Retargeting "automatically" for each listing page?

Hello, Alex.

Thank you for the reply.

I haven’t found a plugin that does this yet (well, I did find one but it came with the WP plugin warning that it hasn’t been updated since 4.0.6. (about three years) and might not work…)

I did do quite a bit of homework since posting this inquiry and it is definitely possible with Google Ads “dynamic remarketing”.

And, it is exactly as I surmised, it is done with “feeds” which are basically spreadsheets containing the data you are looking to use (a unique ID (unique way to identify what you are calling this “listing” (for example) page URLs that a visitor might have landed on, destination URLs to send them back to when retargeting, the text (minimal, of course) you want displayed in the dynamic ad, image you want displayed for the ad (if any), etc.)

The feed spreadsheet could easily be created from a GeoDirectory export of listings then massaged to fit the parameters Google Ads is expecting for the dynamic ads you are going to display.

Google Ads has several pre-made templates for the feeds.

The one I picked (for a first experiment) was “real estate”.

Or, you can create a custom feed, as well (but starting with a template made sense to me and I’ll go from there.)

I have attached that sample template if anyone else is interested in doing the same thing.

Now, to “give back” to the GeoDirectory community, the reason I am DYING to set this up is I plan on soliciting businesses to pay for listings (imagine that!) in my directory and by setting up this retargeting before approaching them (via email) if/when they click on the link to their listing which I will include in the email so they can see what their listing looks like, they will be retargeted (for up to 540 days!) with ads for their listing on our directory site on any of the 2,000,000 (2 MILLION!) web sites that Google Ads has in their network.

Upon clicking once, instantly they are their own custom audience (of one, since the likelihood early on with a brand new listing anyone else will happen upon it is really, really small) and at the frequency I choose they will see the ads for their listing and be “dripped on” with gentle, periodic reminders of our directory site and that they haven’t claimed their listing as yet.

“Hey, this ad brings me right to our restaurant’s listing on that “Best Restaurants in NYC” directory site I received that email about the other day. Wow, this directory site is great!”

Imagine their surprise when they start seeing ads for their business listing on your directory! (ads they didn’t create, ads they have no idea how/why they are appearing, and even better, ads they aren’t paying for!)

And, to keep someone who has claimed their listing from being dunned with ads thereafter, since the updated feed is easy to export/upload the exports could be done only setting up retargeting for those listings which have not yet been claimed.

Or (and better, in my mind), the ads can be changed on the fly for those listings which have been claimed to simply re-enforce their listing is active and thereby remind them periodically that their “inexpensive” investment in a listing is really working reinforcing the fact they made a wise decision to pay for their listing.

(I have used re-targeting for our ecom printer consumables biz since it came out a decade or so ago, and can state with 100% certainty that despite the fact I knew exactly how/why ads for our company and its products were being show on the Wall Street Journal, Drudge Report, Huffington Post, on and on and on, I still thought I was the coolest guy in the world because, “Look at where my ads are appearing!!!” (even if I was only 1 of a few hundred people who might be seeing those ads.) And, I was the guy that made it happen, but I was still impressed with myself and my company!)

(BTW, Don’t worry about costs, AT ALL! If you are paying $10.00 CPM ($10 dollars per 1,000 views) via their audience of one, you could show them their ad once per day for the next three years for $0.01 each time! And, not to get off on that tangent, but, if their listing starts to become really popular (let’s say it is getting so many visitors that you are retargeting those visitors 1,000 times per day, you could then sell a retargeting service to them as an “upsell” to cover your costs.))

Thank you, again, Alex, for the quick response.

Duane

P.S. In order for Google Ads to run for their display network (which it what retargeting/remarketing runs on) you need a minimum of 100 unique visitors to your site in the last 30 days. There are tons of folks on Fiverr.com who will bring that number of people to your site for $5 – $15 bucks so that is a really easy hurdle to overcome. (And, you can set up a specific landing page for those “fake” visitors and ultimately exclude them from your retargeting so you aren’t even wasting a penny on retargeting to those “visitors”.)