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How Remarketing Helps Build a Smarter, More Profitable Funnel
You know that old saying “reduce, re-use, remarket”?
Ok, maybe we took some creative liberties there, but remarketing really can be as good for your business as recycling is for the environment.
In this article, we’ll explore the benefits of remarketing and strategies you can use to effectively re-engage prospective customers alongside some examples of remarketing in action.
Whether you’re a remarketing veteran or this is your first time hearing the term, this article will provide you with some valuable tips to make the most of your remarketing campaign.
What is remarketing?
To put it simply, remarketing is targeting users who have interacted with your brand but didn’t convert. It’s a strategy to re-engage someone who has already shown interest in your business or brand.
There are two common methods of executing a remarketing strategy:
Using remarketing lists
Remarketing lists are lists of shoppers who have taken (or not taken) a specific action on your site. You can make lists for all sorts of actions: visiting a product category page, checkout page, or even your homepage over a certain period of time.
When a customer visits pages on your site, they leave cookies in their wake. These are then used by remarketing tools to collect information and map out their journey. When the customer completes an action for which you have built a remarketing list, their cookie is added to that list. You can create as many remarketing lists as you want and get as granular or high-level as you need to.
Once these lists are made, you can send ads and email campaigns to them and personalize the messaging to match their journey.
Use remarketing pixel tags
Remarketing pixel tags are small pieces of code that allow your site to place and track customer cookies. This is possible because every visitor to your website has an individual ID that enables their activity to be tracked.
The ad server or remarketing tool you use accesses these unique ID codes and adds them to the most relevant remarketing lists. For example, if someone signs up for your newsletter and makes it through to the “thank you” page, they’ll be added to one list. If they add an item to their cart but don’t purchase it, they’ll automatically be added to a different list.
The difference between remarketing and retargeting
Remarketing and retargeting are very similar and are often used interchangeably.
While both involve targeting prospective customers who have visited your site, remarketing typically uses direct communication channels like emails or push notifications. Retargeting, on the other hand, uses online ad placements on third-party sites.
The graphic below shows retargeting in action.
Most brands are running retargeting ads—you probably frequently see them after browsing a website. However, most aren’t running remarketing ads. This is because there's a misconception they’re more difficult to set up. Although there’s a bit more upfront work, this isn’t true overall.
Remarketing a great way to break through the noise and can help provide a stronger ROI as a result. So, truthfully, businesses should be using a mix of both remarketing and retargeting to win back prospects for an omnichannel strategy that truly covers every touchpoint.
For the purposes of this article, we’re going to focus on remarketing, so you can nail that before spending more money on paid ads.
The benefits of remarketing
Pour one out for the marketing 101 textbooks… Because the ecommerce grim reaper has killed the traditional “awareness, consideration, conversion” marketing funnel. Here’s what we mean:
The “consideration” phase is dead, and the funnel has been condensed into two phases: awareness and consideration/conversion.
What do we mean? The seamless, impulsive, and omnichannel traits of ecommerce have eliminated “consideration” and merged it with “conversion.”
With this new funnel, the “awareness” phase is easier than ever. Targeting options are limitless, and with so many platform options, you can reach someone just about anywhere. Getting on a customer’s radar is no longer much of a challenge.
However, the ease and low barrier to entry of the first phase has made the 2nd phase much harder. Convincing someone to actually bite the bullet and purchase is harder than ever.
The reason? There’s simply too much noise. It’s easy to lose an interested shopper to the next flashy campaign that shows up on their screen while they’re doomscrolling at midnight, watching only seconds of video after video.
This is what makes remarketing more powerful and important than ever: you have an opportunity to keep re-engaging and remain top-of-mind when it matters most. You also need to do it fast, as after 5 months the CTR of retargeting ads decreases by almost 50%.
So what benefits does prompt and strategic remarketing provide?
- Higher conversion rates - since the leads are already warm, remarketing leads to stronger ROI. Remarketing emails can get a conversion rate as high as 30%.
- Cost-effective advertising - remarketing is often more cost-effective since you aren’t doing cold outreach and the legwork of introducing the user to your brand.
- Improved brand recall - staying top-of-mind after someone visits your site increases purchase likelihood.
