What is Retargeting and How to Use It with Ease

The truth is that not every web visitor has a consistent buyer journey. Ultimately, they convert from the first try so that you can measure your marketing efforts while balancing CRO and ROI, right? As good as it sounds, we all want to solve this dilemma, and to do so, we must learn what retargeting is and how to use it for business benefit.

More importantly, whether it is groceries, fashion, mobile providers, or any other category, online shopping cart abandonment rates range from 50% to 98%. Read that again, but slowly.

So, to paint a bigger picture, imagine that the global retargeting software market is expected to reach $8.87B by 2029. Even so, first-time web visitors only convert 2.4% of the time. Then, why not learn something on the topic and use it to boost your sales?

But leave this for us: you just take notes, make a strategic plan, and put things in motion with us by your side.

What Is Retargeting in Digital Marketing?

Retargeting is a marketing tactic that allows you to show highly targeted ads to users who leave your conversion funnel after completing a relevant action. Thus, displaying targeted and customized ads offers new opportunities for your prospects to convert.

As a result, you will run paid ads on various mediums, such as your website and social media platforms, for users who’ve interacted with your website before.

The aim is to convert those who abandoned the process before it was completed. We’re talking about abandoning the cart, booking a trip, downloading an ebook, signing up, and many more.

The key lies within the details. Thus, you should know what a complete conversion looks like for your niche and where people are dropping out. If not, go back to your analytics and identify user disengagement stages. Focus on optimizing those points to reduce drop-offs and guide them smoothly toward conversion.

So, let’s take a practical example and see retargeting in action.

A prospect signed up on your website without downloading your app. Naturally, you want your prospects to come back and download it. In that case, you will show an ad encouraging them to use it, showcasing the benefits and maybe how it will enhance their productivity, depending on the scope of the app.

Thus, it means you will retarget them, but on what channels? It depends on the prospect, the scope of retargeting, and your audience’s behavior. Choose channels based on where your prospects are most active and likely to engage, such as:

• Websites;
• Apps;
• Search engine results pages (SERP);
• Social media.

Now, let’s move along and discuss how retargeting works in depth.

How Retargeting Works: A Guide for Advertisers

Since retargeting is a dynamic digital strategy, the most common way retargeting works is through pixels and lists. Let’s explore them and see how they fit within your marketing strategy.

Pixel-Based Retargeting

A pixel is a JavaScript code snippet you add to your website to track activity and place cookies in a visitor’s browser. Through cookies, ad networks, social media platforms, and tracking programs, you can understand which users made relevant actions for your business and show ads accordingly.

Pixel-based retargeting is based on specific user activities that can lead to conversion. While the data is extracted, you can show programmatic ads to visitors who left your conversion funnel. 

Here is pixel-based retargeting in action:

1. Jimmy comes to your website;
2. Jimmy’s browser now has the JavaScript code embedded in his browser;
3. Jimmy continues browsing, yet the pixel signals retargeting platforms, such as Google and Meta ads, to serve customized ads based on his activity.

However, there are pros and cons of this method. When looking on the bright side, the pixel acts quickly; it offers relevance when delivering ads, and you can also get behavior insights.

On the downside, it all depends on how many people visit your website, as you can always be on standby due to the lower volume of users. The tech aspect of implementing the code within your website requires some advanced knowledge.

List-Based Retargeting

List-based retargeting implies uploading an existing list to show highly targeted ads to the users of that list. You can upload an email list or lists with user info from a third-party platform. But let’s break it down:

You create and upload a list of email addresses to a platform like Meta, and users are matched based on that list. The platform then retargets the user by displaying specific ads.

But here’s the catch: compared to the pixel method, which comes with highly customizable ads, users make it on a list, and then the ads are displayed. Moreover, the user could have a different email address than the one that you’re having, which means they won’t see your ads.

So, comparing these two approaches, the first one is automatic, whereas the latter requires you to update your database and upload it promptly within the platforms to run your ads.

