What The Heck Is Online Marketing…Part 1-Remarketing
I wrote this blog nearly 8 months ago, it having never been posted I thought I would look through it again before posting it now! It is interesting to look back, even if only 8 months, and see how much life has changed in such a short stretch of time. In the fast paced, ever changing industry of online marketing the learning curve is steep (as discussed below) and I think I have fared pretty well so far. So what did I think was interesting enough to be worthy of a blog post all those months ago?
As a new grad and newish employee here at Bluetrain the learning curve has been steep – really fun to tackle… but steep. I’m beginning to learn that school doesn’t quite prepare you for everything (shock and surprise).
That being said, I want to talk to those of you out there who are new to the world of Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Pay-Per-Click Advertising (PPC) and other online marketing techniques. I have studied the theories, been tested on them and analyzed them in every way conceivable, all while in the safety and comfort of school. Now that I have left the nest of University and am working these principles on a daily basis in the real world I will share all the cool stuff that I learn along the way. As well as share what things drew me to work in this field in the first place!
Remarketing
Let’s start with something I learned a month ago about some of those online ads that seem to follow you across the internet! Have you ever noticed how you see the same ads over and over again in many different sites all over the web? I never understood how company X knew where I was browsing and could continue to target me with their display ads day after day.
Turns out it’s not that hard to do and it has a name … Remarketing! Simple code is placed onto a company’s website and when a user visits their page a ‘cookie’ is stored in the user’s browser unbeknownst to them. This is where the trickery comes to life, because you have visited their website and now have the tracking cookie on your browser their ads can and will follow you all over the web, popping up in the least expected places with little to no effort on the part of company X.
This constant and somewhat subliminal messaging can be a powerful way to entice somewhat fickle internet consumers. It keeps your products or services fresh in the users mind. It is the almost the ultimate form of advertising. It only targets consumers who already have had a taste for your company and products, it knows no internet boundaries, and it doesn’t let the user forget that you or your widget exists. Of course, there is a balance where keeping top of mind can cross over to getting annoying so limits need to be placed…
Isn’t it creepy?
Some people have a problem with this type of somewhat invasive advertising however Google is open and honest about it, and on how to avoid it. In true Google fashion they have embraced this form of online advertising and give support and tutorials like this one:
[youtube height=”HEIGHT” width=”WIDTH” time=”SECONDS”]www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6dTtcYBBFI[/youtube]
It tells how people with Pay-Per-Click accounts can set up remarketing quite easily.
So with that, all I have to say is stick with me and I will take you through the world of online marketing one random fact and fun anecdote at a time!
Now having been in the online marketing world a few more months I have seen some amazingly sophisticated applications of remarketing. Take Amazon for instance, not only do they place the tracking cookie on your browser to display ads to you as you surf the net. They go one step further by only displaying specific products that you were actually looking at while perusing their virtual store shelves. Powerful and scary stuff, especially for people without self-control, I myself have been roped into buying products from Amazon by this very tactic!
If you are new to SEO, let me know if there is something you are interested in and I’ll let you know my experience with it.
Until next post!