Term · Marketing & analytics
Remarketing (retargeting)
Remarketing — also called retargeting — is advertising aimed at people who have already interacted with your business: visited the website, viewed a product, started a form, engaged with your Instagram, or bought before.
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Explained
How audiences are built
- Website visitors, tracked by a pixel or tag with the visitor's consent where required.
- App users by in-app events.
- Social engagers — people who watched videos or interacted with your profile.
- Customer lists uploaded with consent, matched by the platform.
Audiences can be narrowed by pages visited, actions taken and time since the visit.
Typical uses
- Reminding cart abandoners about products they left.
- Showing case studies or reviews to people who viewed a service page.
- Dynamic ads with the exact products a visitor looked at.
- Offering complementary products to past customers.
Good practice
- Limit frequency and duration, so ads help rather than annoy.
- Exclude people who already converted from acquisition messages.
- Tailor messages to the stage of the decision.
- Respect restrictions for sensitive categories such as health.
Measuring honestly
Remarketing audiences are already interested, so attributed results look strong. Holdout tests or lift studies show how many conversions remarketing actually adds. See remarketing guide.
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FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Is remarketing allowed under privacy rules?
With proper disclosure in the privacy policy and consent where required, yes. Configure tags to respect consent choices.
What is the difference between remarketing and retargeting?
In practice they mean the same thing; "remarketing" is Google's term.