Retargeting vs. Remarketing

Nowadays, these two terms are used interchangeably, yet there is a difference between retargeting vs. remarketing.

Retargeting is a remarketing approach that targets users who visited your website or triggered a specific event. As the definition implies, retargeting refers to the digital sector only and can, in a way, be considered synonymous with digital remarketing.

However, remarketing is an umbrella term that includes retargeting. In some contexts, it means approaching previous customers with new proposals or stimulating inactive customers with an offer. Yet, remarketing is understood mainly as marketing the same prospect multiple times. It also involves sending your advertisement through email marketing and other means.

The confusion appeared when Google launched its remarketing services within Google Ads. From that moment on, remarketing was looped in with retargeting, and now, most people accept them as synonyms.

The Benefits of Retargeting Campaigns

• Retargeting is far more cost-efficient than standard ads due to its reach to a target audience already familiar with your brand. Thus, adding a discount on top of that could help you close the deal even quicker.
• Brand awareness is real, and using retargeting campaigns could help you further since they provide multiple touchpoints. Thus, you only reinforce your brand image and offerings whenever you use this type of ad. However, steer clear of being pushy.
• When discussing introducing new products or services, what better way than to use a retargeting campaign for your target audience who already showed interest in your brand?
• Retargeting is a good and robust strategy for reaching prospects wherever they are in the buyer’s journey funnel.

The Challenges of Retargeting

• As briefly mentioned, retargeting can have downfalls, one of which could be overdoing it. Thus, users may feel annoyed and anxious whenever they repeatedly see your ads.
• Another pitfall could be the lack of cookies when users browse the internet in incognito mode or by blocking third-party apps. As a result, it’s impossible to retarget, and even more desktop and mobile devices use different technologies to store and read cookies. Apple also introduced an Intelligent Tracking Prevention system that protects users’ online privacy.
• Retargeting isn’t about devices but people. Thus, retargeting is a subtle process that requires an in-depth strategy and proper user segmentation to retarget them individually.

Common Retargeting Campaigns

1. Website Retargeting

You can retarget your audience through ad networks that support retargeting and show your ad on any website within the network.

Retargeting can also be used for search ads, but mainly in display ads. If the webpage supports video ads, you can also retarget your audience with video ads.

2. Apps Retargeting

Showing ads within apps is exclusively available to display advertising. And if your ad network includes apps in its portfolio, you can also use retargeting there. Your retargeted ad will be displayed on their screen whenever your prospect visits an app within the ad network you use.

3. Search Retargeting

Showing ads on a search engine results page is a capability owned only by the ad networks associated with a search engine, such as Google Ads and Google or Microsoft Advertising and Bing. Search retargeting helps you show your search ad with priority to the prospects that have been added to your retargeting list.

4. Social Media Retargeting

With people spending an average of 143 minutes daily on social media, your prospect will likely have left your website and started/continued scrolling on Facebook or Twitter. Retargeting on social media can be a winning strategy, and fortunately, social networks have begun providing retargeting capabilities.

Therefore, you can show your ads on social media specifically to people who have interacted with an ad or visited a specific page.

How Much Does Retargeting Cost?

It all comes down to your marketing budget, as the value of the retargeting campaign also depends on the pricing model. However, most platforms offer a CPM or CPC, yet you still need to figure out when and how to use them.

• CPM = Cost per “mille” or 1,000 impressions
• CPC = Cost per click

So, CPM is best for brand awareness as you only pay for 1,000 impressions, and clicks aren’t part of the deal. In contrast, CPP is best used if your business goals are conversions. As a result, you’ll pay based on click performance.

Integrating Retargeting Into Your Marketing Strategy

We have discussed retargeting until now. So, let’s move along and see how to implement such campaigns within your business or marketing strategy.

Thus, we will begin from the top down, discussing retargeting goals, and then finish strong with top best practices to keep you afloat.

