Platforms · Retargeting
Retargeting isn't dead, you're just doing the creepy kind
Showing someone the product they didn't buy fourteen times in a week isn't a funnel, it's harassment. Sequenced retargeting does the opposite and converts three times better.
Media buyer
The mistake almost everyone makes
Standard retargeting: one audience called 'all visitors 30 days', one ad, shown until the person buys or blocks you. The frequency climbs past 8, the comments turn sour, and the owner concludes retargeting doesn't work. It works fine, the setup is just rude.
The better version treats retargeting as a conversation with chapters. Someone who read your blog needs proof. Someone who abandoned a cart needs a reason to finish. Someone who watched 75% of your video needs the product demo. Different behaviour, different message.
The sequence that works
Day one to three: the product or offer, cleanly. Day four to seven: proof, reviews, results, the stuff that answers doubt. Day eight plus: the incentive or the direct ask. Three ads minimum, each with its own audience window, frequency capped at 3 per week per person.
Across our accounts this structure beats flat retargeting by about 3x on conversion rate, and it stays effective longer because people aren't exhausted by ad number one before they see ad two.
Sequence map
- Days 1-3: the offer
- Days 4-7: the proof
- Days 8+: the ask
- Cap: 3/week per person
The exclusions that matter more
Two rules that save more money than any creative test: exclude recent buyers from prospecting pools, and exclude converted leads from retargeting. Most accounts we audit burn 10 to 20% of budget showing ads to people who already converted.
If you want this built properly, the retargeting service covers audiences, sequencing and the tracking underneath. Or read the tracking piece first, because none of this works on broken data.
If you skimmed
The short version
- One repeated ad isn't a funnel, it's a frequency problem
- Sequence by behaviour: offer, then proof, then the ask
- Exclude buyers and converters or you're paying to annoy your own customers
Media buyer at Target Growth Lab
Runs our Google and LinkedIn book and keeps frequency caps honest.
Want this done for your account?
The free audit covers everything in this article, applied to your numbers.