5 Different Retargeting Techniques Marketers Should Know [With Examples]

[mostakimvip06]

Retargeting isn’t a new concept in the digital marketing world, but that doesn’t mean it should be forgotten. In fact, retargeting has evolved a lot over the past few years, and new platforms and regular improvements to technology make it necessary to revisit this powerful technique.

If you are unsure on how and where to use retargeting, or are looking for a refresher course, keep reading and see our 5 favorite retargeting techniques that we think all marketers should know, along with solid examples of how you should get started with each.

How Retargeting Works
Let’s start with a basic retargeting definition. Rather than a stuffy textbook definition, the best way to demonstrate retargeting is with an example. The general retargeting process looks like this:

1. A visitor lands at your website

2. The visitor eventually leaves your site without purchasing anything

3. Later on, while the visitor is performing another action online, such as searching on Google, browsing another site, or using social media, they see an ad for your website

4. Clicking the ad brings the user back to your website where they will hopefully make a purchase

Genius, right? Retargeting is so powerful because it is focused on users who have already shown an initial interest in your brand. Brands that do not capitalize on these users are missing out on a lot of potential sales.

We know what you might be thinking- if a user shows up at my website and is interested, won’t they just purchase right away? The truth is- it just doesn’t happen that way. In fact, research shows that only 2% of people ukraine telemarketing data will make a purchase the first time they visit a store. Will some of the other 98% come back without you retargeting them? Sure. Will all of them? Not a chance. This is where retargeting comes in.

Looking at step three of the retargeting process, you’ll notice there are various avenues through which you can retarget users. There are five platforms in particular that we are going to discuss: site retargeting, social media retargeting, video remarketing, remarketing lists for search ads, and web push notifications. Let’s get started.

Site Retargeting
The first type of retargeting we are talking about is site retargeting. If you know anything about retargeting, you are aware of (or have at least heard of) this type. With this method, you retarget individuals with ads that show up on websites other than your own. You can choose to view site retargeting as a very general type of practice, but keep in mind that there are ways to personalize and contextualize your retargeted ads.

For example, you don’t have to retarget everyone who visits your website all at once. This type of anonymous retargeting is very common (where everyone who visits any part of your site gets broadly retargeted), but is not necessarily the most effective. Consider grouping visitors together and retargeting them based on the area of your website that they visited. For people who have visited your blog, consider a retargeted ad promoting a new blog post of yours. Or, create ads about specific products and retarget users who have viewed those products in the past.

dynamic retargeting ads Retargeting Techniques
Image Credit(s): Wordstream


ShopBop does personalized retargeting well, displaying the specific items users looked at in their retargeted ads. They also feature a discount in their ad, a tactic that helps boost conversion rates even higher. Additionally, you may choose to retarget based on the relevancy of other websites people visit. While retargeted ads can show up anywhere, the location doesn’t have to be random.

hubspot wolfgang ad Retargeting Techniques
Image Credit(s): Hubspot


In this example, company Wolfgang Digital decided to retarget users and display their ads when a user was looking at related content. While the retargeting technique was simple (as in anyone who visited the website previously was retargeted), the context of where the ad was located was more complex.