Let’s talk easy-win PPC initiatives for a minute. How often does a client expect PPC professionals to have that perfect gold-mine solution? You know, that secret button you can push in Google AdWords that immediately improves cost per acquisition/return on investment (CPA/ROI)? Well, that button might not exist, but remarketing lists for search ads (RLSA) are the next best thing.
RLSA is a feature that lets you customize your search ads campaign for people who previously have visited your site, and tailor your bids and ads to these visitors when they’re searching on Google.
When people leave your site without converting, for example, RLSA helps you connect with these potential customers when they continue looking for what they need on Google Search (as opposed to just on the Google Display Network as with normal remarketing). You can set your bids, create ads or select keywords, keeping in mind that these customers previously have visited your website.
RLSAs are especially valuable for clients with longer sales cycles or a B2B focus. Think about one user doing his/her research looking for the best solution: The user clicks one ad after another, one organic link after another, and doesn’t end up actually contacting any advertiser. RLSA allows you — the advertiser — to ensure you stand out to this very valuable user the next time, when the user is a step further into the buying cycle. With RLSA, advertisers can offer unique incentives for returning users or ensure their ad is in top positioning for returning users.
Here are some of my favorite strategies for utilizing RLSA:
1. Bid on keywords that you don’t normally bid on just for people who recently have visited your site, or have converted on your site in the past. For example, you may wish to continue bidding on broad match keywords, but only targeting previous visitors, as they are more qualified.
2. Optimize bids for your existing keywords for visitors on your remarketing lists. For example, you can increase your bid by 25 percent for those who viewed your website in the last 30 days.
3. Duplicate all campaigns, excluding remarketing audiences from your original campaign and using the ‘Target and bid” option for new RLSA-focused campaigns. This allows for budget prioritization based on whether or not a user has visited your website.