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How to use Google Remarketing Ads with MailChimp

What is remarketing, and what does Google do about it?

We know what marketing to someone is. Remarketing means going back to that same person and saying, “Hey, remember me? You should like me!” Remarketing, also called web retargeting involves identifying people who have demonstrated that they might be interested, and giving them some extra attention so they are encouraged to buy something.

There are a few processes that are happening to make retargeting a reality for e-commerce merchants. First, you need to be able to identify who your likely buyers are. Then, you need to find out where they’re going on the internet. Then, you need to show them another ad that directs them to your website. How do you do this?? You’re not magic!

But Google is.

The Google Display Network is every website (currently about two million) that allows Google to put ads on it. Whether it’s a website like a news source or blog, anything on YouTube (owned by Google), anyone who is using Gmail or another Google Suite product, or anyone using Google Chrome (the most popular web browser in the world) -- there are spots that Google can put ads. In fact 90% of internet users are affected by the Google Display Network.

Personally, that’s a bit jarring for me. But it’s really helpful in being able to find and advertise to your prospective customers.

So we have the where down. Next comes the how. You can put trackers (cookies and pixels) on your website that then allow you to follow someone’s journey once they leave. With a remarketing campaign using Google, visitors to your site are then followed and given an ad for your products when they next hit a site supported by the Google Display Network.

Say I visit www.fakewebsiteaboutcats.com (your hypothetical website) and I liked it, but wanted to think about it before purchasing anything. I now have a little tracker installed in my browser that follows what I do, even after I’ve closed down that tab. Next I go check my Facebook, my email, put on some music on YouTube, and open up the news. When I’m on a news site, I see a sidebar with an ad for Books To Read To Your Cat, sponsored by (you guessed it): www.fakewebsiteaboutcats.com.

The idea is that this ad reminds me that I liked your store, and by this time, I’ve thought about it a little and decide I still want some fun stuff for my furry friends. I click on the ad, am taken to your website, and am ready to convert to a customer.

The benefits of remarketing

Increase conversions

The main purpose of using remarketing ads is to increase conversions. It’s to gently remind people who have proven some level of interest (by going to your site) that you’re around and open for business. Because most people need some time to think about purchases, and need to see the same information a few times before making a decision, it’s a pretty easy and automated way to do just that.

Understand your ROI better

It’s sometimes hard to know where your ad money is going once you spend it. Using Google Remarketing campaigns lets you see exactly how much it cost to get one person to buy. This kind of information is useful, to see where you should be spending your money most effectively.

Automating your remarketing using MailChimp

The easiest way to set up a Google Remarketing campaign is either through Google AdWords directly or through your MailChimp account if you’ve connected it with your e-commerce site.

The advantage of using Mailchimp for your ad campaigns is that you can easily see how your different kinds of marketing strategies are stacking up. By connecting MailChimp with Shopify and Google Adwords, you can do things like email customers who saw specific Google or Facebook ads.

What’s going to be displayed as an ad

When you set up a campaign, MailChimp can automatically choose your best sellers to display as an ad. Otherwise, you can manually select particular products you want to promote.

You can then choose where on a page you want the ad displayed -- Header, sidebar, body or footer (see example placement below).

Let it run

One of the great things about using MailChimp to set up a campaign is that you simply set it up, choose a budget, and let it run. Google does all the heavy lifting of identifying shoppers, creating the ad and putting it on display.

Get started

Here’s a step by step guide to creating a remarketing campaign with Google using MailChimp.

1. From MailChimp, hit Campaigns > Create Campaign > Create an Ad > Google Remarketing ad
2. Select your Shopify store from the drop down menu and name your campaign. Click begin and accept the terms and conditions
3. Set your weekly budget. You can go as low as $7 per week, but the default is $3/day or $21 per week. MailChimp doesn’t take a cut, so it’s just as cost effective to do it directly with Google as with MailChimp. See more about pricing here.
4. Create your ad content. Basically, this means either choosing up to five products, or letting MailChimp choose your top five best sellers to display. Click edit ad to adjust the text on each of your five. You’ll then need to fill in the following fields that will link your ad to the right products. [P.S. learn more about writing meta descriptions here].

5. Save, Preview and Pay. You’ll have to submit credit card info to submit the ad, and the ad will run every week until you cancel it.

See MailChimp’s guide on creating your remarketing ads.

And you’re done! Once your ad has been running for a little while, you can start tracking your progress and see your return on investment in your MailChimp reports.

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