form of behavioral retargeting, can also be leveraged to drive new customers that have not been to the site before because they are being retargeted based on actions taken on a third-party website.
Studies suggest that a company needs to have seven different 'contacts' with a customer (on average) before they make a purchase. Retargeting is allowing companies to continue the marketing conversation with a customer after they leave a website. This form of behavioral targeting is a growing trend in the online marketing field.
Personalized retargeting, a related practice, differs from behavioral retargeting as it allows an advertiser to display a banner created on-the-fly for a particular consumer based on their specific browsing behavior. For example, if a consumer visits an advertiser's website and browses products A, B and C - they will then be retargeted with a display banner featuring the exact products A, B and C that they previously viewed.[3]