- Personalized customer journeys - by using different remarketing lists, you can build out multiple personalized customer journeys and target your remarketing ads to each specific journey.
- Reach multiple browsing touchpoints at once - remarketing is truly omnichannel and allows you to target the user on multiple devices and platforms.
Remarketing strategies that work
Remarketing is deceptively versatile and can be moulded to suit almost any business or campaign need, making it a great complementary tactic to whatever you’re trying to achieve.
Here are some tried and true remarketing strategies:
List-based remarketing
Collecting email addresses on your website through pop-ups, surveys, or other campaigns that ask customers to share their email.
After collecting their contact info, you place those customers on a list and send them targeted emails to introduce your brand and promote your products.
Here’s an example from Awe Inspired. This brand features a product finder quiz on its website, asking customers questions about their style, personality, zodiac sign, and more. It then asks shoppers to share their email to get their results.
Once their email is shared, they’re on Awe Inspired’s email list, and receive a welcome email about their quiz results.
Now, each customer is on a specific email list, where they receive remarketing emails from Awe Inspired about product updates, deals, and other news until they decide to opt out.
Cross-channel remarketing
This approach uses ads across multiple platforms/channels for stronger frequency and better reach. It ensures that if a shopper misses your email, they’ll still see your message somewhere else—like on social, display ads, or even in their mailbox.
Here’s an example from Mini Katana. This brand uses direct mail as part of its abandoned cart strategy, sending automated postcards to shoppers who leave a product in their cart without checking out.
If someone adds a sword to their cart but doesn’t buy, they’ll receive a postcard a few days later reminding them of what they left behind.
Because not every shopper opens emails or sees ads online, this physical reminder helps Mini Katana reach more people—and it works. Their abandoned cart postcards drive an 8x+ ROAS.
Time-based remarketing
Remarketing strategies that adapt based on how long it’s been since a shopper last interacted with your brand.
The idea is to time your outreach perfectly—whether it’s minutes or hours after their last visit—so your message hits when they’re most likely to take action.
Here’s an example using Reactiv Clips. This tool lets brands send push notifications to users up to 8 hours after they engage with the mobile app page—without requiring a download or an opt-in. That means every single ad click can trigger a personalized follow-up on iOS, helping you reduce CAC and get more from your ad spend.
Let’s say a shopper adds something to their cart but doesn’t check out. A few hours later, they get a push notification reminding them of what they left behind. Or maybe they browse a product page without taking action—later, they receive a quick nudge to revisit it.
You can also use this strategy to announce time-sensitive promotions or exclusive sales, creating urgency and nudging shoppers to buy before time runs out.
Mobile app remarketing
Specifically targeted at mobile app users, mobile app remarketing seeks to re-engage users who have downloaded your app but haven’t used it recently.
Med School Bro is a great example of this. As an alternative to the archaic nature of most med school studying resources and methods, they use study guides, flashcards, and PDFs to help med students ace their exams.
By offering engaging Question of the Day quizzes and weekly trivia features, they expertly use mobile app remarketing through personalized product recommendations to increase conversions.
The recommendations are based on the first-party data collected in-app, such as the quiz and trivia results. This gives them a data collection method that is engaging to users and also a launchpad for targeted remarketing.
There’s a reason businesses keep re-using remarketing
If you’re not already using remarketing, you’re missing out on sales. It’s that simple.
Let us help you take more shots on net with mobile shoppers, convert buyers 3x more with remarketing strategies that cover all of the above. Contact us today to see if you’re a good fit for Reactiv.
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Become a Meta ads master: 13 tips for ecommerce brands
From a networking site for Harvard University students to a legitimate global social media powerhouse—Facebook has come a long way from its humble beginnings in a dorm room in 2004.
And especially today, Facebook can offer a lot more for your business than birthday wishes and minions memes.
The how, of course, is through paid advertising campaigns on Meta platforms: Facebook, Instagram, and others. Facebook is the third most-visited website behind Google and YouTube as of 2025, after all.
Through Meta’s Ads Manager, you can:
- Set up campaigns
- Choose your platforms
- Define your audience
- Upload custom ad creatives
- Track and adjust ad settings to optimize performance
Now, the big question: When it comes to Meta platforms, how do you optimize your ads?
