Most people don’t buy a product right after their first visit to your site. The average conversion rate for ecommerce stores is just 5.2% . If you don’t have a strategy to bring back your visitors, you’re missing out on potential revenue. That’s where retargeting comes in. Learn how retargeting works, and discover tips and apps to create ads that keep your customers engaged and increase your bottom line.

What is retargeting?

Retargeting is a form of online advertising that targets users who have previously interacted with your brand. This can include visiting your website, clicking on a product, or abandoning a shopping cart.

“Retargeting ads are shown to people who have already visited your website,” says Daniel Patricio, founder of Bull and Cleaver. “The idea is to get them to come back and buy your products.”

Retargeting vs. Remarketing

Retargeting and remarketing are often used interchangeably, but they are distinct strategies with separate goals and channels.

Help with retargeting ads

About 96% of people who visit your website are not ready to buy. Retargeting campaigns are like dating: you don’t fall in love the first time you meet someone. It usually takes a few interactions.

Retargeting ads have several advantages:

• Personalized advertising : Retargeting ads can reference a customer’s previous interactions with your brand. They can remind them of products they’ve viewed, liked, or added to their shopping cart.
• Effective advertising : By accurately segmenting your customers based on their behavior, you can deliver more relevant ads that drive higher click-through rates (CTRs) and conversion rates (CVRs).

How Retargeting Works

Retargeting happens across multiple channels, including paid search, email, and social media. There are two common approaches to retargeting:

Pixel-based retargeting

This paid advertising technique allows marketers to display targeted ads to customers who have already visited their website. This is done by inserting a “pixel” or piece of code into the site.

These pixels install cookies on shoppers’ browsers, allowing retargeting platforms like Google Ads, TikTok, and Meta to track their online behavior and display relevant ads.

Here’s how retargeting works for shoppers:

1. They browse the website, scroll through best sellers, and even add products to their shopping cart.
2. You are leaving the website without making a purchase.
3. You see retargeting ads while reading an article, scrolling through Facebook, or watching YouTube.
4. I remember the cool products I saw in the store and come back to buy them again.

By showing relevant, targeted ads to interested customers, retargeting increases brand awareness and increases conversion rates. Plus, it automates your ads so you can focus on other aspects of your business.

List-based retargeting

List-based retargeting campaigns use data about potential or existing customers to deliver ads. These campaigns occur in two stages:

1. Share your list of email addresses on social platforms like Facebook or LinkedIn.
2. The platform finds people with matching email addresses and serves them ads.

List-based retargeting is less common than pixel-based retargeting, but is effective for re-engaging existing customers and leads.

Since this list is made up of known contacts, you can create highly targeted and personalized ads that can drive conversions. If you have a lot of data about your customer list and can cross-sell or upsell to potential customers, this strategy can be beneficial.

Best practices for creating retargeting ads

To maximize the effectiveness of your retargeting campaigns, follow these best practices:

1. Build your audience using advertising

While it may be tempting to focus on getting new customers to make their first purchase, getting them to sign up for your newsletter can help you retain them for longer, advises Reza Khadjavi, founder of performance marketing agency Shoelace .

“You don’t always have to get someone to buy something,” says Reza. “You can use retargeting campaigns to get them to sign up for your email list, and then you can reach out to them anytime, for free.”

2. Think of a way other than email

Growing your email list alone won’t solve everything. Reza knows from experience that email marketing works best when combined with retargeting campaigns.

“Email has always been a great channel,” says Reza, “but even if people opt in to your list, sometimes your emails get sorted into the promotions tab and people don’t see them.

“Even if people receive and open your email, there’s a lot of value in retargeting to reinforce that message, because they might be on the move after seeing your email and not taking action. With retargeting, they might later see a video ad on Instagram with that same message and think, ‘Yes, I wanted to buy this.’”

Combining these efforts is called a multi-touch campaign, which means delivering a consistent message to your target audience across multiple channels.

3. Start small and know your margins

Because the best learning often comes from experience, even experienced marketers start small when testing new campaigns. Brent Stirling of Growth Crew recommends starting with a clear understanding of your profit margins to avoid going over budget.

“There are a lot of variables when it comes to Facebook advertising,” he says. “It’s a good idea to start by setting a small daily or overall budget and targeting conversions as your goal. Many marketers also set a bid cap per conversion, which requires knowing your margins.

"If your average cart value is $60, how much are you willing to spend to get that order? It can take some time to find that sweet spot. You want to maximize conversions without spending too much. Maybe it's $10 per conversion. Maybe it's $20 per conversion. Every retailer is different."

To apply Brent's advice, review your business' budget to determine your profit margin.

4. Get attention with product page retargeting

Product page retargeting is the simplest way to make money from your advertising efforts. It involves targeting people who have visited your store and viewed specific products, and encouraging them to come back and buy.

These ads are more effective in a short period of time. For example, people who have visited a particular page in the last 3 days are more likely to buy than people who have visited in the last 30 days.

5. Testing retargeting ads on your homepage and collection pages

One common retargeting strategy is to show ads to people who have visited your homepage or collection pages. These ads are different from product page ads because the viewers have not yet seen a particular product.

These ads should emphasize why the brand is a good choice rather than the benefits of the product.

The advantages of this advertising are:

• Remind your potential customers that your brand exists.
• Build trust by showing other customers buying your product (using “social proof”)
• Make your potential customers feel positive about your brand.
• Showcase your products and drive clicks.
• Include a strong call to action (CTA).

for example, BOOM! By Cindy Joseph uses homepage and collection page ads to build social proof and showcase her brand values.

How to create retargeting ads

We offer retargeting advertising capabilities on multiple platforms. Here’s how to implement retargeting advertising on the most popular platforms:

Facebook & Instagram

If you have a Shopify store, setting up a Facebook retargeting campaign is easy. First, set up Shopify’s Facebook & Instagram channels and sync your products to Facebook.

Here's how to set up a Meta campaign using Facebook as an example:

1. In Shopify, go to ‘Marketing’.
2. Click 'Create Campaign'.
3. Click on ‘Facebook Dynamic Retargeting Ads’.
4. Enter a name and advertising text for your activity.
5. Set a budget.
6. Set a start date and time. You can also set an end date and time if desired.
7. Click 'Post Activity'.

Tools like AdRoll , a Shopify app, can help you run and optimize retargeting ads across Google and other social media platforms.

TikTok

You can also retarget people using TikTok ads. Like Facebook, you’ll need to install the TikTok pixel on your website and complete the setup in TikTok Ads Manager. TikTok offers the option to create custom audiences based on the following criteria:

• Upload customer files
• People who viewed or participated in the content
• People who visited TikTok Shop
• People who visited the website

LinkedIn

LinkedIn allows you to retarget prospects based on activities such as visiting your company page, responding to a lead generation form, or RSVPing to a LinkedIn event. To collect information about your website visitors, you need to set up the LinkedIn Insight Tag , which provides real-time insights into your visitors’ professional traits and content preferences.

LinkedIn retargeting is ideal for B2B brands looking to reconnect with qualified buyers about their products and services.

Pinterest

Pinterest’s advertising platform also supports dynamic retargeting campaigns. Simply upload your catalog and activate the Pinterest tag on your website.

Tags consist of a base code and an event code, and come in several types. The base code is unique to your Pinterest account and allows you to create retargeting campaigns based on site activity.

Event codes are used on pages where you want to track conversions, shopping carts, signups, etc. For example, you might add a checkout tag event code to a “Thank you for your order” page to indicate a completed purchase.

Retargeting FAQs