How to Win Back the 98%: 7 Retargeting Ads Best Practices For Conversion

Anyone who has ever doomscrolled in their bed when they should be sleeping knows the feeling of coming across something really cool and thinking, “I’ll get that later…”.

‍

Window shopping isn’t new—it dates back to the 18th century. But thanks to the convenience of online shopping, it’s now a digital behavior, too. The difference? It's so easy to browse online that shoppers rarely feel pressure to buy right away, unlike the more intentional experience of walking into a store. 

‍

That’s why only 2% of website visitors convert on their first visit. This means you’re missing out on conversions from 98% of the potential customers you drove to your site if you’re not actively re-engaging them. 

‍

Retargeting is powerful for this exact reason—you get another, more targeted chance at reaching customers who visited your site in the past.

‍

In this blog, we’ll explore 7 retargeting tips alongside real-world examples of how to use retargeting to convert visitors who bounced from your site.

‍

What is retargeting?

Retargeting re-engages people who have visited your website or mobile app through paid ads. The graphic below provides a high-level look at how retargeting ads work:

‍

How is retargeting data collected?

There are 2 main types of retargeting ads. The primary difference between them is how the list is populated:

‍

Pixel-based retargeting

This approach uses small pieces of code that allow your site to place and track cookies for every visitor on your website. The retargeting tool you use accesses each customer’s unique ID code and adds them to a specific audience segment or retargeting list once they’ve completed a specific action. 

‍

List-based retargeting

This approach uses email addresses collected from visitors. If you have the email addresses of a group of visitors, you can upload this information to your retargeting platform (Google Ads, X, TikTok, Meta, etc.) to match them and target these users. 

‍

You can create lists for specific actions, such as abandoning a cart or visiting a product category page, and then tailor your remarketing to these specific groups. 

‍

How do retargeting ads benefit ecommerce brands?

The benefits of retargeting ads are immeasurable—ok, maybe they’re a little measurable. What we mean is that there are a ton of benefits, which include: 

• Higher conversion rates - retargeted ads give customers the extra push they need to make a purchase. Because the ad is personalized to their journey, retargeted users are 70% more likely to convert.
• Strategic product placement - 37% of customers click on retargeted ads because they’re drawn to the displayed product.
• Higher ad engagement - Retargeted ads have a 10x higher click-through rate (CTR) than typical display ads, with an average CTR of 0.7%.
• Increased brand recall - retargeted ads increase branded searches by 1046%. This means that even if your ad isn’t converting directly, customers are remembering your brand and coming back to your site. ‍
• Reach customers at multiple touchpoints with omnichannel retargeting - with the right strategy, you can target customers across a multitude of devices and channels like Google ads, social media ads, direct email, and SMS.

‍

7 retargeting best practices to level up your conversion rates

There are many strategies, ranging from high-level to extremely granular, that can let you accomplish some amazing things, but the limitless freedom can be a little daunting. So here’s a list of real retargeting examples to help:

‍

1. Clearly define your audience segments and campaign goals

User behavior is a great method of creating actionable audience segments and remarketing lists. These can include:

• Cart abandoners
• Product viewers
• Past purchasers
• Subscribers

‍

With these segments in mind, you can create precisely targeted and segmented campaigns that could increase your ROI by 760%. For maximum efficiency, ensure you create clear goals for each campaign that align with the relevant audience segment or list.

‍

For example:

• Welcome discounts to drive acquisition for first-time visitors 
• Time-sensitive offers for visitors who viewed a certain product that’s on sale
• Cross-sell or recommended product campaigns for browse abandoners to increase average order value (AOV)

‍

AG1 uses Instagram Feed ads to retarget previous visitors who haven’t made a purchase with a free welcome kit offer.

‍

2. Limit how often you retarget each segment

Nobody likes it when a salesperson follows them in a store, and it’s not much fun online, either! 

‍

You don’t want prospective customers feeling like you’re following or hounding them everywhere they go. This creates brand fatigue.

‍

With 71% of people saying that annoying or intrusive ad experiences make them less likely to purchase from that brand in the future, it’s important to take this seriously. Use frequency capping and rotate your ad images and formats to stay relevant without being repetitive.