It starts with refining your ad strategies to maximize conversions, impressions, reach, engagement or any other KPI. And in 2025, shoppers expect to see hyper-personalized, relevant ads—as well they should!
Let’s go a bit deeper into Meta ads optimization.
Why personalization matters for Meta ad optimization
Everyone wants to feel special. But when it comes to making someone feel special through Meta ads, personalization and ad retargeting are the keys.
Think of seeing an Instagram carousel ad of those beautiful new boots you were eyeing—a perfect, timely reminder of an item you may have regretted not picking up.
If a customer spends time on your homepage, showing them awareness ads across multiple platforms also helps keep you top of mind.
The advantages aren’t just immaterial, either. Here’s why investing in optimizing your Meta ads pays off:
- 70% of retailers that invested in personalizing saw at least a 400% return on investment (ROI) increase.
- Personalized ads can increase conversion rates by up to 150% compared to standard ads
- Optimizing your ads leads to lower customer acquisition costs (CAC) and a 10x higher return on ad spend (ROAS)
Meta ads 101: types, terms, and metrics you need to know
Before you can optimize, you need to know what tools you’re working with. Meta offers a variety of ad formats and campaign objectives to serve different points in the ecommerce and app funnel.
Here’s a quick rundown:
Terms
- Campaigns: These define your main goal, like increasing website visits or app downloads, or driving sales.
- Ad sets: Grouped ads sets within each campaign. These are based on the target audience. Each ad set can have a different allocated budget.
- Ads: Individual creatives within each ad set. You can experiment with different ad types and formats to optimize what your audience best responds to.
Ad types
- Dynamic Product Ads (DPAs): Automatically retarget people with products they have viewed or added to their cart. Ideal for cart recovery and personalized upsells.
- Carousel and Collection ads: Highlight multiple products or app features in a single ad unit. This lets users swipe through options and explore.
- Image and video ads: A great format for brand storytelling, sales or specific product highlights. Video is a great option for driving engagement.
- Reels and Stories ads: Full-screen, mobile-first placements that capture attention quickly and are great for discovery.
- App install ads: Drive downloads by highlighting the benefits of your mobile app and what sets it apart from browsing on the web.
Metrics
- Click-through rate (CTR): Percentage of people who click your ad after seeing it. Average benchmarks depend on your industry, from 1.42% for food and beverage to 2.05% for books.
- Cost per click (CPC) or cost per thousand clicks (CPM): How much you’re paying for each click, or thousand clicks. Lower is typically better, but spending more for high intent shoppers (like cart recovery) is valuable. Benchmarks: $0.70 for toys and games to $1.22 for art.
- Return on ad spend (ROAS): Revenue earned per $1 spent on the ads. Divide the total revenue generated by a campaign by the total cost of that ad campaign to calculate. Keeping an eye on this metric lets you know how efficient your advertising spend is. Benchmarks: 1.83 for food and beverage to 3.90 for sporting goods.
- Conversion rate (CVR): Calculated by dividing total conversions by the total audience and multiplying by 100. Higher is better. One of the most important metrics for ecommerce brands since a conversion-driven campaign strategy must drive actual sales. Benchmarks: 1.97% for pet supplies to 3.71% for home and garden.
- App-install-to-first-purchase rate: Shows what percentage of customers took a desirable action on your app. Critical for ecommerce apps. How many new installs actually become revenue-driving customers?
- Customer lifetime value (LTV): A metric that Meta’s API integrations can track to help tell you which campaigns are bringing in not just buyers, but repeat customers.
Learn to optimize all of these areas to better achieve your campaign goals.
13 proven ways to optimize your Meta ads
Now, let’s get into specific strategies you can use to optimize your Meta ads.
Audience and targeting
1. Behavioural segmentation
How it works: Segment audiences by key shopping behaviors. This includes cart abandoners or people who viewed your app store listing, but didn’t download
Why it’s great: 70% of online shopping carts are abandoned, making personalized retargeting key for recovering some of that “lost revenue”. Tailoring ad messaging to each segment’s behavior creates more relevance and higher ROI.
Example: Target someone when a product they previously viewed is back in stock, like Hush.
