Retargeting / Remarketing
What Is Retargeting and Remarketing?
Retargeting (also called remarketing) is a digital advertising strategy that serves targeted advertisements to users who have previously visited a website, interacted with an app, or engaged with a brand’s content, but did not complete a desired action such as making a purchase, filling out a contact form, or requesting a demo. Retargeting keeps a brand visible to warm audiences who have already demonstrated interest, reinforcing the brand’s presence during the extended consideration period that precedes many purchase decisions.
Retargeting and remarketing are often used interchangeably, though remarketing more specifically refers to Google’s implementation of the concept across its advertising network, while retargeting is the broader industry term used across display advertising, social media, and other channels.
How Retargeting Works Technically
Retargeting relies on tracking mechanisms, most commonly browser cookies or pixel-based tracking, to identify users who visit a website and tag them for subsequent ad targeting. A retargeting pixel is a small piece of JavaScript code placed on the advertiser’s website that drops a cookie on the visitor’s browser when they arrive. That cookie enables advertising platforms including Google Display Network, Meta Ads, and LinkedIn to identify the same user when they browse other sites and serve them as the advertiser’s targeted ads.
With increasing cookie restrictions from browsers and privacy regulations, retargeting is also adapting through server-side tracking, first-party data matching, and platform-native tools that enable audience matching without relying solely on third-party cookies.
Retargeting Audience Segmentation
Effective retargeting does not treat all previous visitors as a single audience. Segmentation by visit behavior enables significantly more relevant ad messaging:
- Homepage visitors: broad brand awareness retargeting
- Product or service page visitors: feature and benefit-focused ads relevant to the specific page visited
- Pricing page visitors: high-intent audiences who may respond to comparison content, testimonials, or limited-time offers
- Cart abandoners (e-commerce): highly specific recovery ads targeting users who reached the point of purchase but did not complete it
- Previous customers: cross-sell and upsell campaigns based on purchase history
Retargeting for B2B Marketing
In B2B markets where buying cycles extend over weeks or months, retargeting is particularly valuable for maintaining brand visibility with decision-makers and influencers who visited the site during their research phase but are not yet ready to engage sales. LinkedIn retargeting is especially effective in B2B contexts because it enables targeting job titles, company, and professional seniority within the retargeted audience.
Key Takeaways
- Retargeting serves ads to users who previously visited a brand's digital properties but did not complete a desired action.
- It uses pixel-based tracking to identify visitors and serve them targeted ads across the web and social platforms.
- Audience segmentation by visit behavior dramatically improves retargeting relevance and conversion performance.
- In B2B markets with extended buying cycles, retargeting maintains brand visibility during the research phase.
- Privacy regulations and cookie restrictions are reshaping retargeting toward first-party data and server-side solutions.