‍

With Reactiv, you can control the timing and delivery of push notifications with Clips. 

‍

Reactiv Clips give you an 8-hour window to send push notifications to a visitor after they engage with your ad, without requiring an opt-in or download. This allows you to retarget every ad click through personalized follow-ups on iOS, and ensures your messages land with the right frequency so you don’t scare potential customers away. 

‍

3. Design mobile-first retargeting ads

For most ecommerce brands, mobile shoppers account for the majority of their traffic. However, the higher bounce rate that comes with this traffic means more missed sales opportunities. 69.02% of mobile shoppers abandon their carts—higher than any other device. 

‍

Design your retargeting ads to be mobile-first, but remember this means more than just being mobile responsive. It means vertical-friendly layouts, fast load times, and native-feeling interactions. 

‍

Social media retargeting ads are a great example - vertical videos shown in Reels or TikTok feeds, swipeable carousels on FB or IG, and “tap-to-buy” messaging that feels native to the platform are all great ways to blend in.

‍

Good Protein retargets customers through an Instagram Reel ad that doesn’t disrupt their scrolling experience. 

‍

It features brand ambassadors using the product and describing the benefits, perfectly aligning with the endless stream of influencer and ambassador content that’s already prominent on the platform. The only clues that this is an ad are the “Sponsored” call-out and the call to action (CTA) to “Shop now” 

‍

4. Use a variety of images, text, and ad formats

Ad fatigue is real. Everyone is constantly bombarded by ads on every platform and every device. Mix up the imagery, format, and CTAs on your ads to keep them fresh and improve the likeliness of engagement. 

‍

One way to do this is to use multiple ad formats, such as:

• Static images
• Videos
• Carousels
• Social media collection ads
• Search ads
• Display network ads

‍

Most retargeting tools will let you A/B test headlines, visuals, and CTAs to optimize your ads' performance. 

‍

You should also A/B test your offer by experimenting with both emotional and practical copy. For example, are you leading with the customer pain points your product solves? Or are you just offering 10% off to get that first sale? Test both and see which resonates more. 

‍

Kala Therapy promotes its red light therapy products in a variety of ad formats to show off their offering in multiple styles. They use an Instagram Feed video ad to show how an ambassador uses the product, as well as an Instagram Story static image ad that showcases their collaboration with a professional Canadian hockey player. 

‍

5. Create, test, and optimize your call to action (CTA)

This one’s a no-brainer — the CTA is arguably the most important part of any ad.

‍

Personalized CTAs convert 42% more visitors into leads than untargeted CTAs, so when building retargeting ads for different segments, you’ll want to tailor your CTA to the relevant funnel stage. 

‍

“Learn more” is a great CTA for first-time web visitors, while “Claim My Offer” is strong for winning back cart abandoners. 

‍

Blume promotes the same offer (30% off their Clear Skin Kit) in each of their Instagram ads. However, one ad uses social proof and guides the user to “Learn more”, while the other tells the customer to “Try something new”. 

‍

6. Try dynamic retargeting for specific products or collections

Dynamic ads can automatically show users the exact products they viewed or similar ones that you want to cross-sell/up-sell them on. 

‍

Facebook Dynamic Product Ads and Google Dynamic Remarketing are both common tools for dynamic ad retargeting. This leads to a more personalized feel for the ads as well as a higher chance of re-engaging since it’s a product/product category the visitor has shown interest in before.

‍

This Lululemon dynamic Facebook ad shows the user a carousel of products they’ve previously browsed to move them down the funnel. 

‍

7. Pair retargeting ads with other remarketing strategies and channels

At some point, you may come across the term “remarketing.” While it sounds different, it is different than “retargeting” (there’s an article about the differences here). 

‍

So, which should you be using? Trick question—the answer is both!

‍

Customers interact with your brand across multiple touchpoints. Your ads should, too. 

‍

Retarget across Google, Meta, and social media ads, as well as direct remarketing tactics like email, SMS, and push-enabled Reactiv Clips for maximum reach and consistency. 

‍

Blissy employs multiple remarketing and retargeting ads best practices through their omnichannel approach and have created their own remarketing and retargeting ecosystem. 