2. Lookalike audiences
How it works: Grow your customer base by finding people similar to your best customers with Meta’s lookalike targeting.
Why it’s great: Leveraging lookalikes based on high-LTV or repeat purchasers helps ecommerce brands see lower costs per acquisition (CPAs) than broader campaigns. Why? You’re targeting users already predisposed to convert.
3. Custom audiences for specific offers
How it works: Building custom audiences from website visitors, app users or past purchasers lets you serve hyper-relevant ads. For example, show a “10% off your next order” ad only to users who’ve bought once but haven’t purchased in 90 days.
Why it’s great: Reengaging dormant customers helps you build retention and improve your repeat purchase rates.
Example: Indigo targets previous customers with new releases from authors they’ve previously purchased from.
4. Exclusion targeting
How it works: Here’s a simple but often overlooked tactic—exclude users who have already converted. There’s nothing worse than seeing an ad repeatedly for a product or collection you’re not interested in.
Why it’s great: Who you target is important, but so is who you don’t. This tactic prevents wasted ad spend and helps avoid fatigue, especially for users who have already converted. Excluding recent purchasers or setting a cool-off period lets you shift budgets toward re-engagement or upsell opportunities for other audience segments.
Creatives and messaging
5. Test a variety of creatives
How it works: Ad fatigue is real. Seeing the same creative over and over again can cause your audience to skip over your ads. Or worse, they might get annoyed and frustrated.
The solution? Diversify your ad formats. Mix static images, carousels, short-form videos and user-generated content (UGC). You can also run structured A/B tests to compare visuals, messaging, and CTAs. That way, you can identify top-performing elements.
Why it’s great: A/B testing your ads can lead to a 12% to 15% improvement in online conversion rates.
Example: Blume tries a variety of ad formats across Instagram, Stories and Facebook ads.
6. App features showcase
How it works: Apps are everywhere—and for a good reason. A great app is simple and convenient, like having your favourite store in your pocket. So, don’t just sell products. Sell the benefits of your app.
Showcase app-only perks like loyalty programs, in-app discounts, community forums, quizzes and games, or early product drops.
Why it’s great: Not only does showcasing your app benefits help convert browsers into app users—it encourages existing users to engage more deeply. If you’re not using an app, you’re missing out on a lot of untapped potential.
7. User-generated content (UGC) and social proof
How it works: UGC-driven ads can drive up to 29% more conversions compared to campaigns without it. Consider that 88% of online customers trust reviews from other customers, and this makes a lot of sense.
Why it’s great: Incorporating reviews, star ratings and authentic customer photos and videos in ads builds credibility. It also reduces purchase hesitation.
Example: Blissy highlights real reviews and customer reviews in its ads, to great results.
8. Mobile-first video formats
How it works: It’s no secret that mobile-first video dominates Meta platforms. This includes Reels, Stories and vertical short-form. Over 98% of daily active users access Facebook on mobile devices. So make sure to match your video format to the platform.
Why it’s great: Paying attention to your video format can earn you big returns—vertical Instagram ads get 2 to 3x higher engagement rates than horizontal videos.
Retargeting and offers
9. Dynamic product retargeting
How it works: Dynamic creatives automatically populate ad units with products users viewed, added to cart or are most likely to buy.
Why it’s great: According to Meta, Dynamic Product Ads often deliver 20% to 30% higher conversion rates compared to static ads. It’s not hard to understand why. The personalization feels natural with that little gentle reminder: “Are you sure you don’t wanna buy those boots?”.
Example: Gap ads show product catalogs of previously-viewed products. Also, check out these other 15 retargeting ad examples that successfully converted.
10. App re-engagement campaigns
How it works: Use deep links in ads to send dormant users straight into high-value app screens (e.g., cart, wishlist or personalized recommendations).
Why it’s great: These campaigns not only bring users back but make the path to conversion that much easier.
Example: Pela includes several products in its Instagram ads that take users right to the specific product page.
