Retargeting Setup and Delivery

About the retargeting program:

• We target specific categories from our website (Application Security, HCI, SDS, etc.). So we basically show our retargeting ads to those users who viewed pages on our website that are part of the target category. As an example, in the StarWind campaign, we're targeting the HCI category, so we're showing ads to users who previously viewed HCI-related pages on peerspot.com. Hence, the name of retargeting. It's basically only retargeting to us as we retarget PeerSpot users and it's not retargeting to the vendor as these users might have never been to the vendor's website (that's another discussion that's worth having I think).
  Because of that, we want to make the messaging relevant to these users by highlighting the category name in the ad text, on the banners, and in the title of the landing page.

• We also need to know whether the vendor is known in the category or is brand-new to it. If the vendor is a brand-new player in a specific space, it's better to focus on building brand awareness instead of lead generation. More info about our audience and the campaign goal here.

• In this retargeting campaign checklist, you can see what we need to have in order to launch a retargeting program (what types of ads we use - with examples - what we suggest to have on the landing pages, etc).

• There are programs that we create and host the landing page on peerspot.com and there are programs where we use a landing page from the vendor's website. In a standard retargeting program, we can help put together the ad copy and even the banners (which we very often do), but we don't create the landing pages for the gated assets.

• In a retargeting-as-a-service program, we do all the work - meaning we create the pages, the ad copy, the graphics and we also enrich the leads (as we're the ones who receive them through our landing pages).  We basically just need the asset from the vendor + the branding guidelines so that the design of the landing page is in line with their brand. Now, when we promote PeerSpot-produced assets such as PeerPapers or our category reports, we don't even need the asset from the vendor.

The Retargeting program process, from activation to completion:

Pre-campaign

• The sales team/hybrid team discusses a potential retargeting program with the delivery manager before they sell it to a customer (e.g. how many clicks we can deliver in x months with the given geo and additional filters). 

• Once the delivery manager receives an email with a customer win for the retargeting program, they create a Trello card for the program on the Retargeting Trello board.

• The delivery manager then creates the retargeting KOC doc (template) and discusses the program with the CS manager.  Sometimes, they are invited to the KO call as well, especially with newly hired CS managers.

• If needed, the delivery manager checks the vendor’s website for assets that can be used in the program and checks the target categories to see the best way to deliver the campaign (e.g. should we be focusing on brand awareness or lead generation? See this Marketing Strategy doc which the vendors can also access).

• The delivery manager discusses with the vendors which assets to use. The vendor sends over assets to us which are reviewed by the DM to see if it makes sense to use it and/or they make suggestions on which assets to use.

• The CSMs and delivery manager decide whether the program should be a standard retargeting program or a retargeting-as-a-service program (if not determined already).

• When the customer sends us the landing page, the ad copy, graphics, they are reviewed by the DM who makes necessary suggestions on how to improve them if needed (usually, they don’t send everything we need).

• If they don’t have the ad copy, I create it for them, or if they do but changes are needed, I make changes to the copy text

• If they don’t have the graphics, the DM  decides what to put on the banners and puts in a design request for the graphic designer. The same goes if changes are needed on existing banners and the vendors are not able to do that themselves.

• For retargeting-as-a-service programs, the DM starts working on the landing pages in our Unbounce account. They also make the design fit the vendor’s brand.  As for the content, if there’s an existing page for the same asset on the vendor’s website, they copy & paste the content from it if possible. If not, the DM comes up with some copy ideas based on the content of the asset and the content they can see on their website that could be relevant. 

• For the retargeting-as-a-service program, the DM double-checks what integration type the vendor prefers and sets up the integration accordingly. They create an ‘Adword’ campaign on the backend/site.

• In a standard retargeting program, the conversions need to be tracked on the vendors’ landing pages. For that, conversion trackers need to be created by the delivery manager  in a test Google Tag Manager account, and sent through a jSON file for the vendor to implement in their own Google Tag Manager container. 