‍

They use search ads to retarget the customer and promote their biggest sale of the year. Simultaneously, Blissy sends a remarketing email about a product they left in their cart, with multiple related product recommendations for cross-sell and up-sell opportunities. 

‍

Use Reactiv to put these retargeting strategies into action

If you direct your ads to a Reactiv Clip, you can retarget anyone who engages and get started on your way to a 3x ad conversion rate increase.

‍

Reach out to us if you want our help getting started with your retargeting strategy. If you’re not ready yet, maybe you’ll see us again while you’re browsing!

You know that old saying “reduce, re-use, remarket”?

‍

Ok, maybe we took some creative liberties there, but remarketing really can be as good for your business as recycling is for the environment.

‍

In this article, we’ll explore the benefits of remarketing and strategies you can use to effectively re-engage prospective customers alongside some examples of remarketing in action. 

‍

Whether you’re a remarketing veteran or this is your first time hearing the term, this article will provide you with some valuable tips to make the most of your remarketing campaign.

‍

What is remarketing?

To put it simply, remarketing is targeting users who have interacted with your brand but didn’t convert. It’s a strategy to re-engage someone who has already shown interest in your business or brand.

There are two common methods of executing a remarketing strategy:

‍

Using remarketing lists

Remarketing lists are lists of shoppers who have taken (or not taken) a specific action on your site. You can make lists for all sorts of actions: visiting a product category page, checkout page, or even your homepage over a certain period of time.

‍

When a customer visits pages on your site, they leave cookies in their wake. These are then used by remarketing tools to collect information and map out their journey. When the customer completes an action for which you have built a remarketing list, their cookie is added to that list. You can create as many remarketing lists as you want and get as granular or high-level as you need to.

‍

Once these lists are made, you can send ads and email campaigns to them and personalize the messaging to match their journey.

‍

Use remarketing pixel tags

Remarketing pixel tags are small pieces of code that allow your site to place and track customer cookies. This is possible because every visitor to your website has an individual ID that enables their activity to be tracked.

‍

The ad server or remarketing tool you use accesses these unique ID codes and adds them to the most relevant remarketing lists. For example, if someone signs up for your newsletter and makes it through to the “thank you” page, they’ll be added to one list. If they add an item to their cart but don’t purchase it, they’ll automatically be added to a different list. 

‍

The difference between remarketing and retargeting

Remarketing and retargeting are very similar and are often used interchangeably. 

‍

While both involve targeting prospective customers who have visited your site, remarketing typically uses direct communication channels like emails or push notifications. Retargeting, on the other hand, uses online ad placements on third-party sites. 

‍

The graphic below shows retargeting in action.

Most brands are running retargeting ads—you probably frequently see them after browsing a website. However, most aren’t running remarketing ads. This is because there's a misconception they’re more difficult to set up. Although there’s a bit more upfront work, this isn’t true overall. 

Remarketing a great way to break through the noise and can help provide a stronger ROI as a result. So, truthfully, businesses should be using a mix of both remarketing and retargeting to win back prospects for an omnichannel strategy that truly covers every touchpoint. 

For the purposes of this article, we’re going to focus on remarketing, so you can nail that before spending more money on paid ads.

‍

The benefits of remarketing

Pour one out for the marketing 101 textbooks… Because the ecommerce grim reaper has killed the traditional “awareness, consideration, conversion” marketing funnel. Here’s what we mean:

‍

The “consideration” phase is dead, and the funnel has been condensed into two phases: awareness and consideration/conversion. 

‍

What do we mean? The seamless, impulsive, and omnichannel traits of ecommerce have eliminated “consideration” and merged it with “conversion.” 

‍

With this new funnel, the “awareness” phase is easier than ever. Targeting options are limitless, and with so many platform options, you can reach someone just about anywhere. Getting on a customer’s radar is no longer much of a challenge. 

‍

However, the ease and low barrier to entry of the first phase has made the 2nd phase much harder. Convincing someone to actually bite the bullet and purchase is harder than ever. 

‍

The reason? There’s simply too much noise. It’s easy to lose an interested shopper to the next flashy campaign that shows up on their screen while they’re doomscrolling at midnight, watching only seconds of video after video.

