28 Oct 2025
Top 7 Tips to Doing an Effective Retargeting Campaign
Today’s post is on retargeting campaigns and the top 7 tips to do retargeting like a pro. Enjoy!
What is a retargeting campaign?
Retargeting campaigns usually work on cookie-based technologies. A retargeting campaign is also known as a remarketing campaign. It is a method of online advertising that keeps your brand as the top of mind for consumers, as long as they have visited your website once. From past statistics, 98% of visitors who visit your website do not actually make a purchase the first time.
An effective retargeting campaign will convert part of this 98% of visitors even after they leave your website. For example, some retargeting campaigns might display the brand’s product as advertisements on other websites the prospect might visit, with the goal of bringing the prospect back to the store’s website to buy something.
Why does retargeting work?
Before we move on to the top 7 tips of effective retargeting, there is a need to understand the psychology behind retargeting.
The main psychological reason as to why retargeting works is because of the “mere-exposure effect“. The gist of the “mere-exposure” effect is that the more you hear or see something, the more likely you are to prefer it. The logic given by researchers is because people tend to like things or people that they are more familiar with.
Does this sound too ridiculous or simple to be true? Well, this effect is grounded in scientific research. In the original research, Robert Zajonc showed participants images that they have neutral reactions to, such as the faces of strangers, brand new products, etc. The research result was clear: The more times participants were exposed to certain products, the more likely it is that they report to like these products.
Now, what if we can convert these likes to revenue via strategic retargeting campaigns?
In addition, another reason why retargeting works is because so many things are competing for our increasingly short attention span today. The implication is that your prospects might get distracted by other things before buying your product, hence leading to an abandoned shopping cart. Sometimes, it is your prospects’ intention to revisit your site, but because it is so low on their priority list, they forget.
Therefore, an effective retargeting campaign will help your prospect remember the products that they had originally wanted to buy. Help your prospects remember via a great retargeting campaign!
Our Top 7 Tips to Doing an Effective Retargeting Campaign
By now, you should be convinced of the power of doing effective retargeting campaigns. The Amber Creative team has picked out our top 7 favorite tips for you:
Tip #1: Pixels are your friends!
Use pixels. By pixels, we mean using exclusion pixels on your confirmation pages.
Functionally, an exclusion pixel is used for not delivering advertisements to people who are already converted. It is often used on order confirmation pages to exclude recent customers within parameters for site retargeting campaigns. This will exclude advertisements meant to retarget prospects.
For example, let’s say the latest event in town is Valentine’s Day. An online florist might then use exclusion pixels on its order confirmation page to ensure that they don’t display “Buy Roses for Your Sweetheart Today!” to this new customer for the remaining campaign period. This will not only make sure that the advertising budget is used efficiently; it will also make sure that recent customers are not irritated by the campaign because they had just made a purchase!
Therefore, the use of exclusion pixels helps ensure an effective retargeting campaign and also helps brand owners promote goodwill with their customers.
Tip #2: Decide well on your targeting parameters.
There will be certain days when advertisements will perform well.
In the Singaporean context, this could mean every Monday mornings, where prospects are commuting to work, or Saturday evenings, where most people are not working and relaxed.
Therefore, it might be useful to make use of past data to evaluate when ROI is maximum. The more knowledge you have on your buyer’s persona, the better and more efficient your targeting parameters would be.
Tip #3: Visuals matter!
Have high-resolution and eye-catching images. Since you are going to spend on retargeting advertisements, don’t skimp on the design, words, and visuals on your advertisements.
Make visuals impactful!
Tip #4: Include social proof.
Social proof, such as testimonials by existing customers, always works. What they do is to reduce anxiety in your prospects and make them trust your brand even better. The use of social proof is always a good idea in retargeting campaigns.
Tip #5: Offer free delivery.
Can it be possible that your prospect did not make the purchase the first time because of perceived hefty shipping costs? If that is the case, sweeten their deals by offering free delivery in your retargeting campaigns.
Tip #6: Don’t include your own IP addresses!
It does not make sense to retarget your advertisements to your friends, colleagues, or your family! Remember to exclude your IP addresses in the retargeting efforts.
Tip #7: Exclude sites with low ROI.
Based on past data, identify the sites which are not performing as well, and exclude them from your retargeting campaigns. This is so that you can allocate your budget to sites that are performing well, and increase your ROI.
We hope you have enjoyed this article today. Have fun with your retargeting campaigns!