What is Search Remarketing?

To best understand Search Remarketing also known as “RLSA” or “Remarketing List Search Ads”, it is ideal to first read about Display Remarketing.  Once you have read this page return here to continue the next step.
Welcome back.  Now that you understand Display Remarketing, Search Remarketing is very similar however with one key difference.
With Display Remarketing you are following individuals who exit your site using Display banners on websites that are part of the Google Display Network.  With Search Remarketing you are still following individuals who exit specific pages of your site, but this time you will follow them next time they search for certain keywords on Google.   It will not be a display banner but a text ad, similar to the first time they saw your text ad and visited your website.
So this is where you may be asking, wouldn’t I be competing against myself again on Google.  Well possibly yes but it is a strategy that needs to be executed correctly.   Let me give you an example.
This time imagine you own a barbecue store and sell a whole range of barbecues and related equipment.   The keyword BBQ or Barbecue is too generic for you to bid on as there are so many reasons for typing BBQ into Google. It doesn’t mean someone is looking to purchase a BBQ.   They may be looking for places to have a BBQ or how to cook something on a BBQ.
So instead you bid on keywords for people searching “BBQ store” or “Barbecues on sale” which identifies someone in the purchase funnel resulting in a  visit to your website.  Now they have been tagged with a remarketing cookie, we know what type of BBQ they are interested in and how motivated they are by knowing how much time they spent of your site and how many pages they viewed. So for these people we are going to display a second chance offer in a text ad next time they search a generic keyword into Google. Now when they type in a generic keyword like “BBQ” there is a very high chance they are actually now looking again for a BBQ to purchase.  Why? Because they have visited your website in the last few days or weeks.   Now when we bid on the term BBQ or Barbecue we are going to bid heavily with a much higher budget.  We are also going to direct them to a specific page of your site just for them, showing a limited time second chance offer available on the exact Barbecue they spent more than 20 seconds viewing on your website just a few weeks ago.
Second Chance Offer example:
Great Deals on BBQ’s
This Weekend Only Receive Free
BBQ Utensals with Every New BBQ.

  • Location Ad Extension.
  • Call Extension

This can also be a great way to upsell additional items to go with any new purchase.
With Display Remarketing you are pushing your ads to a qualified audience when they are not actively searching for your product or service.   However with Search Remarketing you are displaying a strong offer to a qualified audience when they are highly motivated and actively searching for your product.
The key to effective targeting is to be visible when they are in the right frame of mind.