CHANGO

RETARGETING
BAROMETER
What Marketers and Agencies
Really Think of Retargeting

Q2 2013
AUTHORS:
DAX HAMMan
Chief revenue &
strategy Officer
BEN PLOMION
VP, MARKETING &
bus iness development
800.385.0607
sales@chango.com

table
of contents

1 Methodology

2 Executive Summary

10

3
4

How Do You Typically Engage

with Retargeting Vendors?

What Types of Online Advertising

Activities Do You Use in Addition to
Retargeting?

What Types of Retargeting

Tactics Do You Use?

What Are Your Site

Retargeting Goals?

What Are Your Search

Retargeting Goals?

TORONTO
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11
12
13

NEW YORK
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Suite 1001
New York, NY
10010

14

What Type of Measurement

Attribution Do You Use
for Retargeting?

Where Does Your Retargeting

Budget Come From?

In The Next 6 Months, Is Your

Search Retargeting Budget Most
Likely To Increase, Stay The Same
Or Decrease?

In The Next 6 Months, Is Your

Retargeting Budget Most Likely
To Increase, Stay The Same Or
Decrease?

In The Next 6 Months, Is Your

Facebook Exchange Retargeting
Budget Most Likely To Increase, Stay
The Same Or Decrease?

Additional Resources

SAN FRANCISCO
461 2nd Street,
Suite 236
San Francisco, CA
94107

CHICAGO
LOS ANGELES
SEATTLE
ATLANTA
LONDON

2013 Chango. All Rights Reserved

APRI L 2013

CHANGO RETARGETING BAROMETER

What marketers and agencies really

think of retargetinG

OUR
METHODOLOGY
Changos biannual retargeting
barometer, Q2 2013 was fielded
to 51 media buyers, located in
the US, Canada and the UK.
The responders are Changos
brand and agency clients who
work in industries as diverse
as retail, financial services,
travel, auto, telecom, consumer
package goods and B2B. This
survey is part of Changos
programmatic marketing efforts
to analyze the industrys key
trends and was fielded from
January to February 2013.
Survey respondent incentives
include gift certificates and
research reports.

chango.com

Dax
Hamman
dax@chango.com
@daxhamman

Dax Hamman is the Chief Revenue Officer and

Chief Strategy Officer at Chango and is based
in San Francisco. Prior, Dax founded and led the
global iCrossing media group, developing the
concept of performance display, an innovative
planning strategy that drove significant ROI from
display advertising for some of the worlds largest
and coolest brands.

BEN
PLOMION
BEN@chango.com
@BENPLOMION

Ben is VP of Marketing and Business

Development at Chango and is located in NYC.
Prior to Chango, Ben led the digital media
practice at GE Capital and re-energized owned,
paid and earned media initiatives across the
companys multiple businesses.

800-385-0607

sales@chango.com

APRI L 2013

CHANGO RETARGETING BAROMETER

What marketers and agencies really

think of retargetinG

EXecutive
summary
Retargeting is growing up. Thats the unmistakable

even Facebook could have imagined. And

takeaway of this years survey of marketers and

FBX isnt about to stop growing. Some 60% of

agencies. Last year, 45% percent of survey

respondents to our survey plan to spend more

respondents had to form a new budget to

on FBX retargeting in the next six months.

fund their retargeting efforts. This year, the

retargeting budgets were already in place. Only
17% percent of respondents needed to form a
budget from scratch.

We might have been able to predict many

of these survey responses. After all, we work
with marketers and agencies on retargeting
campaigns every day. But there were plenty of

More than half of respondents plan

to spend more on Search and Site
Retargeting in the next six months.
Not a single respondent plans to
spend less.

surprising results as well. While Site Retargeting

is first and foremost a tool for increasing
conversions from users who have visited an
advertisers site, 36% of respondents are also
using it for brand awareness. Likewise, while
Search Retargeting is ultimately designed to
grow revenue by finding new customers, 68%

And why shouldnt budgeting for retargeting

of respondents said they also use it for on-site

be standard practice? After all, the other clear

engagement.

takeaway from our survey is that retargeting is

an incredibly effective marketing tool. More than
half of respondents plan to spend more on Search
and Site Retargeting in the next six months. Not a
single respondent plans to spend less.

