Paid Advertising
Retargeting
Retargeting is a paid advertising tactic that shows ads to people who have already interacted with your brand, such as visiting your site or viewing a product, but did not convert. It re-engages warm audiences to bring them back and complete an action.
Why it matters
Because retargeted users already know your brand, these campaigns typically convert more efficiently than ads to cold audiences. It recovers otherwise lost prospects and is a staple of full-funnel paid strategy.
How it is measured
Retargeting is assessed by tracking conversions and ROAS from audiences built on prior actions, such as website visitors via a pixel, cart abandoners, or video viewers. Success is measured by conversion rate, CPA, and incremental revenue versus prospecting campaigns.
Typical benchmarks
Retargeting audiences commonly show higher conversion rates than cold prospecting, but their reach is small, so it complements rather than replaces top-of-funnel acquisition.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between retargeting and remarketing?
The terms are often used interchangeably. In practice, retargeting usually refers to paid ads served to prior site visitors, while remarketing is sometimes used for re-engagement over email. Many platforms blur the distinction.
How is retargeting different from a lookalike audience?
Retargeting reaches people who already engaged with you. A lookalike audience finds new people who resemble your existing customers. Retargeting warms known prospects; lookalikes expand to similar strangers.
Why are my retargeting ads annoying viewers?
Usually high ad frequency, where the same people see the ads too many times. Set frequency caps, exclude recent converters, and rotate creative to avoid fatigue and wasted spend.