11. Reactiv Clips for effective retargeting
How it works: Traditional retargeting often fails because users don’t want to reopen or reinstall apps. Reactiv Clips let people interact with a mini-app instantly from an ad—no full app download required. Let’s break that down step-by-step:
- User discovers Meta ad
- Ad points to Reactiv Clip
- Reactiv Clip product page opens up
- A push notification is sent to everyone who clicked your ad
- Customers can use a one-click checkout with Apple Pay, Shop Pay, etc.
- You can send post-purchase push notification to download app
Why it’s great: Reactiv Clips help you capture the 95% of ads that lead to nothing—no conversion, no email capture, no SMS capture. You can retarget anonymous clicks with push notifications using Reactiv Clips. How great is that?
12. Behavior-driven incentives
How it works: Trigger discounts or perks based on specific behaviors. It’s simple, but extremely effective.
Why it’s great: Adding hyper-personalized promotions gives users that extra incentive of an offer they can’t refuse.
Example: Offer 10% off for first purchases, loyalty points for repeat buyers, or “welcome back” promos for inactive users.
13. App-exclusive offers
How it works: Send personalized push notifications from your app to retarget users based on what they viewed.
Why it’s great: Offers help make your app feel indispensable by giving it its own perks: app-only flash sales, early access to drops or points for loyalty programs.
Example: Abercrombie uses a combination of personalized Meta ads and push notifications to promote limited time sales.
Sometimes, it is personal: optimize your Meta ads with Reactiv
To recap: in 2025, Meta ad success comes down to personalization and retargeting. Simple as that.
The top ways to optimize your ads are:
- Target the right audiences: Segment by behavior, lookalikes or app engagement to deliver relevant ads.
- Test and rotate creatives: Keep ads fresh with diverse formats and messaging to keep up engagement.
- Leverage Reactiv Clips: Allow users to interact with mini-app experiences instantly, driving conversions and app installs.
- Recover lost opportunities: Retarget users who abandoned carts or became inactive to maximize revenue.
Start making your campaigns smarter and free of friction. Book a chat with our Reactiv team in one simple click to learn more.
Top 15 retargeting ads examples that successfully converted (with strategies you can steal!)
It’s a universal certainty: ads are everywhere. And today, there are more opportunities than ever for shoppers to see marketing messages, whether they’re checking emails or scrolling on social media.
As a result, a lot of marketing messages end up becoming white noise – like seeing another wise, bearded wizard in a fantasy movie (it’s been done).
So, how do you stand out?
The key is actually pretty simple: personalization. Hyper-personalized strategies allow you to run ads that are actually relevant to the customer. And today, we’re breaking down our favourite strategies: retargeting and remarketing.
Read on because we're breaking down our top 15 remarketing and retargeting ads examples to help inspire your strategy.
What is remarketing vs. retargeting?
Remarketing and retargeting are personalized marketing approaches that focus on customers who visited your website or mobile app but did not take a specific action.
Although both terms are sometimes used interchangeably, there are a few key differences:
- Remarketing involves reaching out to a customer whose information you already have. This can be through a previous purchase or an email list sign-up. The goal is to reach out through personalized channels like email, SMS, or push notifications to create customer loyalty.
- Retargeting focuses on customers who have visited your website but have not yet made a purchase. It uses cookies from when customers visit your site and then serves them ads once they leave your site on third-party websites like the Google Display Network or the Meta Audience Network.
BONUS: Track what’s actually working
Running retargeting ads without tracking profitability is like driving with your eyes closed. Just because someone came back to your site doesn’t mean the ad paid off.
To help you dial in your spend, we put together a free Ads Profitability Tracker Spreadsheet—built specifically for ecommerce teams.
You can use it to:
- Track ROAS across Meta, Google, TikTok, and other channels
- Compare retargeting vs. prospecting campaign efficiency
- Monitor performance by audience, creative, and funnel stage
- Make faster decisions on where to scale or cut back
15 top-tier remarketing ad examples for every stage of the customer journey
Time for the fun part! Here are 15 of the best remarketing ads examples we’ve seen.
1. Good Protein – pair social ad retargeting with welcome offers for first-time customers
Good Protein’s approach was to use this collection ad to dynamically display products customers can click on. Customers are taken directly to the product page where they can learn more or add the item to their cart.
