Not every shopper converts the first time they visit your website. In fact, according to Google, 96% of people leave a website without taking action. That’s a huge chunk of potential customers walking away—possibly for good. But here’s the good news: remarketing ads can bring them back.
Remarketing (or retargeting) is the strategy of serving ads to users who’ve previously interacted with your site, app, or content. These users are already familiar with your brand, which makes them more likely to convert than first-time visitors. And with the right strategy, you can turn abandoned visits into completed purchases.
Why Remarketing Works
Remarketing is effective because it targets people who are already part of your funnel. They’ve shown interest. They’ve clicked, browsed, maybe even added items to a cart. With the right message, you can re-engage them.
Here’s what makes it work:
- Relevance: You’re showing tailored ads based on user behavior. This keeps your brand top-of-mind while offering exactly what they were already considering.
- Frequency: Repetition reinforces brand recognition. Even if users didn’t act the first time, remarketing increases the chances they’ll return.
- Precision: With segmenting, you can customize ads by page visits, product interest, and time spent, ensuring the message fits the audience.
Types of Remarketing Ads
There are several ways to re-engage past visitors:
1. Standard Remarketing
This shows ads to past website visitors as they browse other sites on the Google Display Network. It works well for maintaining visibility and brand recall.
2. Dynamic Remarketing
Dynamic ads go further by showing specific products or services users viewed on your site. If someone browsed a particular item, they’ll see that exact item in the ad. This personalized approach drives higher click-through and conversion rates.
3. Remarketing Lists for Search Ads (RLSA)
With RLSA, you customize search ads for past visitors when they search on Google. You can bid higher for users who previously visited your site, improving your chances of converting qualified leads.
4. Video Remarketing
If you're running YouTube ads, you can retarget users who watched your videos. Video remarketing strengthens brand familiarity, especially when users see follow-up content across platforms.
5. Customer List Remarketing
You can upload contact lists to platforms like Google or Facebook and target those users directly. This is useful for re-engaging existing customers, upselling, or launching new services.
Key Benefits of Remarketing
Higher Conversion Rates
Users who’ve already interacted with your brand are more likely to convert. WordStream found that remarketing ads can lead to a 70% higher conversion rate compared to non-remarketed traffic.
Lower Cost Per Acquisition (CPA)
Remarketing tends to have a lower CPA. Since you're targeting people already familiar with your brand, the sales cycle shortens, and the cost to convert them decreases.
Improved ROI
According to Criteo, retargeted visitors are 43% more likely to convert, leading to a better return on ad spend (ROAS). When done right, remarketing boosts both sales and efficiency.
Better Ad Personalization
Remarketing allows for specific targeting based on user activity. You can serve unique offers to cart abandoners, show upsells to previous buyers, or highlight benefits to those who bounced on key pages.
Remarketing Best Practices
To get the most out of remarketing ads, follow these proven tactics:
1. Segment Your Audience
Don’t treat all site visitors the same. Create audience lists based on behaviors—like people who visited product pages, those who reached the checkout, or users who bounced after reading a blog. Each group needs a different message.
2. Cap Ad Frequency
Too much exposure can lead to ad fatigue or annoyance. Set frequency caps to avoid overwhelming your audience and maintain a positive brand perception.
3. Use Exclusions
Exclude users who have already converted or completed desired actions. This prevents wasting ad spend and allows you to focus on higher-value leads.
4. Create Compelling Ad Copy
Your ads should speak directly to the user’s last experience. Use urgency, discounts, or reminders to pull them back in. For example, “Still thinking it over? Here’s 10% off your cart.”
5. Optimize Landing Pages
Make sure the destination pages match the ad content and are optimized for conversions. A smooth, relevant experience from ad to checkout improves performance.
6. Test and Refine
As with any digital strategy, test different creatives, audience segments, and bidding strategies. A/B testing reveals what resonates most and where you can improve.
Remarketing in a Cookieless Future
Third-party cookies are being phased out, which will change how digital remarketing works. But that doesn’t mean remarketing is going away—it’s just evolving.
Platforms like Google are moving toward privacy-first tracking, such as first-party data, customer match, and consent-based targeting. Marketers will need to lean more on owned data and build smarter audience segments.
Now is the time to prepare. Investing in email lists, CRM integration, and server-side tracking will help maintain effective remarketing campaigns in a privacy-focused digital landscape.
Remarketing is a necessary part of a high-performing funnel. It bridges the gap between interest and action, helping you recover lost traffic and increase revenue from people who’ve already shown intent.
If you’re not using remarketing—or not using it effectively—you’re leaving money on the table.
Ready to bring high-intent shoppers back to your site and convert more leads? Schedule a discovery call with our team at Star Performance Marketing today.
