Most visitors do not buy on their first visit. Remarketing ensures that you do not lose these prospects, but can reach them again later in a targeted way.
Key points at a glance
- Remarketing shows ads specifically to people who have already visited your website or app.
- Google calls it remarketing, many other platforms call it retargeting. Both mean the same thing.
- In the EU, you need your visitors’ consent, for example via a cookie banner with Consent Mode.
- The best results come from clearly defined audiences, matching messages and a cap on contact frequency.
What is remarketing?
Remarketing is a form of online advertising in which you show ads specifically to people who have already been in contact with your business. These can be visitors to your website, users of your app, subscribers to your newsletter or customers from your customer list.
Because these people already know your offer, they are much more ready to buy than completely new audiences. Remarketing is therefore one of the most cost-effective forms of advertising, especially for online shops and service providers with a longer decision phase.
How does remarketing work technically?
A tracking code on your website records, with the visitor’s consent, which pages they have viewed and adds them to an audience. You then use this audience in your advertising platform, such as Google Ads, Microsoft Advertising, Meta or LinkedIn.
You can also upload your own customer data, such as email addresses, in encrypted form to target existing customers or exclude them from campaigns. Because browsers such as Safari and Firefox restrict third-party cookies, this first-party data is becoming increasingly important.
What types of remarketing are there?
Remarketing comes in 4 main forms: display remarketing, remarketing in search, dynamic remarketing with products and video remarketing on YouTube.
| Type | How it works | Suitable for |
|---|---|---|
| Standard remarketing | Banners and ads in the Display Network for previous visitors | Brand recall, service providers |
| Dynamic remarketing | Ads show exactly the products someone has viewed | Online shops |
| Remarketing lists for search ads | Higher bids or dedicated ads when previous visitors search again | Highly competitive search terms |
| Video remarketing | Ads on YouTube for visitors or channel viewers | Products that need explaining |
| Customer lists | Reaching known customers via encrypted email lists | Repeat purchases, cross-selling |
What does data protection require for remarketing?
Remarketing in the EU is only permitted with the prior, freely given consent of visitors. You need a cookie banner that properly requests consent and passes it on to Google, for example via Google Consent Mode. Without consent, no remarketing data may be collected.
In your privacy policy, you describe which services you use. With customer lists, make sure that your customers have agreed to their data being used for advertising purposes.
How do you set up remarketing properly?
Set up remarketing with consent, sensible audiences, matching ads and a frequency cap.
- Segment audiences sensibly: someone who has only seen the homepage needs a different message from someone who has abandoned their basket.
- Exclude buyers: anyone who has just bought should not keep seeing the same product.
- Choose a suitable duration: a few days are enough for quick purchase decisions; for expensive products or B2B, several months may be appropriate.
- Limit impressions: too many impressions annoy people. Cap the frequency wherever the platform allows it.
- Tailor the message: give people a reason to come back, such as benefits, reviews or a consultation.
- Measure success: judge remarketing by sales and enquiries, not by clicks.
Which mistakes should you avoid?
Above all, avoid showing ads too often, running them for too long and advertising products that customers have already bought.
- Putting all visitors into a single audience
- Running ads with the same creative for months
- Activating remarketing without valid consent
- Forgetting the landing page: people who come back need to find what they were looking for quickly
Which businesses benefit from remarketing?
Remarketing pays off above all for businesses with a longer decision phase, repeat purchases or many visitors who leave without making an enquiry. Typical examples are online shops, service providers that rely on enquiries and software providers.
Remarketing is less suitable for very small websites with few visitors, because the lists remain too small. It also delivers less for spontaneous, one-off purchases. Check in Google Analytics how many visitors your website has per month and how many of them return.
How long should users stay on a list?
The right membership duration depends on your typical decision time: short for spontaneous purchases, longer for expensive or advice-intensive offers. In Google Ads, you can set up to 540 days.
| Situation | Sensible duration |
|---|---|
| Abandoned basket | 7 to 14 days |
| Product page visit | 30 days |
| Advice-intensive service | 60 to 90 days |
| Existing customers for repeat purchases | In line with the purchase cycle |
These values are starting points that you adjust based on your data. Also exclude buyers for a sensible period so that they do not see ads for products they have already bought.
How do you measure the success of remarketing?
Measure remarketing by conversions, cost per conversion and incremental revenue, not by clicks or impressions. Many purchases would have happened even without an ad.
Therefore, focus on click-through conversions and compare periods with and without remarketing. Google Ads lets you set up campaign experiments for this. Also check the frequency: if users see an ad too often, its impact declines and your brand image suffers. Our Google Ads guide shows how to build campaigns from the ground up.
Which messages work in remarketing?
In remarketing, messages work best when they build on the last visit and offer a new reason to return. The same ad the user already knows rarely convinces them the second time.
Show product page visitors the product they viewed along with reviews, show basket abandoners a note about free returns, and show readers of a guide a relevant offer on the topic. Change creatives regularly to avoid ad fatigue. A clear, honest message works better than artificial time pressure.
Frequently asked questions
Is remarketing the same as retargeting?
Yes. Google uses the term remarketing, while most other platforms speak of retargeting. In both cases, it means reaching out again to people who have already been in contact with your business. That could be a visit to your website, a video they watched or an abandoned purchase in your shop.
Does remarketing work without cookies?
Partly. With your own data such as customer lists, and with audiences within the platforms, such as YouTube viewers, remarketing is possible even without third-party cookies. You still need users’ consent. Build up your own data, for example via newsletter sign-ups and customer accounts, so that you become less dependent on cookies.
How large does a remarketing list need to be?
The platforms require a minimum size before a list can be used to serve ads. The exact values differ by platform and network. For small websites, it is therefore worth not splitting audiences too finely. If necessary, extend the list’s membership duration or combine similar page visitors into one shared audience.
Is remarketing intrusive?
It can feel intrusive if ads appear too often and for too long. With frequency capping, a sensible duration and the exclusion of buyers, remarketing remains helpful rather than annoying. Varied ads with genuine added value, such as a guide or a matching accessory, are also received much better than the same advert over and over again.
Can I also use remarketing on Facebook and Instagram?
Yes. With Custom Audiences, Meta offers a comparable feature based on the Meta Pixel and the Conversions API. This lets you reach website visitors again on Facebook and Instagram. Here too, consent via the cookie banner is generally required in the EU. Many businesses combine Google and Meta to reach prospects across several platforms.
What is Customer Match?
With Customer Match, you upload your own customer lists, such as email addresses, to Google Ads and target these customers specifically or exclude them. The data is encrypted before matching. The prerequisite is that your customers have consented to their data being used for advertising and that you comply with Google’s policies. Customer Match is particularly suitable for repeat purchases.
Does remarketing also work for service providers?
Yes. With remarketing, service providers reach visitors who have looked into a service but have not yet made an enquiry. Suitable messages include a free initial consultation, a helpful guide or insights into how you work. Because the decision often takes longer, durations of 30 to 90 days are common. Measure success by enquiries and phone calls.
Set up remarketing professionally
We set up remarketing in Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising in compliance with data protection rules and optimise it for sales.