They also:
- Retargeted customers through the Meta Display network through Instagram Feed Ads and Facebook right column ads
- Offered first-time customers 20% off their first order to incentivize the first purchase
- Supplemented the discount with social proof by highlighting 20,000 5-star reviews
Top takeaway
Running ads across multiple channels keeps the offer top-of-mind. Varying the format, style, and imagery of each ad also prevents the customer from feeling ad fatigue or annoyance.
2. Sloane Tea – use carousel ads to show off your best-sellers
Sloane Tea used a dynamic social media carousel ad to highlight multiple products based on what the customer had viewed.
Each slide in the carousel features a different image and caption. Each image also has a “Shop now” CTA, making it easy for customers to visit the product page they’re most interested in.
Top takeaway
Sloane also wisely used the same ad format on Facebook to reach shoppers across multiple channels.
3. Journeys – bring customers back with display ads
Journeys used this dynamic Google Display ad that shoppers see on a third-party site. The ad shows sneakers they were previously browsing or similar styles.
Top takeaway
Highlighting the price of each sneaker takes the guesswork out. Calling out “Free in-store returns” can help remove the risk customers feel with online purchases.
4. Arrae – drive conversions by retargeting customers based on their pain points
Arrae strategically retargeted customers through this Instagram Feed ad. They called out common symptoms of high cortisol and positioned their Arrae Magnesium as the solution.
It’s also a collection ad, so customers can click only on the product they’re most interested in.
Top takeaway
One of the most tried and tested ad formulas is the problem-solution approach, which Arrae has masterfully used in this remarketing ad example.
5. Levi’s – retarget past shoppers with new product releases
Social media retargeting can also work for customers who have shopped with you in the past, but haven’t returned in a while.
For example, Levi’s used this Instagram Story ad to serve a message about their new product drop. This creates excitement and has a clear call to action.
Top takeaway
Don’t underestimate the power of imagery. Using lifestyle photography makes this ad feel natural in the story feed and non-disruptive to the shopper’s experience.
6. Blume – inspire customers with social proof
Customer reviews and testimonials are one of your most effective marketing tools. Blume did a great job of using these through its Instagram ad for its Clear Skin Kit.
This ad highlights real before and after pictures from a customer to show how effective the product is at targeting acne and scarring.
Top takeaway
Combining this ad with a 30% off discount goes a long way to helping shoppers who are on the fence commit to making a purchase.
7. Hush Blankets – take an omnichannel retargeting approach to stay top of mind
Hush Blankets’ recent “Buy 2, Get 2 Free” pillow campaign was the perfect example of balancing retargeting and remarketing. They used a combination of Instagram Story, Instagram Feed, and Facebook Feed ads through the Meta Ad Network.
To keep things interesting, each ad used slightly different sizes, images and captions while maintaining a consistent message of “Buy 2, Get 2 Free!” to create cohesiveness and brand recall. Hush also combined these retargeting ad examples with a personalized remarketing email with the same message but more information.
Top takeaway
Hush paired this ad with a personalized remarketing email that helped encourage the shopper to take advantage of the deal before it ends. Remember: personalization!
8. Loop Earplugs – create FOMO with limited-time-only deals
Loop Earplugs promoted a buy one, get one 50% off sale through this Instagram Feed ad. The idea is that customers who had browsed specific earplugs or added products to their cart wouldn’t want to miss out on this offer (hence the FOMO).
Top takeaway
Everyone loves a sale. Creating a sense of urgency with time-constrained offers is one of the best retargeting ad messages you can use.
9. Oak + Fort – recover abandoned carts with SMS campaigns
Oak + Fort re-engaged this customer who abandoned their cart through a hyper-personalized SMS. The message:
- Highlighted the specific trench coat they were browsing
- Created urgency by telling them to check out before it sells out
- Provided a link directly to the customer’s cart, making it as seamless as possible to check out
Top takeaway
Cart abandonment campaigns are one of the most effective types of remarketing ads – and for good reason. 45% of cart abandonment emails are opened!
10. Riversol – reduce browse abandonment with personalized outreach
Browse abandonment campaigns are for customers who spent a certain amount of time viewing a certain product without adding it to their cart. Riversol’s remarketing email highlighted the product they were browsing and offered a button to buy now.
