Prospecting in advertising is the process of targeting potential customers and driving them to a website or other conversion point. It involves discovering and engaging with an audience that may not be aware of your brand or product. This can be done by leveraging various marketing techniques such as cold outreach, search engine optimization (SEO), content marketing, pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns, display ads, social media campaigns and email marketing. The goal is to reach out to new customers and drive them through the sales funnel.
Compared to retargeting, prospecting is more focused on gaining new customers rather than reengaging existing ones. While retargeting seeks to reach people who have already interacted with your brand in some way, prospecting looks for individuals who haven’t yet had any exposure to it. As such, the messaging for a prospecting campaign needs to be more general, so as to capture the attention of a wider range of potential customers. It also needs to provide enough information about the company or product so that it can build an interest in those potential customers. This could involve providing comprehensive details about services or products or using targeted messaging around customer benefits such as discounts or offers.
Unlike retargeting which relies heavily on data from previous interactions with a brand, prospecting requires more research into target audiences and their preferences. Advertisers must use data to identify likely prospects based on what they need and how they behave online. This information can then be used to create messaging that resonates with those targets and helps create brand awareness. Additionally, marketers must carefully monitor performance metrics such as impressions, clicks, conversions and ROI when running prospecting campaigns in order to ensure their success.