And its not just the retargeting tools themselves

that are growing up. The once controversial
measurements of display campaigns no longer
seem very controversial. Our survey suggests
that the debate about view-through attribution

Unlike the early days of retargeting, its not

is finally coming to an end. The vast majority of

all about Site Retargeting any more. Search

respondents (78%) use both view-through and

Retargeting continues to establish itself as a

click-through to measure the success of their

remarkable tool for finding new customers,

retargeting campaigns.

which helps explain why all of our respondents

plan to either maintain or expand their Search
Retargeting budgets in the next year.

We could go on and on about retargetings

emergence as a fundamental tool for online
marketers. But the numbers that follow do a

Meanwhile, the emergence of Facebooks FBX

pretty good job of speaking for themselves.

ad exchange has introduced a new retargeting

category that is growing more quickly than

chango.com

Happy retargeting.

800-385-0607

sales@chango.com

APRI L 2013

01

CHANGO RETARGETING BAROMETER

What marketers and agencies really

think of retargetinG

How do you typically engage

with retargeting vendors?

Typical Engagement With Retargeting Vendors

FURTHER
READING
Outsourcing Your
Digital-Marketing Mix?
Not So Fast
bit.ly/barometer1

A Manual for the

Brand-Agency-Vendor
Relationship
bit.ly/barometer2

58%

42%

Direct relationship
with Vendor

DoES not apply,

Im with an Agency

Survey of 51 brand marketers and agencies, February 2013

As a vendor, weve had great experiences working

More than half of the respondents to our survey

with both agencies and brands. Nevertheless,

said that they typically work directly with the

there is reason to think that direct relationships

vendor for their retargeting campaigns, as opposed

between brands and vendors will become

to relying on a third-party, such as an agency.

increasingly common in the years ahead.

chango.com

800-385-0607

sales@chango.com

APRI L 2013

02
We like to
experiment
and try new
bold things.
FBX is what caught
our attention
recently. We are
seeing better
returns than what
we had initially
expected.

CHANGO RETARGETING BAROMETER

What Types of online

advertising TACTICS do
you use in addition to
retargeting?
Types of online advertising TACTICS
used in addition to retargeting

Display
advertising
Search engine
marketing
video
mobile
social

Brand Marketer
Travel industry

local
10

FURTHER
READING
Will Facebook Excel on
Googles Turf?
bit.ly/barometer3

What marketers and agencies really

think of retargetinG

20

30

40

50

Survey of 51 brand marketers and agencies (multiple choice), February 2013

Not surprisingly, all marketers and agencies

revealed by online searches and can

that responded to our survey run display ad

therefore be extremely attractive to search

campaigns. While traditional display is not

engine marketers.

going to disappear anytime soon, a reliance on

traditional approaches may well decline in the
Search Retargeting
Arrives on Facebooks
Advertising Exchange
bit.ly/barometer4

years ahead as behavioral strategies become

increasingly popular. After all, retargeting
works because it makes traditional display
more precise.
Of respondents to our survey, 76% use both
retargeting and search engine marketing.
Search Retargeting capitalizes on the intent

chango.com

The number of respondents who run video

advertising (59%) and mobile advertising
(72%) hasnt increased since we released our
barometer in Q3 2012.
Social advertising is now being used by 67%
of respondents. We believe this is mainly due
to increased spending on the Facebook Ad
Exchange (FBX).

800-385-0607

sales@chango.com

APRI L 2013

03

CHANGO RETARGETING BAROMETER

What marketers and agencies really

think of retargetinG

What Types of retargeting

tactics do you use?