It was also followed by a more in-depth explanation of the product benefits and mention of the 60-day money-back guarantee to ease the purchase pressure. They strategically tried to upsell the customer with a “You might also like” section of complementary products too.
Top takeaway
While cart abandonment remarketing often gets the spotlight, don’t forget about browse abandonment campaigns for interested customers who may need a little nudge before they commit.
11. Anna’s Garden – win back dormant customers with a strategic offer
Winback campaigns can help re-engage customers who have shopped with you before but haven’t made a purchase in a while. Anna’s Garden did a beautiful job of this through a remarketing email that offered the customer $5 off their next purchase for a limited amount of time. Then, they followed up with curated product recommendations for the customer.
Top takeaway
Use winback campaigns as an opportunity to remind customers why they shopped with you in the first place.
12. Kiyoko Beauty – spark excitement with restock notifications
Kiyoko Beauty expertly retargeted a customer through a series of SMS messages telling them that the face cream they were looking at was back.
They use time-based remarketing to send messages every couple of days. Each message created a more urgent call to action by saying “Hurry” and “Last Chance”. When a customer clicked the link, it automatically placed the item in their cart and brought them right to the checkout page.
Top takeaway
If a customer browses a product that’s out of stock, you risk losing them forever – unless you strategically retarget them once that product is back!
13. Paula’s Choice – drive repeat purchases with smart replenishment remarketing campaigns
You have tons of customer data at your disposal, so why not use it? Paula’s Choice's sends an email to a customer when it’s time to restock on their exfoliant, as part of a replenishment remarketing campaign. Using customer shopping behaviors lets you send these types of emails at the right point.
Paula’s Choice also uses this as a cross-sell opportunity, recommending complementary products to give the customer “next-level results.”
Top takeaway
First-party customer data, like previous purchases, is one of the best sources to use in remarketing campaigns.
14. Summer Fridays – personalize your outreach through quiz follow-up campaigns
When customers complete a quiz on your website, you get valuable zero-party data that you can use to retarget them. Summer Fridays capitalized on this through personalized remarketing emails sharing a skincare ritual tailored to the customer. That way, they could target the customer’s unique skin type and concerns while showing off their best products to help.
Top takeaway
Not to sound like a broken record, but remember: personalization (like a quiz) is key for your remarketing ad strategy!
15. Crocs – make customers feel special with a gift on their birthday
When customers make accounts or loyalty profiles, you collect valuable information about them – like their birthday! Use this information to remarket to them on their special day.
Crocs does a great job at this through a personalized birthday email that offers $15 off the customer’s next order over $50.
Top takeaway
Everyone loves feeling special on their birthday. Take advantage of the customer information you have on-hand for your remarketing strategy.
Retarget customers with Reactiv Clips
If you’re ready to take your remarketing strategy to the next level, a Reactiv Clip is a lightweight version of a mobile app that allows users to access a specific part of the app's functionality without having to download the full app. Brands can send push notifications to users up to eight hours after they engage with the mobile app page without requiring a download or an opt-in.
That means every single ad click can trigger a personalized follow-up on iOS, helping you reduce customer acquisition cost (CAC) and get more from your ad spend.
Use this strategy to achieve any of the goals of the remarketing ad examples we’ve shared, like:
- Converting a cart abandoner
- Driving sales during time-sensitive promotions
- Creating excitement for new product drops
Take inspiration from the remarketing examples above, have fun with your brand, try a Reactiv Clip and get ready to watch your conversion soar to the stratosphere.
Remarketing vs. Retargeting: Know the Difference, Track the Results
You’ve done the hard part—getting a shopper to your site or app. But if they leave without buying, what happens next?
This is where remarketing and retargeting come in. These tactics help you stay top of mind, re-engage visitors, and give them a second (or third) chance to convert. But there’s more to it than just “showing the same ad again.” When done well, remarketing and retargeting work together to improve ROI, drive retention, and create a more personalized buyer journey.
In this guide, we’ll break down the difference between the two, explore the different types of campaigns, and share a free tool to help you track what’s actually moving the needle.
What is remarketing vs. retargeting?
Remarketing and retargeting are personalized marketing approaches that focus on customers who visited your website or mobile app but did not take a specific action.
