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.