Retargeting — is an advertising tool that allows ads to be shown to people who have already interacted with a product, website, or profile.
While regular advertising targets a «cold» audience seeing the offer for the first time, retargeting brings back those who have already shown interest but, for some reason, did not complete the desired action.
How retargeting works
The mechanism is based on tracking user actions:
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A person clicks an ad, visits a landing page, and, for example, selects a product or starts filling out a form.
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The advertising platform’s pixel records the visit and adds the user to a separate list (audience).
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If the person closes the website without making a purchase, the advertising system finds them in social media feeds or on other websites and shows them a reminder ad with a call to return.
Use in traffic arbitrage
Depending on the setup, retargeting solves different tasks:
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Driving users to purchase. Reminding those who abandoned their cart or did not complete an application. Such ads often offer an additional benefit: a limited-time discount, free delivery, or a gift with the order.
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Repeat sales and upsells (Upsell). If a user has already purchased the basic product, after some time they can be shown an ad for a related product or a course for the following month.
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Database reactivation. In subscription services or online games, retargeting is used to bring back users who stopped opening the app or did not renew their subscription.
In «gray-hat» verticals with strict moderation, retargeting is rarely used because advertising accounts have a short lifespan. However, in traditional e-commerce, mobile apps, and finance, bringing back a warm audience often generates the cheapest leads in the entire setup.