Although both terms are sometimes used interchangeably, there are a few key differences:
- Remarketing involves reaching out to a customer whose information you already have. This can be through a previous purchase or an email list sign-up. The goal is to reach out through personalized channels like email, SMS, or push notifications to create customer loyalty.
- Retargeting focuses on customers who have visited your website but have not yet made a purchase. It uses cookies from when customers visit your site and then serves them ads once they leave your site on third-party websites like the Google Display Network or the Meta Audience Network.
It’s a good idea to use a healthy mix of remarketing and retargeting campaigns. This helps you:
- Avoid overspending on paid ads
- Reach customers across channels
- Invest equally in customer acquisition and retention
- Stay relevant throughout the entire customer lifecycle from discovery to customer loyalty
Types of remarketing ads
Without a doubt, remarketing works. A recent survey even showed that 26% of customers will return to a website through remarketing.
Your success with remarketing, as with anything in life, depends on a few factors. This includes the type of campaign, target list parameters, your ad copy and calls to action, ad timing, and more.
1. Standard remarketing
This broad approach uses pixel tags and customer cookies to target everyone who has completed a certain action on your website. It retargets everyone who visited your homepage through Google remarketing ads, social media ads, SMS or emails. Everyone will see the same ad or message
2. Dynamic remarketing
Dynamic remarketing serves ads or messages based on the specific product a customer has browsed or added to their cart. Ecommerce brands add their product catalog to whatever platform they’re retargeting through. This approach retargets through Google remarketing ads, Facebook retargeting ads and direct channels like email, SMS and push notifications. This more specific approach can also be more effective in driving sales.
3. Display remarketing
This is a Google ads remarketing strategy that tracks customers who have visited your site and serves them visual ads when they visit another website. Examples include banner ads, discovery ads, native ads and video ads.
4. Search remarketing
This is another type of Google remarketing ad that reaches customers through search results pages. It offers tailored messaging for each user based on their browsing behaviour on your website. This means if a customer was browsing sneakers, they’ll see a text ad with the shoes they were looking at at the top of their Google results page when they search “best sneakers.”
Types of retargeting ads
Retargeting ads are all about keeping your brand top of mind after someone leaves your site. Whether they were just browsing or abandoned their cart, these ads help draw them back in by showing up where they’re already spending time.
Here are a few common types of retargeting ads:
1. Pixel-based retargeting
This is the most widely used method. A small piece of code (a pixel) gets added to your site, and when someone visits, it drops a browser cookie. You can then retarget that visitor with relevant ads on other websites, social platforms, or apps. It’s fast, anonymous, and doesn’t require an email address.
2. List-based retargeting
List-based retargeting uses your first-party data—usually emails collected from users who signed up or made a purchase. You upload these lists to platforms like Meta, TikTok, or Google to serve tailored ads. This gives you more control over who sees your ads and lets you segment based on past behavior or purchase frequency.
3. Social media retargeting
Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest offer robust retargeting options. You can show ads to users who visited a specific page, interacted with a product, or even watched a certain percentage of a video. The visual, scroll-stopping format of social makes it ideal for recapturing attention.
4. Search retargeting
Not to be confused with search remarketing, search retargeting targets users based on their recent search activity—even if they haven’t visited your site yet. It’s more of a prospecting play but works well in tandem with standard retargeting to reach high-intent shoppers.
5. App-based retargeting
For mobile-first brands, app retargeting is essential. If a user downloads your app but hasn’t purchased—or abandoned their cart—you can serve personalized push notifications or in-app popups, or even use Apple and Android ad networks to retarget across other apps.
Track what’s actually working
Running retargeting ads without tracking profitability is like driving with your eyes closed. Just because someone came back to your site doesn’t mean the ad paid off.
To help you dial in your spend, we put together a free Ads Profitability Tracker Spreadsheet—built specifically for ecommerce teams.
You can use it to:
- Track ROAS across Meta, Google, TikTok, and other channels
- Compare retargeting vs. prospecting campaign efficiency
- Monitor performance by audience, creative, and funnel stage
- Make faster decisions on where to scale or cut back
👉 Grab the spreadsheet here and start making your retargeting spend work smarter, not harder.
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