Types of retargeting tactics used

FURTHER
READING
Retargeting For
Retailers
bit.ly/barometer5

email
retargeting
site
retargeting
search
retargeting

Why Programmatic
Marketing is the Future
bit.ly/barometer6

Facebook
exchange (fbx)
retargeting
creative
retargeting
10

20

30

40

50

Survey of 51 brand marketers and agencies (multiple choice), February 2013

The term retargeting is now used regularly

Site Retargeting is perhaps the best-known

in our industry, but digital marketers often fail

type of retargeting. In its most basic form,

to distinguish among the different techniques.

Site Retargeting serves a brands ads to users

Outlined below are the multiple ways marketers

who visited the brands website but failed to

look at retargeting in their media plans,

convert. This basic approach has evolved into

Email retargeting was adopted early on by

retailers. It involves sending an email message
to consumers who did not complete the
checkout process.

chango.com

more advanced types of retargeting, including

Programmatic Site Retargeting (PSR). PSR
is more precise than basic Site Retargeting
because it uses more data points to create a
sophisticated picture of a site visitor. Those

800-385-0607

sales@chango.com

APRI L 2013

We always
encourage
clients to run
both site and
search retargeting
campaigns.
They truly are
complementary
tactics.
Agency
Mid-West

CHANGO RETARGETING BAROMETER

data points include pages viewed, type of

What marketers and agencies really

think of retargetinG

Creative retargeting is a method that enables

valued outcomes performed on sites (e.g. store

advertisers to show an ad to visitors who were

locator), referral data, shipping address, and

previously exposed to or interacted with the

many others.

advertisers creative.

Search Retargeting is the practice of targeting

Of the marketers and agencies that responded

users with display ads based on the keywords

to the survey, 25% use email retargeting.

theyve searched for in Google, Yahoo! and

The vast majority of them are retailers. Not

Bing. Search Retargeting brings in entirely

surprisingly, almost every respondent uses Site

new customers who have never visited your

Retargeting, which remains the most common

site before.

approach to retargeting.

Facebook Exchange (FBX) retargeting is

More interestingly, 92% of respondents use

a method that allows advertisers to serve

both Site and Search Retargeting. Those

Facebook ads to consumers based on their

findings are similar to last years results.

previous behavior outside of Facebook. Some

advertisers use FBX to retarget consumers
who have already visited their sites. Other
advertisers retarget prospects who have never
visited their sites but have searched for their
products or services on Google, Yahoo! and
Bing. Though they may appear very similar to
users, FBX ads should not be confused with

The newest addition to the retargeting toolkit

is FBX retargeting, which is now used by 41%
of respondents. This is quite an achievement
considering that Facebook only released
FBX in September 2012. A few months later,
in December 2012, Chango was the first
company to bring search data to FBX.

Facebook Marketplace ads. Marketplace ads

are purchased on a cost per click (CPC) basis,
and the advertisers target based on user
profile data found natively in Facebook. FBX
ads, by contrast, are purchased in a second
priced dynamic CPM (dCPM) auction.

chango.com

800-385-0607

sales@chango.com

APRI L 2013

04

CHANGO RETARGETING BAROMETER

what are your site

retargeting goals?

Site retargeting goals

FURTHER
READING
The Death of Set It and
Forget It
bit.ly/barometer7

What marketers and agencies really

think of retargetinG

84%

36%

34%

Increase
revenue

Increase brand
awareness

Increase on site
engagement

Survey of 51 brand marketers and agencies (multiple choice), February 2013

Our survey found that 84% of marketers and

Interestingly, about a third of respondents also

agencies use Site Retargeting to increase

use Site Retargeting to achieve broader goals.

revenue. Thats not surprising considering that

Some 36% of respondents use Site Retargeting

Site Retargeting is first and foremost a conversion

to increase site engagement (one entertainment

optimization tool.

client mentioned wanting to increase video views),

and 34% of respondents are aiming to raise
overall brand awareness.

chango.com

800-385-0607

sales@chango.com

APRI L 2013

05
FURTHER
READING
The Most Frequently
Asked Questions In
Search Retargeting
bit.ly/barometer8

CHANGO RETARGETING BAROMETER

What marketers and agencies really

think of retargetinG

what are your search

retargeting goals?

search retargeting goals

We found that 92% of marketers and agencies

are using Search Retargeting to increase
revenue. This number reveals the real power
of Search Retargeting as a prospecting tool.

