Paid Advertising

Retargeting

Showing ads to people who have previously visited your website or interacted with your brand.

Definition

Retargeting (also called remarketing) is a form of online advertising that re-engages people who have previously interacted with your website, app, or content. When a user visits your site, a tracking pixel fires and adds them to a retargeting audience. You can then serve ads specifically to this warm audience on platforms like Google Display, Meta, and TikTok. Because retargeting audiences have already shown purchase intent, they typically convert at 2–3× the rate of cold audiences, making retargeting one of the highest-ROAS advertising tactics available.

Key Points

  • Retargeting audiences convert 2–3× better than cold audiences on average
  • Segment retargeting by page visited (product viewers vs. cart abandoners) for best results
  • Frequency capping is essential for retargeting to prevent ad fatigue
  • Cookie deprecation and iOS 14+ changes have reduced retargeting audience sizes
  • First-party data (email lists, CRM data) is becoming the primary retargeting fuel

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