AdRoll. A detailed review of the best retargeting platform
What is retargeting?
Retargeting is a relatively new way to find a direct path to your customers on the vastness of the World Wide Web. It is a modern Internet marketing tool that converts visitors into buyers. If, according to statistics, the average conversion is 2%, then retargeting will help you add the remaining 98% to it. The principle of its operation is as follows: retargeting continues to monitor visitors to your site and show them your ads on the vastness of the Internet, after the visitor has left your site, your profile on our site, your product or service sold on our marketplace.
For specialists familiar with B2B sales, the principle of a multi-stage sales funnel will be clear, each stage of which leads the client to a deal. So retargeting is rather a significant addition to your integrated marketing communications.
Its main advantage is the exact hit to the target audience. That is, a visitor to your site who found you through a search, or whom you attracted with a previous advertising campaign, differs from the majority of the audience in that such a target segment already has an interest in you and your offer. All that remains is to assign it to a certain segment and broadcast the desired advertising.
What is AdRoll? AdRoll is a company founded in 2007 and headquartered in San Francisco. The AdRoll team has a wealth of experience in optimization and creative strategy. Their list of advertising services includes a variety of ad placement options, but the AdRoll team is best known for their retargeting programs. And if their advertisers include companies like Moz, Levi’s, Red Vines, GoPro, and Salesforce, then it’s a clear sign that they are on the right track.
What does AdRoll offer?
In the basic version, AdRoll offers contextual and behavioral retargeting, a fully functional and self-sufficient user account and excellent user support. And, of course, a wide partner network, which includes Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, desktop versions of many sites, their mobile versions, social networks and smartphone applications.
As for the return on investment (ROI), AdRoll users statistically receive $10 for every invested advertising cent. And this, you must agree, is a considerable return.
The AdRoll team is very good at advanced targeting methods, audience segmentation, geo targeting, etc. For example, using their platform, you can exclude a certain segment of users based on their actions, create a user group based on purchase intent (item added to cart), and set up more complex conversion tracking rules.
After registering an account, you are offered a 2-week free period for placing ads. There are two options to choose from:
● General websites - display ads on desktop versions of affiliate network websites
● Facebook - display ads on a social network. There are additional options to choose from: right column, news feed, mobile version of the social network.
After selecting the placement method, we proceed to creating an advertising campaign. The process consists of three steps:
● Campaign settings. Here you need to specify the name of the advertising campaign. Set the start and end dates. Location (world, country, region, city, metro station). Here you can either include a location in the list or exclude it.
● Create Retargeting Campaign. Next, upload the ad layouts.
● Review and Finish. Check, specify payment details and launch a 2-week free campaign (the usual cost per week is $30, the package includes 2 free weeks).
After that, AdRoll will offer you to embed a pixel (code) to track visitors to your site. Then you can go directly to your personal account, where there are monitoring, segmentation, conversion tracking tools, an advertising campaign editor and analytical tools.
How much does it cost to place an ad on AdRoll?
AdRoll uses a dynamic pricing model - CPM. This means that the system will select the most relevant audience at the lowest possible cost. AdRoll's loyalty and bonus program is designed in such a way that the starting package will not have a lower financial threshold for the start.
Moreover, you are provided with a free 2-week advertising campaign. To upgrade to the Plus version, which includes support from a personal manager, you must invest a total of about $10K in advertising. The Pro version, in which you additionally get a creator, web engineer and individual support from product developers, assumes a total advertising budget for the entire period of using the AdRoll service - $20K.
What is the secret of AdRoll?
They have the best offer on the retargeting panel market and a very experienced team. They are focused on providing fully transparent analytics and behavioral data in an easy-to-understand ad campaign manager, complemented by a large number of settings, controls and options for advanced users. You could say that data and information are the heart of the project.
This strategic move contributed to the establishment of AdRoll in the market and distinguished them from many competitors. In recent years, many players in the retargeting advertising market have been engaged in simplifying functionality and analytical reports, AdRoll, on the contrary, raised the bar by launching a platform that is full of metrics and first-class reporting forms.
There is a lot of noise around AdRoll, they are called retargeting “junkies”, in the good sense of the expression, of course. After all, for those who strive to create complex, consistent retargeting opportunities for the masses, you can’t find a better compliment.
What are the disadvantages of AdRoll and the advantages over AdSense?
The AdRoll advertising platform is focused not on search retargeting, but on behavioral and contextual retargeting. The difference is that AdRoll audience selection is based on the category to which your site and similar sites belong, and not on user search queries.
It is also worth noting that until your total advertising costs increase to $10K. and you do not switch to the Plus or PRO package, which includes a personal account manager and creative support, you will have to perform the functions of these specialists yourself.
The AdRoll advertising payment system also requires prepayment. So you will need to make a weekly budget when creating each new advertising campaign.
The main competitor in the AdRoll retargeting market is Google Adsense, which recently launched retargeting programs in its advertising network. The battle promises to be hot, but according to the laws of competition and market development, this will have a positive effect on both the offer and the pricing policy of both companies. In other words, this is not a minus of AdRoll, but a natural process of evolution of the offer in a competitive market.
The key advantage of AdRoll over Adsense is coverage - AdWords covers 65% of the Internet audience, and AdRoll, which includes Facebook and other large social networks, reaches 99% coverage.
Test drive:
If you compare AdRoll, AdWords and direct placement in the Facebook advertising network, the CPA is 5 to 10 times higher for AdRoll than for AdWords. And much higher than with independent advertising placement on Facebook, using the advertising manager of this social network. The CTR of AdRoll advertising is much higher compared to AdWords. The rate varies from 3% to 5%. But the CR (conversion rate) is lower.
AdRoll Beginner's Tip:
When using AdRoll for the first time, make sure you understand the difference between ViewThroughConversions and ClickThroughConversions. Adroll shows both of these conversions, unlike Facebook, which intentionally hides the option to select these metrics in a hard-to-reach place. By default, AdRoll uses ViewThroughConversions, but you can change the settings in the control panel.
In conclusion:
AdRoll is an ideal platform for professionals with little to medium experience in eCommerce and online marketing. If you have never used retargeting before, we recommend adding it to your marketing toolbox today. It is one of the most effective online marketing tools available today, and is ideal for driving sales and repeat purchases.
AdRoll