Marin Software Study: Retargeting Advertisers Looking for More Transparency

1 in 4 advertisers reportedly concerned with lack of transparency; 43% find attributing the performance of retargeting ads a major challenge

San Francisco, CA - September 23, 2014 – Marin Software (NYSE:MRIN), provider of a leading cross-channel performance advertising platform for advertisers and agencies, announced results from a survey of enterprise digital marketers on retargeting trends. Despite the effectiveness of retargeting, advertisers are concerned with a lack of transparency in the medium. Of the 233 respondents, more than one third are unsure if ads are viewed, are leery of click fraud, and are concerned with “black box” campaign optimization

For the report, Marin Software surveyed digital marketers of leading brands and agencies. More than 50% of respondents maintain advertising budgets of more than $250,000 per month. The survey did not include customers of Perfect Audience, a retargeting platform recently acquired by Marin.

News Highlights:

• Marin Software found 88% of surveyed marketers use retargeting. Display (81%), search (77%) and social (48%) are the top channels used by marketers in retargeting. More than half say they will be increasing their budgets across search, social and display in 2015.
• Fifty-one percent of respondents indicated retargeting makes up less than 10% of their monthly marketing budget. Chief challenges marketers have with retargeting that may be limiting their investment are the inability to attribute the performance of retargeting ads, getting sufficient list volume to be effective, and a lack of transparency into costs and placement.
• According to Marin Software’s finding, marketers’ concerns with transparency include view-ability (38%), click fraud (37%), and “black box” campaign optimization (34%). The results suggest with greater control, targeting and reporting capabilities advertisers would further increase their investment in retargeting.
• Marin Software found Google ranks as the most common retargeting channel with 89% of respondents leveraging either the Google Display Network (GDN), Google remarketing lists for search ads (RLSA), or a combination of the two.
• In looking at the performance of Google RLSAs, Marin Software found the click-through rate (CTR) of RLSAs to be 234% higher than non-RLSA ads in the second quarter, 2014. The cost-per-click (CPC) of RLSAs was 24% cheaper than non-RLSAs. Marin attributes the high CTR to better ad relevancy and the low CPC to more targeted ads.
• Marin Software’s retargeting platform, Perfect Audience, enables marketers to create, manage and optimize retargeting campaigns across Facebook, Twitter and the Web. Likewise, through the Marin platform advertisers can leverage Google RLSA campaigns as well as Facebook Website Custom Audiences (WCA).
The full results of Marin Software’s retargeting study are available in the Performance Marketer’s Retargeting Guide, which can be downloaded at:

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Quote:

• "Retargeting is emerging as a central part in the marketing mix, and advertisers are hungry for the same type of control over the channel that they are used to with search and social marketing," said Brad Flora, senior director of product management at Marin Software. "Our Perfect Audience retargeting platform not only allows marketers to directly setup and manage their retargeting but combined with the Marin platform, data from retargeting can be used to optimize search, display and social channels."