Your website visitors browse your product pages then add products to their carts then leave. Ninety-eight percent will never convert their first visit. That’s not a failure – that’s an opportunity.
Whether you’re offering ongoing website development services, SaaS platforms, or custom websites, this kind of behaviour is typical for a website development company.
The question is not whether to get these users back. It’s how.
Remarketing and retargeting serve the same purpose of bringing them back. But they work in fundamentally different ways. One uses paid ads to win back anonymous visitors. The other uses the power of email to nurture known contacts.
Choosing the wrong approach is a waste of budget. Selecting the right one – or better yet, both, used strategically – can double your conversion rates.
This guide explains remarketing vs retargeting in detail. You’ll learn what makes them different from one another, when to use each strategy for the best results, and how to implement both for maximum business impact.
Retargeting helps to reconnect with the people who visited your website but did not convert. It uses paid advertising to serve relevant ads as they scroll other sites, scroll social media, or do an online search.
A tracking pixel a tiny piece of code on your Web site tracks behavior from visitors. When someone looks at a product page or abandons their cart, for example, the pixel drops a browser cookie. Ad platforms such as Google Ads or Meta then use this information to display targeted advertising across their networks.
PPC management services are essential in this situation. Precise audience segmentation, bid optimisation, and innovative testing are necessary for successful retargeting campaigns to guarantee that ad spend is utilised effectively. The aim is simple: to keep your brand in front of them and draw users back and ensure that they complete their purchase.
Browser cookies are used to track the actions of the user on your site. These actions might include:
Ad platforms then serve display ads, social media, or search ads according to these behaviors. The ads are displayed on third-party websites, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and other digital properties where your audience spends time.
Because retargeting campaigns need ongoing optimisation to avoid wasted spend and ad fatigue, businesses that invest in professional Google Ads Management Services frequently see better results here.
Retargeting works best when you need to:
The reason why the strategy works is because it targets intent. These users are already familiar with your brand. They’ve shown interest in them retargeting is simply a reminder for them to take the next step.
Remarketing is used to re-engage customers and leads that you already have your contact information on. Unlike retargeting’s focus on paid ads, remarketing primarily uses email – but also includes SMS, push notifications and uploaded audience lists for ad platforms.
The fundamental difference: remarketing is focused on known contacts. You have their email addresses and their purchasing history and their behaviours. This allows for personalized and direct communication.
Remarketing campaigns gather and segment your 1st-party data from your CRM, email platform or customer database. This data includes:
You then design specific email campaigns to specific segments. An abandoned cart email could contain the products that were abandoned. A win-back campaign could use a loyalty discount to previous customers.
Remarketing excels at:
Since remarketing uses owned information, it’s easier on the wallet than retargeting. You are not paying for each ad impression – you are using communications channels you already control.
The terms sound similar, but the strategies differ critically.
In retargeting, paid advertising channels are used. Ads are displayed on websites who are third-party and social websites and advertising networks such as the Google Display Network.
Remarketing involves the use of owned channels. The medium is mainly email, but it can be extended to SMS and app notifications.
Retargeting is used for anonymous visitors. You don’t have their contact information. You only know they have visited your site and what they saw.
Remarketing is aimed at known contacts. These are people who are on an e-mail mailing list, past customers, or people who’ve given information via sign-ups or purchases.
Retargeting requires the use of browser cookies and tracking pixels. This data is getting limited as per the privacy laws and the browser restrictions.
Remarketing is based on first party data. Email addresses, purchase records and CRM information are more stable and privacy-compliant.
Retargeting is conversion-based. The objective is to move prospects down the funnel and get them to buy.
Remarketing is all about retention. It helps to nurture relationships, encourage repeat purchases, and maximize customer lifetime value.
Retargeting is based on a pay per click or pay per impression model. On ad delivery you’re billed whether users convert or not.
Remarketing utilizes existing email infrastructure. Once you have your list and automation they have a minimal marginal cost to send each message.
Retargeting metrics focus on ad performance: click through rates, cost per acquisition, and return on ad spend.
Remarketing tracks email metrics: open-rate, click-rate and conversion rate from email-driven traffic.
Retargeting brings results when you need to gain back attention from users who haven’t given contact details yet.
