• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, May 3, 2021

Facobook/Instagram and Google are the top channels for retargeting, but email comes in third, according to The 2021 Outlook on Retargeting, a study from SharpSpring Ads, conducted in partnership with Ascend2. 

And the channels apparently are working, to some degree. Of the brands polled, 36% report they are very successful at retargeting, or best in class, versus 58% that are somewhat so. Only 6% say they are somewhat unsuccessful.  

In general, the channels most used for retargeting are:   

• Facebook/Instagram advertising — 77% 
• Google advertising — 69% 
• Email — 55%. 
• Twitter advertising — 44%
• Linkedin advertising — 35%
• Lead generation — 31%
• Other paid advertising channels — 29%

But the channel choices vary by brand size. Enterprise firms use these:

• Social — 73% 
• Search — 39% 
• Mobile — 47% 
• Video — 58% 
• Display — 41% 

In contrast, SMBs use these channels: 

• Social — 80’% 
• Search — 60% 
• Mobile — 47% 
• Video — 27%
• Display — 27%

The goals for retargeting include:

• Brand awareness — 57% 
• Driving sales — 57% 
• Customer retention — 55%
• Lead generation — 37% 
• Community building — 27%
• Lead nurturing — 24% 
• Message/offer testing — 16%

But this varies by sector. B2B marketers use retargarting for brand awareness (58%) and to a lesser extent, for driving sales (44%).  In contrast, B2C marketers cite customer retention (66%) and driving sales (64%).

The top challenges for SMBs are attribution (47%) and budget (33%). Enterprise companies cite privacy (43) and ad fraud (38%). 

In another variance, B2B respondents list resources (38%) and brand image (36%) among their top retargeting challenges.  But B2C respondents specify ad fraud (43%) and attribution (37%).  

The report cites research showing that 70% of retargeted prospects are likely to convert, versus 2% on first visit. 

What are brands looking for in a retargeting solution? Of the sample, 45% seek access to the desired audiences. 

Ascend2 surveyed 176 marketing professionals with retargeting budgets of more than $2,000 per month.