Gen Media Partners launches retargeting platform for stations and advertisers

retargetingplus logoThis morning brings an announcement from Gen Media Partners of RetargetingPlus.com, a tech platform that anonymously tracks radio station website visitors across websites and serves relevant messages to them.

Retargeting is an important concept and technology in the digital advertising ecosystem. Most consumers who use the Internet regularly experience being retargeted, as when you visit Zappos.com, do not purchase anything, then see Zappos ads alongside your Facebook feed for the next month. This sort of tracking can yield powerful results, as it keeps a brand in front of a consumer who is demonstrably interested in that brand. As such, retargeting is contextual in a similar way to search advertising — and it can take place across the entire Internet.

Gen Media Partners, a radio advertising company, is marketing its new platform in two directions, useful to radio stations for their own audience marketing, and as a tool to offer spot advertisers. There’s nothing new about offering on-air advertisers crossover to the station website, but when you bolt retargeting capability onto the plan, the offer could be more compelling.

As with other retargeting systems, RetargetingPlus.com uses a pixel drop — commonly called a cookie — to target and retarget site visitors. A pool of targetable users is built up over about two weeks (depending on website traffic volume), and the pixel is swapped out for a new one every 90 days to keep the pool fresh. Stations can use retargeting to stay in contact with their listeners, with messages promoting shows, contests, and even songs, according to today’s announcement.

On the revenue side, Gen Media Partners is promoting the potential for widening the reach of radio advertising by giving stations a tool which appeals to brands and agencies already hip-deep in retargeting campaigns. “This is opening doors directly to advertisers and new agencies, allowing us to introduce radio into their marketing budgets,” said Kevin Garrity, CEO of Gen Media Partners. “It’s an opportunity for us to talk not only to traditional broadcast agencies but also to digital agencies, and to tap into digital budgets.”

Brad Hill