Retargeting.

What is retargeting?

Retargeting, called remarketing in Google Ads, is showing ads to people who have already interacted with your business, usually by visiting your website, watching your videos or appearing on your customer list. Someone who looked at your kitchen extension page last week might then see your ad on YouTube or in their social feed.

Audiences are built from tracking tags on your website or from contact lists you upload.

Why it matters

Most visitors leave a website without enquiring, and many of them were genuinely interested. Retargeting gives you a second chance with people who already know your name. It suits considered purchases where people compare options for a while: a private clinic, a solicitor, a commercial fit-out. It also lets you show different messages to different groups, such as a case study to people who viewed a particular service page.

The main types

• Website retargeting Ads shown to people who visited particular pages, built from tags on your site.
• Customer list audiences Uploading consented customer or enquiry lists to reach those people, or to exclude them from prospecting.
• Video and social engagement Reaching people who watched your videos or engaged with your posts on that platform.
• Dynamic retargeting Ads that show the exact products someone viewed, mainly used by online retailers with a product feed.

What to do about it

Check that your cookie banner and Consent Mode set-up allow retargeting audiences to build lawfully. Create audiences around intent, such as visitors to service or pricing pages in the last 30 days, rather than everyone who landed on the site. Exclude recent customers and anyone who has already enquired. Set a frequency cap, refresh creative every few weeks, and judge results on new enquiries rather than the total conversions the platform claims.