Marketing & Paid Advertising

Retargeting

Showing ads to people who have previously visited your website or engaged with your content.

1 min readLast updated Apr 2026

Showing ads to people who have previously visited your website or engaged with your content.

Why It Matters

Retargeting converts warm traffic that already knows your brand. These users visited but didn't buy—retargeting gives you another chance to close them. It's typically your highest-ROAS channel because you're only paying to reach people who've already shown interest.

Practical Example

Scenario

Of 100K monthly website visitors, 2% convert (2K purchasers). Retargeting reaches the other 98K with reminder ads, converting an additional 3% of that pool.

Calculation

Additional conversions: 98,000 × 3% = 2,940 conversions

Result

Retargeting more than doubles total conversions from the same traffic base, typically at 4-10x higher ROAS than prospecting.

Pro Tips

  • 1Segment retargeting by intent level: product viewers → cart abandoners → checkout abandoners (increase bid/urgency)
  • 2Use dynamic product ads to show the exact items people viewed rather than generic brand ads
  • 3Set frequency caps—showing the same ad 20x doesn't convert, it annoys and wastes budget

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Over-investing in retargeting relative to prospecting—eventually you run out of people to retarget
Not excluding recent purchasers—they already bought, stop spending on them

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Terms

Custom Audience

A targeting option reaching people who have already interacted with your business.

Prospecting

Targeting new potential customers who haven't yet interacted with your brand.