1. Define Your Retargeting Goals

If your goal is awareness, retargeting campaigns are the way to go. As a result, you’ll re-engage with your visitors and showcase relevant products or services. In this instance, the appropriate metrics for you are impressions and engagements since these campaigns are predecessors of conversions.

However, if conversions are your primary goal, whether completing a landing page form, downloading an ebook, or arranging an appointment, this one is for you.

A conversion retargeting campaign usually implies specific actions within a flywheel and can be measured through clicks, form submissions, or cost-per-lead.

Aiming to reduce cart abandonment is a tough one, but it’s possible. You can use retargeting to solve this, and it 100% matters how you do it. If possible, pair it up with a discount, a promo, or any other incentive to steer the wheels. If you close the deal, you can move users along the flywheel and continue with a nurturing campaign.

When discussing retargeting campaigns, there are many other goals, such as completing the buyer’s journey, introducing new products, and increasing customer lifetime value, so there’s plenty to choose from and align with your overall marketing goals.

2. Fit Tailored Retargeting Ads

Many marketers skip this step and don’t offer enough credibility: invest resources to create specific ads for specific interests rather than hoping for a one-size-fits-all approach.

3. The Landing Page

The landing page should match the ad; reread it carefully. When you keep a consistent brand, image, and ads, you reinforce to your prospects that you are trustworthy.

Not to mention that when you send prospects to a specific landing page, you limit access to other parts of your entire brand and website. Thus, the prospect’s attention is where you want it to be, which could compel users to buy.

4. Optimize Your Bidding, Frequency and Placements

Finding the balance between your bidding budget, frequency, and ad placement is essential for ensuring a successful campaign. But allow us to explain.

First, insufficient bidding will negatively impact your retargeting campaigns and often only reach part of the buyer’s journey. At this point, it also counts the type of product or services you’re offering, such as selling clothes, compared to selling an SSP platform for publishers.

Ad frequency and placement are also essential parts of the system. The key is to avoid ad fatigue and only retarget based on robust customer segmentation. To master this approach, you must test various combinations until you unlock the one that best converts. Also, you can start using frequency caps, which will limit the time your ad is shown to the same user.

5. Target and Segment Your Audience

In simple terms, using a pixel on your website helps you create an audience, yet is this your target audience? So, ensure that those on your list are further segmented based on their interest in your brand.

Be sure to diverge your audience into groups based on behavior, interests, demographics, and other details that offer vital insights into your audience. As a result, you will create highly personalized ads that speak to its tribes and increase your conversions.

Top Retargeting Platforms to Get Started

1. Google Ads

Google is a giant, and Google Ads is the behemoth of digital advertising. So, considering its vast network of publishers and parent companies, it’s natural that it’s the top retargeting platform.

Google can deliver retargeting ads through its search engine, partner websites (Google Display Network), and Google Store apps.

2. Meta Ads

As the top social media platform, Meta offers extensive retargeting capabilities, but only on Meta, Messenger, and Instagram.

Installing the Meta pixel inside your website allows you to set up retargeting ads that will follow your website users on the platform.

For retargeting, Meta considers website visitors and people who have interacted with your ad or watched a video. Besides that, the platform allows you to upload contact lists on Meta and start retargeting that audience.

3. SharpSpring Ads

Known as Perfect Audience, and now SharpSpring Ads, this retargeting tool creates dynamic ads displayed within newsfeeds, websites, and social media platforms. Moreover, SharpSpring Ads makes the reporting side even more accessible, offering powerful analytics to optimize campaigns further.

Final Thoughts

The truth is that less than 2.35% – 5.31% of a website’s visitors convert on the first visit, and the most common reasons are a weak brand, distractions, not finding what they are looking for, or postponing.

Leveraging pixel-based and list-based retargeting tools can help you deliver personalized ads that guide prospects into the conversion funnel. With the right strategy, focusing on tailored ads, audience segmentation, and optimized placements, you can reduce drop-offs, increase conversions, and strengthen brand awareness.

Ready to make the most of retargeting? Start implementing these strategies today and watch your business thrive.