92%

Whereas Site Retargeting is designed to

increase revenue from an existing audience,
Search Retargeting is an acquisition tool for
finding new customers. In fact, with respect

Understanding Search
vs. Site Retargeting
bit.ly/barometer9

Increase
revenue

to acquisition, Search Retargeting offers

50%

advantages even over search engine marketing.

Astute brands and agencies use Search
Retargeting to bid on competitors terms,
which is considerably harder to do with

Increase
brand
awareness

68%
We use search
retargeting to
drive qualified
traffic to our
auto builder tool.

search engine marketing. In our survey, 58%

of respondents included Conquest customers
from competitors as one of their goals.
More surprising was the numberof respondents

Increase
on site
engagement

who use Search Retargeting to meet branding

58%

Brand Marketer
Auto

goals, such as raising brand awareness (50%)

and increasing on site engagement (68%). Those
findings are in sharp contrast with Site Retargeting,
which is primarily a direct response tool.

Conquest
customers from
competitors
Survey of 51 brand marketers
and agencies (multiple choice),
February 2013

chango.com

800-385-0607

sales@chango.com

APRI L 2013

06
WHITEPAPER
RESOURCE

CHANGO RETARGETING BAROMETER

what Type of measurement

attribution do you use
for retargeting?
TYPE OF MEASUREMENT ATTRIBUTION USED FOR RETARGETING

View-Through Attribution
Exposed: What Last
Touch Isnt Telling You
bit.ly/ChangoWP2

Tracking viewthru conversions

is a helpful way
to truly see
the value of
your display
ad campaigns.
Thats because
it measures
the conversions
where a customer
saw butdidnt
click a display
ad before
completing a
conversion.

What marketers and agencies really

think of retargetinG

78%

22%

click-through and
view-through

click-through
only

Survey of 51 brand marketers and agencies, February 2013

View-through attribution (commonly called VT)

Our survey found that 78% of marketers and

seems to be a never-ending story, bouncing

agencies are using a combination of click-

around the industry as it collects more and more

through and view-through attribution. This

myth, confusion and opinion.

is a positive sign for the industry overall. It

demonstrates that marketers and agencies are

Brand Marketer
Retail

using more accurate measurements for their

display campaigns.

chango.com

800-385-0607

sales@chango.com

APRI L 2013

07
FURTHER
READING
Performance Display for
SEM Marketers
bit.ly/barometer10

CHANGO RETARGETING BAROMETER

What marketers and agencies really

think of retargetinG

Where does your

retargeting budget
come from?
Where retargeting budgets come from
New Budget

SEM BUdget
other display
channels/
tactic
other online
marketing

Retargeting is
by far our best
display tactic. It
has a budget on
its own, alongside
traditional
display and SEM.

other offline
marketing
5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

Survey of 51 brand marketers and agencies, February 2013

Agency
West Coast

Asked how they allocate their budgets for Search

Interestingly, 17% of the respondents said that they

Retargeting campaigns, 34% of respondents

had created a new budget for their retargeting

revealed that they take money out of their

efforts. That number was 45% last year, indicating

traditional display campaigns. This number

that retargeting has become more mature as a

reveals the broader trend of media planners

marketing tactic.

looking for more out of their display dollars.

10

chango.com

800-385-0607

sales@chango.com

APRI L 2013

08
FURTHER
READING

CHANGO RETARGETING BAROMETER

What marketers and agencies really

think of retargetinG

In the next 6 moNTHS, is your

search retargeting budget
most likely to increase, stay
the same or decrease?
In the next 6 months, is your search retargeting budget most
likely to increase, stay the same or decrease?

