Online stalking as acquisition strategy
Advertising, at its heart, is about persuasion, not harassment. And while for the past few years creative has played second fiddle to data, Tyler Greer explains why marketers need to take charge and use consumer info to entice and not clobber customers.
If stalking laws have taught me anything – and they haven’t – it’s that people, in general, believe it or not, do not like being followed.
The memes depicting Trump’s lurking presence behind Clinton as he followed her around this week’s debate prove this. It makes you feel uncomfortable, no matter how benevolent, beneficial or technically brilliant the follower justifies it to be. In digital media we have another word for this behaviour: retargeting.
For the uninitiated, retargeting – or its ‘a rose by any other name’ counterpart, remarketing – refers to the process which occurs should an online user visit a brand site or begin the process of conversion on that site.
Namely, that they are then pursued across their online journey by that brand via advertising. This includes display, video and social, amongst others. Theoretically this is smart, efficient advertising. In practice it can be infuriating for the recipient and damaging for the brand.
