It is an evolution of online marketing, and you should be using it.
I’ll admit the first time I heard the term “remarketing” I was unfamiliar with it. I initially assumed the obvious: that this simply referred to follow-up marketing and sales strategies repackaged with a fancy new word. Let’s face it, our industry is rife with this practice. But after doing my research, reading several studies on consumer psychology, e-trends and speaking to an expert on the subject, I now realize that “remarketing” is a much more sophisticated and well-defined strategy. It is an evolution of online marketing, and you should be using it, because, if your competition isn’t yet, they soon will be. I reached out to Alex Boyce, Director of Technology and Online Marketing for Sage Age Strategies and guru of all things technological (a title I personally bestowed upon him following our conversation). Alex was kind enough to spend some time with me – a wannabe “I-know-enough-to-be-dangerous-around-computers” techie – and educate me on this new and rapidly growing online trend.
You Are Being Watched
To begin with, allow me to confirm your deepest darkest suspicions about your own online 
footprint. Yes…they ARE watching you. You have a distinct and tailored profile although, as Alex was quick to me assure me, this profile is not attached to an individual “person” per se, but to a number, an IP address, an email account; an unconnected (at least for now) shadow of who you are IRL (in real life for you non-virtual world residents). And, while I am the first person to warn of, and now mourn, the loss of privacy IRL or online, there are some benefits to this. Bear with me, now. Ads You Want to See As you may have noticed, there is an increasing number of online pop up ads, video commercials and banner marketing that are now part and parcel of being on the web. Let’s call these ads, “noise,”. There’s more of it, and some of it can be loud. Like you I’ve tried to ignore these, to no avail. They are there, and they are not going anywhere. What’s more, those ads and messages are increasingly being tailored to you; to your interests, your web history and your browsing habits. Play a lot of video games, like to keep up with the latest news on gaming, guess what kinds of ads you’ll see more of. Interested in Organic foods, do you like searching for recipes and information related to this, guess what ads you’ll see on your screen. What’s more annoying than the noise is noise I don’t care about. Ads that I have absolutely no interest in. I’m been married for 23 years, why would I be interested in a singles dating site (for the record, I’m definitely not, Honey!). I love steak…why am I receiving e-coupons to the newest Vegan restaurant?! I cover my ears, but it’s just so loud! It is like pulling up to a stop light and having the car next to you booming out the latest obnoxious Rap song (feel free to replace the word Rap with Country, Rock, Pop or the genre of your choosing). Enter an unexpected sweet sound as a result of this growing online reality: Remarketing.
Remarking Creates a Better User Experience
Picture your online experiences devoid of ads you find uninteresting. Remarketing allows for the personalized marketing of products and services I’ve shown an interest in. “Hmmm. Tell me more, John.” OK, I will. Not only is this new trend more palatable to me – the consumer – but it is effective. Here’s how: Imagine having the ability to market directly to a pool of individuals (OK, shadows of individuals) who are interested in finding senior housing. Even better, imagine being able to present a varied online ad campaign to someone who visited your community’s website, but didn’t take the desired step of providing you with any contact information. “Well, now you’re talking, John!”
A New Kind of Follow-up
Remarketing allows you to “follow up” with these folks who’ve visited your website, or have searched for senior housing in your area but weren’t ready to t
ake the next step; now you can position yourself to be there when they are. With a click of their mouse they can be directed right back to your site, even to a specific page, with but a click of their mouse. Companies that specialize in remarketing strategies utilize the cookies stored on our browsers to identify potential customers interested in what you have to offer. Through an intricate process of analyzing the data already stored on your computer and your IP address footprint, they provide a laser like targeting to reach your customers, rather that the shotgun blast of simply throwing online ads out into cyberspace and hoping you hit something. In order to optimize this strategy you must have an initial online ad campaign and one or more secondary campaigns in order to vary what your potential customer see. Failing to have a cohesive but varied set of online ad campaigns has the potential to create tedium with your potential customer base. Like the familiar newspaper ad that always has the same placement, or that commercial that comes on the television or radio that you have memorized, it goes from being interesting to being annoying, and ultimately easily ignored.
Benefits of a Remarketing Campaign
- Recapture potential customers who visited your website
- Redirect them and prompt them for action, such as requesting information or scheduling a tour
- Vary your messaging to stay relevant and interesting
- Tailor their “landing page” based on their interest when they return to your site
One of the great things about engaging a remarketing strategy is that it is relatively inexpensive; and companies like Google are now offering this service. Adrienne Mansfield, Director of Client Services for Sage Age Strategies, would be glad to chat with you about how remarketing could work in your senior living community. You can reach Adrienne through the Sage Age Strategies website www.sageagestrategies.com Happy Surfing! John
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