Google Ads remarketing has significantly evolved since its launch in 2010, introducing features like Google Analytics list building and Dynamic Remarketing. These advancements have made it crucial for advertisers to prioritize best practices for creating and optimizing remarketing campaigns. This article provides a comprehensive guide to help you achieve optimal results from your Google remarketing endeavors. You can’t maximize your Google Ads ROI if you don’t know what to optimize. Get a free Google Ads account audit and give yourself a head start!

Before Launching Your Remarketing Campaign…

Consider these tips before diving into remarketing list creation and campaign setup.

Setting Realistic Expectations: Define Clear Remarketing Goals

As with any digital marketing initiative, establish clear objectives before embarking on remarketing. This manages client (or supervisor) expectations and ensures everyone is on the same page. For instance, if your client is accustomed to traditional PPC results, they need to understand that remarketing operates differently. Explain that remarketing aims to reinforce brand awareness among past visitors, influencing conversions rather than driving immediate one-click conversions or high traffic volumes like traditional PPC. Emphasize that remarketing subtly guides users toward conversion, even if it’s not the final interaction before a purchase.

Crafting a Robust Remarketing Strategy

A significant portion of your setup time should be dedicated to strategizing and defining the remarketing lists you’ll create. The success of your remarketing efforts hinges on well-defined lists and their strategic utilization. Your objectives will guide list creation, but you might find some of the examples listed here beneficial.

Updating Your Privacy Policy: Transparency is Key

Before implementing the remarketing code and building lists, update your Privacy Policy to disclose the use of the DoubleClick cookie. Consider adding a clause like: “DoubleClick: We use Google Analytics remarketing codes to track user visits to specific pages or actions taken on our website. This enables us to deliver targeted advertising in the future. If you prefer not to receive this type of advertising, you can opt out using the DoubleClick opt-out page or the Network Advertising Initiative opt-out page.” Additionally, review Google’s Privacy Policy guidelines to ensure your Privacy Policy aligns with other AdWords products.

Google Ads Remarketing: Best Practices for Setup

Implementing the Remarketing Code on Your Website

Two code options are available: Google Analytics remarketing code and AdWords remarketing code. Opt for the Google Analytics code as it allows for list criteria based on user behavior, such as targeting users in a specific region who spent over 3 minutes on your site. The AdWords code only allows lists based on page views. However, using Dynamic Remarketing requires the AdWords code. If you prefer standard remarketing with Google Analytics code, use both codes simultaneously. AdWords confirms that the codes don’t conflict. The only caveat is potential visitor placement on multiple lists and exposure to ads from various campaigns. Adjust your frequency capping accordingly.

Determining Appropriate List Membership Duration

While it’s tempting to choose the maximum 540-day duration for flexibility, consider that many users don’t clear their cookies. Setting excessively long durations might lead to overexposure. Align list durations with your goals:

• For annual purchases (e.g., car insurance), set a duration of at least 13 months.
• For services requiring sign-up after a trial period (e.g., 30-day free trial), a list duration of around 60 days ensures continued targeting for a reasonable time.

Frequency Capping: Finding the Right Balance

Perhaps the most crucial aspect of remarketing best practices, frequency capping determines the balance between gentle reminders and overbearing advertising. Configure it at the campaign, ad group, or ad level, setting daily, weekly, or monthly limits. Consider the number of remarketing campaigns or ad groups within a campaign when deciding on the frequency cap. For multiple campaigns, aim for around two impressions per week per campaign. While this might seem high, it accounts for users being on multiple lists across campaigns.

After gathering sufficient data, analyze reach and frequency data within the Dimensions tab. Assess ad exposure frequency and adjust your capping accordingly.

Enhancing Remarketing with Additional Targeting

As a form of behavioral targeting, remarketing relies on user browsing behavior. To further refine targeting within a limited budget, combine remarketing with demographic targeting (age, gender). For instance, if selling female beauty products, target females while also including “Unknown” to avoid missing potential impressions. Configure this in the Display Network tab.

The same process applies to age-based refinement.

Focusing on Quality Visitors: Refine Your Targeting

To target only users who’ve meaningfully engaged with your site, incorporate these criteria into your lists:

• Exclude users who bounced.
• Exclude users with less than ten seconds of site engagement. Create these lists in Google Analytics and then create custom combination lists within AdWords which exclude them.

