Retargeting
Also called remarketing, retargeting ads
What is retargeting?
Retargeting is showing ads to people who have already interacted with your business, such as visiting your website, adding a product to the cart, watching a video or engaging with your profile. Because these people already know you, retargeting ads usually convert better and cost less per sale than ads to strangers. It is also called remarketing.
Retargeting relies on tracking: a pixel or tag on your site, an app SDK, engagement data inside the platform, or a customer list you upload. Privacy changes, such as Apple's App Tracking Transparency and browser limits on third-party cookies, have made website audiences smaller and less precise, so platform engagement audiences matter more than they used to.
Some people draw a line between the terms: retargeting for ads based on site or app behavior, remarketing for email to past customers. In practice most marketers use them interchangeably.
Why retargeting matters
Most people do not buy on their first visit. Retargeting reminds them, answers objections and offers a reason to come back, often at a much lower CPA than prospecting.
It also lets you match the message to where someone is in the customer journey: a product reminder for cart abandoners, a testimonial for people who watched a demo.
How to set up retargeting
- Install the platform's pixel or tag on your site, or connect your store, and check that events fire.
- Build audiences by behavior: all visitors, product viewers, cart abandoners, video viewers.
- Write creative for each stage, such as a reminder, proof or a limited offer.
- Exclude people who already bought, so you do not pay to show them the same product.
- Keep an eye on frequency, since small audiences tire quickly.
Retargeting example
A bike shop shows people who viewed its e-bike page in the last 14 days a short video of a test ride with "Book a free test ride this weekend". People who already booked are excluded.
Retargeting FAQ
What is the difference between retargeting and remarketing?
Usually nothing; the words are used interchangeably. Some people use remarketing for email to past customers and retargeting for ads to past visitors.
Does retargeting still work without cookies?
Yes, with smaller audiences. Server-side tracking, first-party customer lists and audiences built from engagement inside the platform (video views, profile visits) still work.
Related terms
A lookalike audience is a group of new people an ad platform finds because they resemble a source audience you provide, such as your customers.
Ad frequency is the average number of times each person in your audience has seen your ad. It equals impressions divided by reach.
The customer journey is the full path a person takes with a brand, from first hearing about it to buying and coming back.
CPA, or cost per acquisition, is what you pay in ads for each conversion, such as a sale, sign-up or lead. It equals spend divided by conversions.
A display ad is a visual ad (image, animation or video) shown on websites, apps and video platforms, as opposed to text ads in search results.
Paid social is advertising on social platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and LinkedIn, where you pay to show posts to a chosen audience.