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Retargeting

A digital advertising strategy that shows ads to people who have previously visited your website or interacted with your brand.

Published October 1, 2025
Intermediate
advertisingtargeting

Also known as:

remarketingbehavioral-targetingaudience-targeting

Retargeting


Retargeting (also called remarketing) is a digital advertising strategy that shows ads to people who have previously visited your website or interacted with your brand. It helps re-engage potential customers who didn't convert on their first visit.


How retargeting works

  • Pixel placement: Install tracking pixels on your website
  • User tracking: Track visitors and their behavior on your site
  • Audience creation: Build audiences based on specific actions
  • Ad delivery: Show targeted ads to these audiences across the web
  • Conversion tracking: Measure how many retargeted users convert
  • Optimization: Continuously improve ad performance

    • Types of retargeting

  • Website retargeting: Target visitors who browsed your website
  • Email retargeting: Target people who opened your emails
  • Video retargeting: Target people who watched your videos
  • App retargeting: Target users who downloaded your app
  • Search retargeting: Target people who searched for your keywords
  • Social media retargeting: Target people who engaged with your social content
  • Cross-device retargeting: Target users across multiple devices

    • Retargeting platforms

  • Google Ads: Display and YouTube retargeting
  • Facebook Ads: Facebook and Instagram retargeting
  • LinkedIn Ads: B2B focused retargeting
  • Twitter Ads: Twitter retargeting campaigns
  • Pinterest Ads: Pinterest retargeting
  • TikTok Ads: TikTok retargeting
  • Programmatic platforms: Third-party retargeting networks

    • Retargeting audience types

  • All website visitors: Broad audience of all site visitors
  • Product page viewers: People who viewed specific products
  • Cart abandoners: People who added items to cart but didn't buy
  • Checkout abandoners: People who started checkout but didn't complete
  • Email subscribers: People who signed up for your newsletter
  • Video viewers: People who watched your videos
  • High-value visitors: People who spent significant time on your site

    • Retargeting best practices

  • Segment audiences: Create specific audiences for different campaigns
  • Use frequency capping: Limit how often someone sees your ads
  • Create compelling offers: Use discounts or incentives to encourage conversion
  • A/B test creative: Test different ad formats and messages
  • Optimize timing: Show ads at the right time for your audience
  • Cross-platform strategy: Use multiple platforms for better reach
  • Measure attribution: Track the full customer journey

    • Retargeting ad formats

  • Display ads: Banner ads on websites and apps
  • Video ads: Video content on YouTube and social platforms
  • Dynamic ads: Automatically generated product ads
  • Carousel ads: Multiple images or products in one ad
  • Collection ads: Showcase multiple products or content
  • Lead ads: Forms directly within the ad
  • App install ads: Promote app downloads

    • Measuring retargeting success

  • Click-through rate (CTR): Percentage of people who click your ads
  • Conversion rate: Percentage who complete desired actions
  • Cost per acquisition (CPA): Cost to acquire one customer
  • Return on ad spend (ROAS): Revenue generated per dollar spent
  • Attribution: Understanding which touchpoints led to conversion
  • Lift studies: Measuring incremental impact of retargeting
  • Customer lifetime value: Long-term value of retargeted customers

    • Common retargeting mistakes

  • Showing ads too frequently: Annoying users with too many ads
  • Poor audience segmentation: Not creating specific enough audiences
  • Irrelevant creative: Showing ads that don't match user interests
  • No frequency capping: Bombarding users with the same ad
  • Ignoring mobile: Not optimizing for mobile devices
  • No testing: Not A/B testing different approaches
  • Short campaign duration: Not giving campaigns enough time to perform

    • Retargeting vs other strategies

  • Retargeting vs Prospecting: Retargeting targets warm audiences, prospecting targets cold
  • Retargeting vs Lookalike: Retargeting uses your data, lookalike finds similar people
  • Retargeting vs Brand Awareness: Retargeting drives conversions, brand awareness builds recognition
  • Retargeting vs Search: Retargeting is display-based, search is keyword-based

    • Privacy considerations

  • GDPR compliance: Follow European data protection regulations
  • CCPA compliance: Follow California consumer privacy laws
  • Cookie policies: Clearly communicate tracking practices
  • Opt-out options: Provide ways for users to opt out
  • Data retention: Follow platform data retention policies
  • Transparency: Be clear about how you use customer data

    • Advanced retargeting strategies

  • Sequential retargeting: Show different ads in a specific order
  • Cross-sell retargeting: Promote complementary products
  • Upsell retargeting: Promote higher-value products
  • Win-back campaigns: Re-engage lapsed customers
  • Seasonal retargeting: Adjust campaigns for holidays and seasons
  • Event-based retargeting: Target based on specific events or behaviors

    • Related Terms

    Lookalike Audience

    A targeting method that finds new people who are similar to your existing customers, based on shared characteristics and behaviors.

    Intermediateadvertising

    Conversion

    The action you want users to take after interacting with your content, such as making a purchase, signing up, or downloading.

    Beginneranalytics

    CTR (Click-Through Rate)

    The percentage of people who click on a link or ad after seeing it, calculated by dividing clicks by impressions.

    Beginneranalytics
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    Quick Info

    Difficulty:Intermediate
    Categories:
    advertisingtargeting
    Authors:
    Crossly Team