Search Retargeting:
The Must-Have Media
Tactic For Q4
bit.ly/barometer11

Why Smart Search

Marketers Are Using
Search Retargeting
bit.ly/barometer12

53%

47%

INCREASE

STAY THE same

Survey of 51 brand marketers and agencies, February 2013

Our survey found that 53% of marketers and

Marketers and agencies want to do more Search

agencies intend to increase their Search

Retargeting because Search Retargeting delivers

Retargeting budgets in the next six months.

consistent results.

The numbers speak well for themselves.

11

chango.com

800-385-0607

sales@chango.com

APRI L 2013

09
FURTHER
READING

CHANGO RETARGETING BAROMETER

What marketers and agencies really

think of retargetinG

In the next 6 moNTHS, is your

SITE retargeting budget
most likely to increase,
stay the same or decrease?
In the next 6 moNTHS, is your SITE retargeting budget most
likely to increase, stay the same or decrease?

Redefining Retargeting
for Retailers Bringing
Search into the Mix
bit.ly/barometer13

54%

46%

INCREASE

STAY THE same

Survey of 51 brand marketers and agencies, February 2013

Search Retargeting isnt the only retargeting

budgets in the next six months. Not a single

technique that will become more common

agency or marketer is planning to decrease his

next year. We found that 46% of marketers and

or her Site Retargeting budget.

agencies intend to increase their Site Retargeting

12

chango.com

800-385-0607

sales@chango.com

APRI L 2013

10
FURTHER
READING
A Briefing on the
Facebook Exchange
(FBX)
bit.ly/barometer14

FBX is relatively
new to us but
performs better
thaN many other
display tactics.
Brand Marketer
CPG

CHANGO RETARGETING BAROMETER

What marketers and agencies really

think of retargetinG

In the next 6 moNTHS, is

your FBX retargeting budget
most likely to increase,
stay the same or decrease?
In the next 6 months, is your Facebook Exchange retargeting
budget most likely to increase, stay the same or decrease?

60%

38%

2%

INCREASE

STAY THE SAME

DECREASE

Survey of 51 brand marketers and agencies, February 2013

Retargeting on Facebook Exchange is relatively

to increase their retargeting budgets on FBX in the

new and has been received very well by marketers

next six months.

and agencies. A solid majority (60%) of them intend

13

chango.com

800-385-0607

sales@chango.com

APRI L 2013

CHANGO RETARGETING BAROMETER

What marketers and agencies really

think of retargetinG

Additional
resources
WHITEPAPERs & HANDBOOKS
The Facebook Exchange
Handbook

webinars
Why Creative Still Matters
bit.ly/ChangoWebinar4

bit.ly/ChangoWPfbx
Retargeting for Retailers
Exposed: Driving More
Dollars

Data Management Platform:

Foundation for Right-Time
Marketing
bit.ly/ChangoWebinar3

bit.ly/ChangoWP01
The FBX Opportunity:
Search Meets Social
View-Through Attribution
Exposed: What Last-Touch
Isnt Telling You

bit.ly/ChangoWebinar2

bit.ly/ChangoWP2

Retargeting is not what

you think

Retargeting Exposed: Not

Another Whitepaper About
Retargeting

bit.ly/ChangoWebinar1

further reading

bit.ly/changoWP4
Search Retargeting Barometer:
Why Marketers Are Paying
Attention

The Data Management

Platform: Foundation for RightTime Customer Engagement

bit.ly/ChangoWP3

bit.ly/ChangoWP5

Search Retargeting to Conquest

Competitors Customers
bit.ly/barometer15
Marketers Turn to Search
Retargeting for Branding,
Direct Response Goals
bit.ly/barometer16

14

chango.com

800-385-0607

sales@chango.com

NEW YORK | SAN FRANCISCO | LOS ANGELES | SEATTLE | TORONTO | LONDON

20 West 22nd St., Suite 1010

New York, NY 10010

chango.com

@chango