Retargeting
Retargeting is advertising that shows ads to people who already interacted with your brand, such as site visitors or video viewers, to bring them back.
Retargeting (also called remarketing) serves ads to people who have already engaged with your brand but did not convert, for example visitors who viewed a product, abandoned a cart, watched a video, or followed your profile. It works by building audiences from a tracking pixel, a customer list, or on-platform engagement, then showing tailored ads to nudge them toward a purchase or signup. It matters because warm audiences convert far more cheaply than cold ones, making retargeting one of the highest-ROAS tactics in paid social. Performance is measured by conversion rate, ROAS, cost per acquisition, and frequency, which must be capped to avoid ad fatigue.
Examples
- Showing a cart-abandonment ad to shoppers who left items behind.
- Re-engaging Instagram users who watched 50% of a Reel.
- Targeting past website visitors with a limited-time discount.
Related terms
Paid social is any social media content you pay a platform to distribute to a targeted audience, as opposed to unpaid organic reach.
A lookalike audience is a new ad audience the platform builds by finding people who resemble an existing source list, such as your customers or followers.
Percentage of people who took the desired action after seeing your content.