Most people don’t buy on their first visit. Remarketing lets you gently remind those who have already been to your site but haven’t made up their minds yet.
How it works in practice
Someone visits your site and later sees your ad on other websites. It is a reminder, not an aggressive chase, provided you set it up with some thought.
Who to show the ads to
The best approach is to split audiences by behaviour: one message for people who looked at a product, another for those who abandoned a basket.
Where it is easy to overdo it
Showing the same ad too often wears people down and puts them off. Cap the number of impressions per person so you don’t get on their nerves.
What remarketing actually is
Remarketing is a way of going back to people who have already visited your site but didn’t take any action. Most users don’t buy on the first visit: they compare, think it over, put the decision off. With remarketing you can remind them about yourself at the right moment, while they are browsing other sites or watching videos on YouTube. It is one of the most cost-effective forms of advertising, because you are reaching people who already know you.
How to do it properly
The key is audience segmentation. You should speak differently to someone who only glanced at the homepage than to a person who added a product to the basket and dropped out just before buying. In our experience, limiting impression frequency also works well, so you don’t exhaust the audience. An ad that stalks someone at every turn can put them off instead of drawing them in.
The most common mistakes
A frequent error is showing the same ad endlessly, or failing to exclude people who have already bought. It is also worth investing in an attractive message: presence alone isn’t enough, what counts is giving someone a reason to come back.
FAQ
Is remarketing expensive?
It usually has a lower cost and higher effectiveness than reaching completely new audiences, because you are targeting people who are already interested.
How much traffic do I need before switching it on?
The more traffic, the better it works, but even with modest traffic it can bring valuable returns.
Well-executed remarketing can noticeably lift the number of completed transactions without a big increase in budget, because it works on traffic you have already paid for. It is a natural complement to campaigns that acquire new users.
