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Facebook retargeting: definition, and how to do it without pestering
Retargeting shows a new ad to people who already know you. The audiences you can use, how long they last, and how to follow up without annoying anyone.
Published on · Joh · 5 min read
Retargeting means showing an ad to people who have already been in contact with you: they visited your site, watched one of your videos, opened your form without sending it. On Meta, you do it with custom audiences.
Why it works
On a purchase worth several thousand euros, hardly anyone decides at first contact. You see a pool video in June, talk about it in the evening, think about it again three weeks later. Retargeting puts you back in front of the person while they think, with an argument they have not seen yet.
The audiences you can retarget on Meta
| Audience | Source | Maximum duration |
|---|---|---|
| Site visitors | The pixel and the conversions API | 180 days |
| Video viewers | Videos watched on Facebook or Instagram | 365 days |
| Opened forms | Instant forms opened or sent | 90 days |
| Page interactions | People who liked, commented, sent a message | 365 days |
| Customer list | A contact file you upload | No limit |
Retargeting site visitors relies on the pixel. If it is badly installed, the audience stays empty. The pixel, explained.
What I show in retargeting
Not the same ad. The person has already seen it, and it was not enough. Retargeting answers the question that held them back:
- Proof. A customer review, a finished job, a before and after.
- An answer to an objection. Timing, price, guarantee, how it goes.
- A face. The person who will come to their home, explaining how it works.
This is where short videos help most: a series of three or four different angles, shown in order, does more than a single ad repeated twenty times.
How not to pester
Retargeting annoys when it is too frequent, too long or off the mark. Three simple rules:
- Limit the duration. For a repair, a few days are enough. For a kitchen or a pool, one to three months.
- Exclude people who already requested a quote. Showing them "request your quote" after they have done it feels robotic.
- Watch the repetition. If the same person sees the same ad ten times in a week, they end up associating it with a nuisance. Ad fatigue, and how to spot it.
A limit worth knowing
Retargeting audiences are small, especially for a local business. They do not replace a campaign that finds new people. With today's broad audiences, Meta often already shows your ads to people who know you. Dedicated retargeting is mostly worth it when you have a different message for them.
Further reading: The conversions API, definition and How to structure a Meta campaign for appointments.
Want to know who you could retarget today? . We look together at what your pixel has already recorded.