If you could keep your brand in front of prospects long after they’ve visited your website, wouldn’t you jump at the chance? Oh course you would. Ad retargeting gives you that opportunity—anywhere your prospects travel online, and it has proven to be an effective way to entice digital window shoppers back to a website.

So what is retargeting?

To put it simply, ad retargeting serves display advertisements to Web users after they have left an advertiser’s website. For instance, you’re on bestbuy.com looking at laptops. You leave the site and visit another website and are shown a display ad for bestbuy.com. That is retargeting in action.

The idea is that a user who initially visits your website is a warm lead, and is likely to make a purchase. An effective retargeted ad will hopefully get that user back and convince him or her to make a purchase.

Why do we love ad retargeting?

While traditional banner ads have average click-through rates of around 0.07%, retargeted ads offer a CTR that is ten times higher, at about 0.7%. If this is not reason enough to love retargeting, there are many other benefits. Here are just a few: 

1. Brand recall

Retargeting allows you to follow up with your best prospects – serving as a reminder for users to return to your site. By serving up ads that remind users about an incomplete transaction or a special offer based on their profile data, retargeted ads help users in their decision-making process.

2. Right context, right time

A non-retargeted ad shows up on networks that may or may not be relevant to a user. This lack of relevance leads to wasted ad dollars. Retargeted ads allow you to control the timing of your ads, offering you the opportunity to make the right move at the right time.

3. Precision Targeting

With retargeting, you are not taking a scattergun approach to advertising. You are only displaying ads to people who have already expressed interest by meeting the criteria you choose, such as visiting a specific page or adding something to a shopping cart. Targeted advertising lets you focus on your best prospects.

4. Increased conversion rates

Since a user that sees or clicks on a retargeted ad is a qualified lead, the chances of them converting are much higher than a first-time visitor. In fact, retargeted customers are 70% more likely to complete a purchase than non-retargeted ones.

There are also many mistakes to avoid when building and launching a retargeting ad campaign.