Retargeting is an invaluable tool that allows companies to reconnect with audiences who have previously shown interest in their offerings. This article delves into retargeting strategies specifically tailored for the entertainment industry.
What is Retargeting?
Retargeting is a digital advertising technique that focuses on serving ads to users who have interacted with your brand in some way—be it through social media, website visits, or subscribing to your mailing list. While general targeting aims at cold audiences unfamiliar with your brand, retargeting zeroes in on those who have already expressed interest. This approach is inherently more effective, as warm audiences are more inclined to engage and convert than cold ones.
Importance of Retargeting in the Entertainment Industry
In entertainment, as with other industries, retargeting allows for more personalised ad messaging based on user behaviour. Whether a user visits a specific page on your website or engages with your social media, retargeting enables you to serve tailored ads that resonate with their interests.
Retargeting Strategies in the Entertainment Industry
The entertainment industry can benefit significantly from retargeting, given its unique context of engaging fans, promoting events, and driving ticket sales.
Retargeting for Musicians
Musicians can nurture their fan base and maintain engagement throughout an album release cycle through strategic retargeting. For instance, an artist might initiate a campaign by retargeting existing fans with an album announcement. Video ads for singles could follow, and as users engage with these ads, they can be retargeted with prompts for album pre-orders or pre-saves. An example of retargeting for musicians can be found in our case study on The Hives, where awareness and engagement were generated for their new album release.
Retargeting for Films
In the film sector, retargeting can boost ticket sales by keeping potential viewers engaged and informed. Beginning with trailer ads can capture initial interest, which can then be followed up with call-to-action ads encouraging cinema ticket purchases. This targeted approach ensures that potential viewers are consistently reminded of the upcoming release, driving higher conversion rates. Our case study on Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour Movie, shows how custom conversion tracking, delivery based on fandom and types of engagement, and retargeting helped make the film the highest-grossing concert and documentary film in history.
Types of Retargeting
Different ad formats can be used for retargeting, including video ads, static images, carousel ads, and commerce-focused ads. Your choice of format should align with the action you want the user to take. In our experience, static images work the best to get the warm audience to convert.
Retargeting Strategy Based on Buyer’s Journey
The entertainment sector often lacks intricate buying journeys. Typically, the goal is straightforward: get users to buy tickets or pre-order albums. Given the challenge of tracking every buying action across multiple platforms, a simplified approach often proves effective.
Best Practices for Retargeting in Entertainment
- Comprehensive Tracking: Ensure all tracking pixels are in place across your platforms, including as many external sites as possible to track sales of albums or concert tickets.
- Frequency Monitoring: Track ad frequency to avoid overwhelming smaller audience segments.
- Regular Audience Updates: Consistently update video view audiences on platforms like Meta and TikTok. Unlike other custom audiences, video audiences require the manual inclusion of new videos. To capture the full potential audience, refresh these lists weekly or whenever a new video is added.
- Content Variation: Regularly change ad content to prevent ad fatigue.
- Use Bursts: Instead of a continuous stream of retargeting ads, use bursts to re-engage audiences at critical times.
- Industry-Specific Nuances: It’s important to recognise that there are distinct engagement dynamics for the film and music industries. When developing strategies, it’s crucial to tailor them to the specific needs of each industry. For example, films may not demand the same ongoing engagement as musicians do, so it’s important to customise approaches based on these industry specifics.
Challenges and Limitations of Retargeting Ads in Media & Entertainment
Visibility of Final Actions
Tracking final user actions, like tour ticket or album purchases, is challenging due to the variety of 3rd party platforms involved. It’s best to exclude those who have already purchased from your direct-to-consumer site to avoid annoying repeat ads. Frequent exposure to already-purchased items can irritate audiences, common in the entertainment industry. Therefore, instead of continuous retargeting, use bursts to manage audience exposure more effectively. This strategy respects your existing customers while maximising engagement.
Audience Expiry
For musicians, the long intervals between projects can lead to audience expiry as users are only held in warm custom audiences for a maximum of 365 days. Continuous low-spend campaigns can keep the audience engaged during these off-cycles, preventing the loss of warm audiences.
Diverse Platforms
The entertainment industry often involves multiple platforms for final conversions, complicating comprehensive tracking. Employing multiple tracking pixels and regularly updating audience lists can help mitigate some of these issues.
Conclusion
Retargeting offers significant advantages for the entertainment industry by concentrating efforts on warm audiences, aka people who have engaged with you previously. Through strategic planning, comprehensive tracking, and regular audience updates, entertainment organisations can achieve higher engagement and conversion rates. By employing these strategies, you can ensure that your marketing efforts are both efficient and effective, driving success in a competitive market.
