What is retargeting?
TL;DR
Retargeting (or remarketing) shows ads to people who already visited your site or interacted with your brand. It converts at 5-10x the rate of cold ads because the audience already knows you. Best ROI on Meta and Google ads.
Detailed answer
- 1.Pixel-based: ads served via tracking pixel (Meta, Google).
- 2.List-based: upload customer emails and serve ads to them.
- 3.Average CPC: 30-50% lower than cold traffic.
- 4.Average conversion: 5-10x higher than cold ads.
- 5.Best use: cart abandonment, returning visitor offers, lapsed customer winback.
Common mistakes
- 1. Showing the same ad for weeks (audience fatigue).
- 2. Not excluding people who already converted.
- 3. Setting the retargeting window too short (7 days) or too long (180 days).
What to do instead
Build a 3-step retargeting funnel: day 1-7 (cart abandoners), day 8-30 (browsers), day 31-90 (lapsed visitors). Different message at each step.
Combine retargeting with email and SMS. A multi-channel sequence converts the same audience at 2-3x the rate of retargeting alone.
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