‍

This is what makes remarketing more powerful and important than ever: you have an opportunity to keep re-engaging and remain top-of-mind when it matters most. You also need to do it fast, as after 5 months the CTR of retargeting ads decreases by almost 50%.

‍

So what benefits does prompt and strategic remarketing provide?

• Higher conversion rates - since the leads are already warm, remarketing leads to stronger ROI. Remarketing emails can get a conversion rate as high as 30%.
• Cost-effective advertising - remarketing is often more cost-effective since you aren’t doing cold outreach and the legwork of introducing the user to your brand.
• Improved brand recall - staying top-of-mind after someone visits your site increases purchase likelihood.
• Personalized customer journeys - by using different remarketing lists, you can build out multiple personalized customer journeys and target your remarketing ads to each specific journey.
• Reach multiple browsing touchpoints at once - remarketing is truly omnichannel and allows you to target the user on multiple devices and platforms.

‍

Remarketing strategies that work

Remarketing is deceptively versatile and can be moulded to suit almost any business or campaign need, making it a great complementary tactic to whatever you’re trying to achieve.

‍

Here are some tried and true remarketing strategies:

‍

List-based remarketing

Collecting email addresses on your website through pop-ups, surveys, or other campaigns that ask customers to share their email. 

‍

After collecting their contact info, you place those customers on a list and send them targeted emails to introduce your brand and promote your products. 

‍

Here’s an example from Awe Inspired. This brand features a product finder quiz on its website, asking customers questions about their style, personality, zodiac sign, and more. It then asks shoppers to share their email to get their results.

‍

‍

Once their email is shared, they’re on Awe Inspired’s email list, and receive a welcome email about their quiz results. 

Now, each customer is on a specific email list, where they receive remarketing emails from Awe Inspired about product updates, deals, and other news until they decide to opt out.

‍

Cross-channel remarketing

This approach uses ads across multiple platforms/channels for stronger frequency and better reach. It ensures that if a shopper misses your email, they’ll still see your message somewhere else—like on social, display ads, or even in their mailbox.

Here’s an example from Mini Katana. This brand uses direct mail as part of its abandoned cart strategy, sending automated postcards to shoppers who leave a product in their cart without checking out.

If someone adds a sword to their cart but doesn’t buy, they’ll receive a postcard a few days later reminding them of what they left behind.

Because not every shopper opens emails or sees ads online, this physical reminder helps Mini Katana reach more people—and it works. Their abandoned cart postcards drive an 8x+ ROAS.

‍

Time-based remarketing

Remarketing strategies that adapt based on how long it’s been since a shopper last interacted with your brand.

The idea is to time your outreach perfectly—whether it’s minutes or hours after their last visit—so your message hits when they’re most likely to take action.

Here’s an example using Reactiv Clips. This tool lets brands send push notifications to users up to 8 hours after they engage with the mobile app page—without requiring a download or an opt-in. That means every single ad click can trigger a personalized follow-up on iOS, helping you reduce CAC and get more from your ad spend.

‍

Let’s say a shopper adds something to their cart but doesn’t check out. A few hours later, they get a push notification reminding them of what they left behind. Or maybe they browse a product page without taking action—later, they receive a quick nudge to revisit it.

You can also use this strategy to announce time-sensitive promotions or exclusive sales, creating urgency and nudging shoppers to buy before time runs out.

‍

Mobile app remarketing

Specifically targeted at mobile app users, mobile app remarketing seeks to re-engage users who have downloaded your app but haven’t used it recently.

‍

Med School Bro is a great example of this. As an alternative to the archaic nature of most med school studying resources and methods, they use study guides, flashcards, and PDFs to help med students ace their exams. 

‍

‍

By offering engaging Question of the Day quizzes and weekly trivia features, they expertly use mobile app remarketing through personalized product recommendations to increase conversions. 

‍

The recommendations are based on the first-party data collected in-app, such as the quiz and trivia results. This gives them a data collection method that is engaging to users and also a launchpad for targeted remarketing.

‍

There’s a reason businesses keep re-using remarketing

If you’re not already using remarketing, you’re missing out on sales. It’s that simple. 

‍

Let us help you take more shots on net with mobile shoppers, convert buyers 3x more with remarketing strategies that cover all of the above. Contact us today to see if you’re a good fit for Reactiv.

‍