What’s the number one focus of digital marketers? Managing cost. It’s the nature of the ecommerce beast. But while saving money where you can is one tactic for increasing your bottom line, sometimes the best way to maximize results is by making enough of an up-front investment. We’ve all heard the old expression, “You have to spend money to make money.” Nowhere are those words truer than when you’re running a retargeting campaign.
A marketer that’s completely focused on a low cost-per-sale may tell their retargeting vendor to run a low-cost campaign that doesn’t drive any volume. Yes, they may be able to get one sale at a low cost. But did the low cost of that sale really justify losing the many others they might have gotten if they’d run a campaign with a higher effective cost per thousand impressions (ECPM)? Of course not.
Instead, it’s important to work with a partner that can show you the potential value of taking the time to scale your campaign. When money is spent efficiently, it can really pay off. A campaign that walks the line between scale and efficiency is the best campaign you can run. You need to look at a variety of factors, including operational costs, margins, shipping costs, and many others, to come up with a realistic ROI goal — one that will enable you to get in front of as many high-value users as possible with the right ad at the right time.
Running a retargeting campaign that’s limited in scale will not drive incremental sales. Companies may think they’re getting a low cost per order (CPO) but in reality, the campaign’s CPO is so low simply because they only spent a tiny amount per month, resulting in only one or two sales. That low retargeting budget means they missed the opportunity to reach most of their addressable audience. The solution is easy: A relatively high ECPM will let you attract as many high-value users as possible.
Successful campaigns are only provided by a high-quality partner that understands and addresses all of your unique concerns, and can provide the data science necessary to reach the largest, highest-quality user audience possible. The ultimate goal is to hit your KPI, and hit it at scale. When you and your partner work together to systematically optimize your campaign, the result can be the return on ad spend you were seeking from the start.
To get learn more about how to maximize your campaign results, contact us at info@criteo.com, and check out our utimate guide to retargeting.
