Don't Let the Internet Ruin Christmas!

Keep Santa’s gifts a secret with these tips from Xdesign’s Social / Digital Media Strategist, Paige Fenerty.

You finally did it- you thought of the perfect Christmas gift, spent hours researching brands, models and colors, and then you picked out the ultimate gift for your loved one. There’s no way they’ll see this one coming! But then…

They log onto your computer or mobile device to browse the internet, and an ad for the exact present you bought them pops up on the right-hand side of the screen. Looks like Santa’s cat is out of the bag!

If you’ve done any online shopping or product research, you have most likely run into this situation before. We marketers refer to it as “remarketing.” This tactic is a component of Search Engine Marketing (SEM), which aims to increase brand visibility and website traffic through various paid advertising models.

Simply put, remarketing allows advertisements to follow visitors around the internet promoting previously viewed products. For a more technical explanation, remarketing allows advertisers to place “cookies,” or tracking devices, on your machine following a website visit. Then the cookies are put into categories based on your activity on the website. When visiting other websites in the same ad network, ads will pop up based on what you’ve previously searched, viewed or purchased as gentle reminders to return to what you’ve already considered.

As marketers, we love this strategy to increase brand awareness and ultimately conversions. A conversion, in this case, refers to any desired action taken by a consumer. For example, a user who downloads a product sheet from a company’s website would be considered a conversion because the user is now more likely to purchase a product. Considering that only 2% of people who visit a website for the first time take any desired action, remarketing is an effective tool to prompt the user to come back. According to CMO by Adobe, people are 70% more likely to take actions on your website after being exposed to remarketing tactics. Also, 59% of consumers have a neutral reaction to remarketing ads, and 30% have a positive reaction.

While remarketing is a great way to keep a brand at the top of consumers’ minds, it can be inconvenient when trying to keep a secret about your most recent shopping spree. Stashing presents under your bed is no longer an effective way to hide presents from loved ones in our technological age. However, there is a simple solution. To hide your recent activity and to prevent remarketing ads from popping up on your screen, simply clear your cache and cookies within your browser. Click here for step-by-step directions for each browser.

For long-lasting solutions, you can block third-party cookies (the cookies placed into your system by brands to track your activity) by changing the settings in your browser or by opting out of interest-based ads through Google itself.

Want to learn how Xdesign could use this same strategy to increase your brand visibility and drive more traffic to your website? Get in touch with us.