Retargeting

Retargeting, also called remarketing, is the practice of showing ads to people who have already interacted with your brand. They might have visited your site, viewed a product, added something to their cart, watched a video or engaged with your Instagram account. Because these people already know you, they are often more likely to convert than a cold audience.

How it works on Meta

Retargeting on Meta relies on custom audiences built from:

• website events captured by the Meta Pixel and Conversions API;
• engagement with your Facebook Page, Instagram account, videos or lead forms;
• customer lists you upload, such as past buyers;
• product catalog activity for catalog ads.

Common retargeting audiences

• Cart and checkout abandoners from the past few days
• Product viewers who did not add to cart
• Video viewers who watched a significant portion
• Past customers, for upsells or repeat purchases

Things to keep in mind

• Audience size: retargeting pools are smaller, so frequency can rise quickly.
• Attribution: retargeting often reports a high ROAS, but some of those people may have bought anyway. Incrementality tests can show how much it truly adds.
• Automation: Advantage+ campaigns often blend prospecting and retargeting, so separate retargeting campaigns are less common in some accounts than they once were.
• Privacy: tracking-based retargeting depends on consent and data availability, which vary by region and device.

In practice

Tailor creative to what people already know: address objections, show reviews or highlight an offer, rather than repeating the same introduction.