• After this is done, the vendor either approves the copy text, graphics and the page or asks for certain changes to be made.

• The ad campaigns are then set up by the DM in our ad account (Google and LinkedIn).
  
  

During the campaign

• Once the campaigns go live, the DM updates the relevant SF opportunity to ‘active’.

• The DM creates a Data Studio report for each of the programs. This is shared with the vendor so they can get a live update about how the retargeting program is performing. These reports can b found at the top of each trello card as ‘Performance dashboard’.

• The DM reviews the active campaigns to make sure the delivery is on time and the main KPI (vendor cost/conversion) is met.
  For us, the vendor cost/conversion is the main KPI and that should be between $200-$250.*
  Besides that, we want to operate with a 150% ROI.
  We can achieve that by paying less for a click than how much that click was sold for. E.g. If the vendor bought the retargeting program for $14 a click, then the DM needs to make sure not to pay more than $9.33 for a click in our ad account. This is the internal CPC so this internal cost is not disclosed with the vendor.
  The campaigns need to be optimized on a regular basis in order for us to hit the targets.
  Note: Programs which don’t have properly working conversion trackers are not counted towards this number. 

We calculate the vendor cost/conversion based on the number of conversions we received. For that, we need to track conversions properly. If there’s no conversion tracker added to a landing page or if it was implemented wrong, then the conversion numbers will be incorrect. That said, we don’t include assets in the vendor cost/conversion calculation where the conversion numbers are unreliable or non-existent.

• The amount of time it takes for the first conversion varies.
  If there’s a strong asset, it can convert very quickly.
  The vendor buys clicks, not conversions so the important part is that we get as many clicks a week as needed to finish the program on time while we optimize the campaigns so that the cost/conversion stays on target.

• In case the DM sees that despite the heavy optimization on our end an asset is not performing well, they will suggest some alternatives. They either suggest that we use new ad copy or graphics or that we completely switch out the asset to a new one.

• The DM will have regular meetings set up with the CS managers to make sure the retargeting programs are running smoothly. During those meetings, they go through the performance, discuss any additional changes that might be needed (e.g. new assets) etc.

• Retargeting-as-a-service:

We are able to deliver retargting leads to the vendor via a regular integration (e.g. Marketo, Hubspot etc.).

However, sometimes the vendor doesn’t have any integration set up so the only way to send them retargeting leads is through a CSV file which we manually update each time there’s a new lead.

That’s a lot of manual work (we use 2 spreadsheets - one for internal use where the reviewers check and enrich the leads and the other one is shared with the vendor with ‘cleansed’ data). Sometimes, the DM needs to send an email to the vendor each time there’s a new lead (e.g. Broadcom), or they need to fill out the lead form on the vendor’s website with the retargeting lead data (e.g. PAN Firewall)

• Sometimes, the DM is asked to join calls to present retargeting data and/or discuss the program (e.g. how to improve it, what additional assets to use etc). 

• Bi-weekly data is shared with the CS managers for each of the programs on Trello so they can update the vendors about the retargeting program on their calls.
  
  

Post-campaign

• When the required clicks have been delivered and the program is complete, the DM switches off the ad campaigns and marks the SF opportunity as ‘complete’.

• The DM notifies the CS manager that the program is finished and that they will prepare a spreadsheet with all the retargeting data so that the reporting team can create the EOP report for the vendor. It usually takes 2 days for the reports to be created.

• The DM discusses with the CSMs  if there’s a renewal in place for a completed program. This conversation usually happens in the weekly meetings.
  
  

Tools/accounts used in the retargeting program:

• Retargeting Trello board.

• Graphic design Trello board for the design requests

• Google Ads account

• LinkedIn Ads account

• Google Tag Manager account

• DataStudio (it’s called Looker Studio now)

• Salesforce

• Unbounce account to create the landing pages

• Zapier (to set up integration in Unbounce) - via Ariel’s login data

• PeerSpot admin page to create ‘Adword Offerings’ for the retargeting programs