What Is Remarketing?
A strategy for reaching users who have already engaged with your product but haven't converted.
Book a free callRemarketing is a way of re-engaging users who have previously visited your app or website but didn't complete the target action. Typical targets are users who left items in their cart, started a trial but didn't subscribe, or haven't opened the app in a while. Because the audience already knows you, conversion rates are markedly higher than in new-user campaigns.
Are remarketing and retargeting the same thing?
In everyday use they're often treated as synonyms. The classic distinction: retargeting usually refers to re-targeting through paid impressions on ad networks, while remarketing refers to the broader framework that also includes owned channels such as email and push.
In practice, running both together is the most efficient approach: owned channels are free and should be tried first; paid retargeting kicks in for users those channels can't reach.
Segmentation: the most critical step
Showing every visitor the same message is the most common, and most expensive, remarketing mistake. Where a user stopped in the funnel determines the message they should get.
| Segment | Intent | Right message |
|---|---|---|
| Viewed a product, didn't add to cart | Low | Reminder of benefits and social proof |
| Added to cart, didn't purchase | High | Urgency, easy shipping/checkout, a small incentive |
| Started a trial, didn't convert | High | Feature reminders, trial-ending alert |
| Inactive for 30+ days | Low | New content or feature announcement |
| Existing paying user | — | Should be excluded from new campaigns |
Re-engagement campaigns on mobile
- Deep links are a must. If you don't take users back to where they left off rather than to the home screen, most of the campaign's impact is lost.
- Use owned channels first. Push and email are free; reserve paid retargeting for users you can't reach through them.
- Set a frequency cap. Ads that follow the same user everywhere hurt brand perception and create backlash.
- Define a time window. For cart abandonment, the first 24-48 hours are the most productive; spending on a visit from months ago rarely makes sense.
- Exclude converters immediately. A user who keeps seeing the same ad after purchasing is both wasted budget and a bad experience.
Incrementality: is it really adding value?
This is remarketing's biggest measurement trap. These campaigns target users who are already highly likely to convert, so you may be paying for some people who would have converted even without seeing the ad.
The way to measure true contribution is an incrementality test: ads are withheld from a randomly selected portion of the target audience, and the two groups' conversion rates are compared. The difference is the campaign's true contribution. Retargeting ROAS reported without this test is often seriously inflated.
Frequently asked questions
Why does remarketing's conversion rate look so high?
Because it targets an audience that's already interested and knows you. But not all of that high rate is the campaign's doing; some of these users would have converted without seeing the ad. You need an incrementality test to see the true contribution.
How do you set up retargeting for a mobile app?
User segments are built in your MMP and pushed to ad platforms. Deep linking infrastructure must be in place; otherwise users land on the home screen and the campaign's impact is lost. On iOS, audience match rates can be low due to privacy restrictions.
How long should you retarget users?
It depends on the product's decision cycle. For cart abandonment, the first 24-48 hours are the most productive. For products with a longer consideration period, the window can be wider. The general rule: continuing to spend past the point where conversion probability drops off sharply is inefficient.
Let's win back lost users
We recover the conversions leaking from your funnel with segmented re-engagement flows and deep linking infrastructure.
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