Maintaining Brand Image: Excluding Ads from Undesirable Content

Exclude certain content categories to prevent your ads from appearing alongside inappropriate material. In the Display Network Tab, click the “+Options” button for campaigns:

This leads to the page for excluding site categories.

Consider excluding error pages, parked domains, and forums, which often host low-quality content. Experiment with excluding below-the-fold ad placements; however, be prepared to bid higher to secure above-the-fold visibility. Further refine by reviewing placement reports and excluding irrelevant placements. Avoid excessive exclusions, as remarketing focuses on user behavior rather than strict site relevance.

Structuring Remarketing Campaigns for Success

Ideally, create separate campaigns for each remarketing list. If not feasible, group similar strategies into campaigns. For instance, have distinct campaigns for:

• Encouraging repeat purchases and upsells
• Targeting users who browsed a specific category but didn’t convert If separate campaigns aren’t possible, use dedicated ad groups within a remarketing campaign. As data accumulates, split high-performing lists into their own campaigns with specific budgets.

Best Practices for Creating Effective Remarketing Ads

Tailor ad creatives to each strategy and list for maximum relevance. For instance, promote repeat purchases with discount codes, while ads targeting users who viewed a specific product should feature that product. In addition to relevance:

• Maintain design consistency with your website and incorporate your logo for brand recognition.
• Provide both static and animated versions, as not all sites support animation.
• Ensure creative compatibility across ad sizes, so that you can include one of every ad size in each ad group, for maximum visibility.
• Include a text ad in each ad group to cater to sites that don’t support image ads.
• Incorporate a clear call to action and highlight USPs or offers.

Conversion Tracking for Remarketing

While conversion tracking is similar to standard AdWords campaigns, importing goals or e-commerce tracking from Analytics won’t track View-through-conversions. This is crucial as remarketing often contributes significantly to View-through-conversions. Therefore, utilize standard AdWords conversion tracking code for comprehensive conversion tracking.

Optimizing Remarketing Campaigns: Best Practices

Now let’s explore ways to enhance your remarketing performance.

Experimenting with List Criteria and Combinations

Continuously test and optimize your lists and combinations. Experiment with:

• Varying list member durations and tailoring ad copy accordingly.
• Combining gender targeting with lists.
• Using custom combinations to exclude specific user segments (bounced visitors, short engagement durations).
• Excluding various content categories.

Monitoring Impression Share Loss due to Rank

Track lost Impression Share due to rank at the ad group level. Consider increasing bids if you’re missing out on significant impressions.

A/B Testing Landing Pages

Experiment with directing users to different landing pages based on their previous behavior. For example, guide users who viewed a higher-priced product to a lower-cost alternative. Use AdWords Experiments for accurate testing.

Optimizing Ad Creative through Testing

Leverage AdWords experiments for A/B testing ad creatives. Test variations in call-to-action colors, wording, and imagery. Remember to isolate changes for accurate analysis.

Don’t Overlook Standard Optimization Techniques

While focusing on display and remarketing-specific optimizations, don’t neglect other best practices:

• Analyze performance by location and adjust bids accordingly.
• Review time-of-day performance and implement scheduling bid adjustments.
• Assess mobile device performance and optimize mobile bid adjustments.

Exploring Different Remarketing Formats

Even if using standard remarketing, experiment with other formats to discover what works best for you. Consider these four types of Google Ads Remarketing:

• Standard AdWords Remarketing
• Remarketing Lists for Search Ads
• Dynamic Remarketing (e-commerce only)–Find out how to set up dynamic remarketing for retail here.
• YouTube Remarketing This guide provides a starting point for implementing AdWords remarketing best practices. Remember that true best practices emerge from finding what’s most effective for your specific account. Don’t be afraid to continuously test and innovate within your remarketing campaigns. Feel free to share any additional best practice insights in the comments below. Tara West is a seasoned PPC specialist at Koozai, with experience in diverse PPC projects, from local businesses to large e-commerce accounts. When not immersed in client projects, she organizes digital marketing events, speaks at conferences, or writing for the Koozai blog.