Retargeting list for search ads (RLSA) is a feature that allows advertisers to customize search campaign bids and keywords for past site visitors. By using these lists, you can connect with people who have already engaged with your website while they continue their search on Google. This strategy allows you to adjust your messaging or bidding intensity based on the specific actions a user previously took on your site, such as viewing a product page or abandoning a cart.
How does RLSA function in search campaigns?
The primary function of RLSA is to enable audience-based modifications within your existing search campaigns. When a user who is on your remarketing list conducts a search relevant to your keywords, your account identifies them as a previous visitor. You can then apply specific bid adjustments to increase or decrease your bids for these users, or even choose to show ads only to users who have visited your site before. This helps you focus your budget on users who have higher intent, as they are already familiar with your brand.
For instance, a user might visit your site to look at hiking boots but leave without making a purchase. When they later search for ‘durable hiking boots’ on Google, your RLSA campaign can trigger a higher bid to ensure your ad appears at the top of the search results. Because this person has already shown interest, the likelihood of them clicking your ad is often higher compared to a user who has never interacted with your business. This is a common pattern in a typical account aiming to improve conversion rates.
What are the core benefits of using RLSA?
Using RLSA provides a direct way to manage your advertising spend more efficiently. Instead of treating every search user the same, you can segment your audience based on their previous behavior. This allows for a more personalized approach where you can bid more for users who visited your checkout page but did not complete the purchase. In a typical account, this can lead to better budget allocation as you prioritize users who are closer to the end of the customer journey.
Another benefit is the ability to use broader keywords for your remarketing audience while maintaining strict keyword control for new visitors. You might be hesitant to bid on broad terms like ‘shoes’ due to the high cost and low relevance for new users. However, if you limit those broad terms to only show ads to your remarketing list, you significantly reduce the risk of wasting budget on irrelevant traffic. This allows you to stay top-of-mind with your existing audience without breaking your daily budget.
How to set up your first remarketing list
Setting up RLSA involves a few key steps within your advertising platform. First, ensure your site has the necessary tracking tag enabled to capture visitor data. Once the tag is active, you can create specific audience segments based on criteria like page visits, session duration, or completed conversions. These segments will populate as users visit your site, and you can then apply these lists to your search campaigns.
- Add the remarketing tag to all pages of your website to ensure comprehensive data collection.
- Define audience segments in the Audience Manager based on specific URLs visited, such as a thank-you page or a specific product category.
- Wait for the list to meet the minimum size requirements, which are necessary for the platform to begin showing ads to that group.
- Apply the list to your search campaign under the Audiences tab, choosing between ‘Observation’ or ‘Targeting’ settings.
- Set your bid adjustments for the specific audience to control how much more or less you pay for these clicks.
What is the difference between observation and targeting?
When adding a remarketing list to a campaign, you will encounter two distinct settings: Observation and Targeting. The Observation setting allows your ads to continue showing to everyone, but it tracks the performance of your remarketing list separately. This is useful for gathering data without limiting your reach. You can see how your remarketing audience performs compared to the general public, allowing you to make informed decisions before changing your bidding strategy.
The Targeting setting, on the other hand, restricts your ads to only show to people who are on your list. This is a much more aggressive approach. It is often used for high-value segments, such as users who have already added items to their cart. By using this setting, you ensure that your budget is spent exclusively on users who have shown a clear interest in your offerings. This setting requires you to be very careful with your audience size, as it can significantly limit your total impressions.
How Alien Road applies RLSA for clients
At Alien Road, we follow a practical workflow when integrating RLSA into client campaigns. We start by analyzing the current conversion funnel to identify where visitors typically drop off. For an e-commerce client, this might be the product page or the shipping information screen. We then build custom remarketing lists for each of these stages. By segmenting the audience, we can tailor our bidding strategy to match the intent of the visitor at each specific point in the funnel.
For example, in a typical engagement, we set higher bid adjustments for users who abandoned their carts within the last 7 days compared to those who visited the homepage a month ago. We also monitor these lists regularly to ensure they remain active and relevant. If a list becomes too small or the performance drops, we adjust the campaign settings to maintain efficiency. This ongoing management ensures that our clients get the most out of their search ad budget without overspending on low-intent traffic.
Best practices for managing remarketing lists
- Regularly clean your audience lists by removing users who no longer fit your target customer profile.
- Set different membership durations for your lists to match your typical sales cycle length.
- Create separate lists for converters to exclude them from your remarketing campaigns, preventing you from paying for clicks from people who already bought your product.
- Monitor your impression share for remarketing audiences to ensure you are not losing potential customers due to low bids.
- Use custom ad copy for your remarketing campaigns to acknowledge that the user has already visited your site.
Common pitfalls to avoid with RLSA
A common error is applying a list that is too narrow, which results in zero impressions. If you combine too many specific criteria, you might exclude your entire audience. Always check that your list size is sufficient before setting it to ‘Targeting’ mode. Another mistake is forgetting to exclude recent purchasers. Showing ads to someone who just bought your product can be annoying for the user and a waste of your advertising budget.
Additionally, ensure that your bid adjustments are proportional to the value of the audience. A user who added an item to their cart is likely worth more than a user who only read a blog post. If you bid the same amount for both, you are failing to optimize your return on investment. Take the time to evaluate the conversion potential of each segment and adjust your bids accordingly.
Where to start this week
Start by identifying your most valuable audience segment. If you are an e-commerce site, this is likely your ‘abandoned cart’ users. Go into your audience settings and ensure this list is being populated correctly. Once you have a sufficient list size, add it to your search campaigns using the ‘Observation’ setting. Monitor the performance for at least two weeks to see how this group behaves compared to new visitors. Once you have enough data, you can start applying bid adjustments to capture more of this high-intent traffic.
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