If your site receives a lot of traffic but low conversion rates at the beginning, retargeting keeps that traffic from going away. Servicing ads to the users that viewed products but didn’t purchase keeps your brand front and center.
The problem with retargeting is that it requires ad spend. If you have a budget allocated for acquisition as well as have the ability to pay for impressions, retargeting will increase your reach.
For products or services that have short purchase decisions – eCommerce, SaaS trials, local services, retargeting works well. You can gain back interest before it eludes you.
Retargeting scales easily. Add budget, increase your pixel coverage and you can reach more users, on more platforms, without manual work.
Remarketing works best when you already have some relationship with users and want to enhance that relationship.
If you’ve developed a list of subscribers by giving away lead magnets, getting newsletter sign-ups, or selling past products, remarketing allows you to take advantage of that asset.
Acquiring a new customer costs five times more than retaining an existing customer. Remarketing helps to address this by bringing past buyers back in with upsells, cross-sells, and loyalty offers.
For B2B services, enterprise software or high consideration purchases, remarketing is used to nurture the lead over a period of time. Email sequences help educate, create trust, and push your prospects through the decision process.
Email allows for deep personalization – product recommendations based off of past behavior, anniversary discounts, abandoned cart reminders with specific items. This degree of customization results in higher conversions than generic display ads.
The best digital marketing strategies don’t decide between retargeting and remarketing. They use both.
A user is on your site, browsing products, but doesn’t make a purchase. Retargeting ads are displayed to them as they visit other sites, strengthening brand recall. Days later, if they still haven’t converted but have signed up for your newsletter, remarketing emails come through with personalised product recommendations and a limited-time discount.
This layer approach addresses multiple touchpoints:
Stage 1 – Awareness: Retargeting helps you keep your brand in front of anonymous visitors.
Stage 2 – Consideration: As more users engage with the content, retargeting ads get more specific – they can show the exact products viewed by users.
Stage 3 – Decision – Once you have their email, remarketing takes over with direct, personalised messages with a focus on addressing objections and providing incentives.
Stage 4 – Retention: Post sale, remarketing of repeat sales through loyalty programs, reminders for replenishment, and cross-sell campaigns.
Together, retargeting and remarketing make up a full funnel. You’re not just gaining back lost visitors you are building relationships that will bring in repeat revenue.
If you’re at the beginning stages of having relatively minimal email infrastructure, start out with retargeting. Capture anonymous traffic and drive conversions.
If you have a known base of customers you should focus on remarketing. Maximise the value of users who already trust you.
If there’s resources to deploy both, do that. Retargeting is the filling of the top of your funnel. Remarketing is about converting and retaining.
Your digital marketing strategy should be in line with your business model, customer journey, and data available. Neither retargeting nor remarketing is self-sufficient. Together, the two form a system that is cohesive and gathers, converts, and retains customers on a wide scale.
Yes. Most businesses benefit from the use of both. Retargeting captures anonymous visitors at the top of the funnel. Remarketing engages known contacts in the future. Together, they cover the entire customer journey from awareness to retention.
Retargeting costs depend on the platform used and competition, but are usually between $0.50 and $3 per click. Remarketing utilizes existing email infrastructure and so the marginal cost per message is almost zero once your system is constructed. Remarketing usually provides better ROI in customer retention.
Retargeting is adapting. Server-side tracking, first-party methods of data collection, and contextual targeting are introduced as an alternative to cookie-based methods. Platforms such as Google and Meta now have conversion APIs that bypass browser restrictions, albeit with a greater technical setup.
eCommerce, SaaS and local services – short sales cycles and a lot of traffic initially – see good retargeting results. B2B services, professional services and subscription businesses benefit more from remarketing due to longer sales cycles and relationship-based selling.
Send the first email when intent is highest (1-2 hours). Follow up with a second email 24-48 hours later if they have not converted. A third email 3-5 days later with a greater incentive (discount, free shipping) will recapture further sales.
Yes. B2B companies tend to have longer sales cycles, so remarketing is especially useful to nurture leads. Retargeting is great for LinkedIn and industry-specific sites that the decision-makers are on. Combine both in order to remain visible throughout the long buying process.
Treating all users the same. Segmentation is critical. Don’t show to someone who visited your homepage once the same retargeting ad showing to someone who abandoned a $500 cart. Similarly, don’t send the same remarketing email to a new subscriber and loyal repeat customer.
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