In this article I will walk you through the step-by-step process for setting up a remarketing campaign in Google Universal Analytics. In order to set this up you need to have already switched over your traditional Analytics account to Universal. You’ll also need access to the Google Analytics tracking code installed on your website, or if you use Google Tag Manager you can update the code there. You must also have your Google Analytics and Google AdWords accounts linked.
Remarketing in Google Analytics is a robust feature that gives you control over who and what visitors see after they leave your website. There are features that make it easy for all types of marketers to setup a remarketing campaign that will work for their business. The process can take as few as five minutes and up to an hour depending on your experience with the platform and the type of remarketing you plan to do. That being said, let’s get started.
The first step is to login to your analytics account and go to the admin section. Under the “Property” section you’ll see a tab for Remarketing:
Select Remarketing and you’ll be asked to choose Lists or Dynamic Attributes. I’m going to choose lists because I want to create a list of users to remarket based on an action they take on my website. If you want to remarket users based on custom defined variables (i.e. product IDs, sku numbers, etc.) then you’ll want to choose dynamic attributes so that you will show ads with content relevant to the product that user viewed. Dynamic Attributes works best for ecommerce sites wanting to retarget users with specific products.
Once you select the Lists feature you can choose +New Remarketing List to set up how users will be remarketed. In the screen shot below you will see that in our account we already have set up a remarketing list that targets general traffic to our website.
After selecting +New Remarketing List you’ll be sent to the screen below and asked to follow a few steps to activate your Remarketing:
The first step reminds users to review the terms of service for Google Analytics. It’s important not to skip this step as you may be required to update your terms and conditions on your website to comply with the Google AdWords Remarketing Policy.
Once you’ve ensured that your terms and conditions are up to date you can select the specific type of remarketing you want to add to your website and then modify your Google Analytics tracking code. You have several options for the different types of lists of users you want to retarget and I walk you through each option in the section below.
Smart List
The first option is to allow Google to manage a list for you (aka Smart List). Choosing the Smart List option will put Google in charge of how users to your website are remarketed. Using historical conversion date Google Analytics will estimate which users are likely to convert on subsequent visits to your website.
All of My Users
Selecting this option will ensure that every single visitor to your website gets remarketed. This is a good option for companies looking for brand awareness in sheer numbers, but keep in mind that visitors who found your site by accident will also be remarketed and your results may be skewed.
Users Who Visited a Specific Section of My Site
This option lets you target users based on the pages they visited on your site. If you select this option you will then need to include the URL path of the page you want to retarget. This helps narrow down your targeting options and you can remarket visitors who visited a certain product page or abandoned a shopping cart, for example.
All Users Who Completed a Conversion Goal
You’ll need to have goals set up in your account to choose this option. We track phone calls as conversion goals so we could set up a list so that anyone who has called us will get remarketed on the web. Watch this webinar to learn more about tracking phone calls as conversions in Universal Analytics.
Create my Own Remarketing Type Using Segments
This is by far the most robust option available. You can remarket users based on demographics, technology, behavior, traffic sources, and many more advanced options. This option gives you the most control over who is retargeted, and the content used to retarget them. Setting up multiple types of segments is the best way to ensure that the right users are targeted with content relevant to what they viewed on your website.
I hope this helps as you set up your remarketing campaigns in Universal Analytics. If you have questions or additional tips, leave them in the comments section below.