Retargeting Recipes: 7 Spicy Strategies That Will Heat Up Your Conversions

7 strategies that will heat up your conversions and make your campaign sizzle

Retargeting is one of the most powerful tools in digital marketing, yet most businesses are leaving money on the table by using basic strategies. Today, I'm sharing 7 advanced retargeting recipes that will transform your campaigns from lukewarm to sizzling hot.

Best Deployment Tools and Networks

Before we dive into the strategies, let's set up your retargeting foundation:

Essential Tools:

1. Google Tag Manager - Your tag management system
2. Google Analytics - For tracking and insights
3. Ad Accounts - Facebook, Twitter, Google Ads, Taboola

Basic Retargeting Ad Structure:

• Image: Picture of your product
• Headline: Your main benefit
• Description: Problem your product solves
• Call to Action: "Buy Now", "Finish Checkout", or "Add to Cart"

7 Advanced Retargeting Strategies

#1 The Brander

Use only after attempting other strategies

Goal: Keep your brand in the target customer's awareness

Components:

• Image: Your logo, slogan, or storefront
• Headline: Core benefit of your company
• Description: Credibility statement ("As seen in..." or "5000+ business owners trust us...")
• CTA: "Learn More" or "Read More"

Purpose: Catch-all ad for mildly interested visitors who aren't ready to convert yet.

#2 The Product Reminder

The workhorse of retargeting

Goal: Remind viewers of products they recently viewed

Components:

• Image: Picture of the specific product
• Headline: Main product benefit (split-test this!)
• Description: Summary of the problem your product solves
• CTA: "Buy Now", "Order Now", or "Add to Cart"

Purpose: Remind customers about products they showed interest in.

#3 The Instant Celebrity

Goal: Make it look like the whole internet is saying good things about you

Components:

• Image: Pictures of customers or endorsers
• Headline: Summary of their testimonial/endorsement
• Description: One sentence raving about your product
• CTA: "Learn More", "Read More", or "Get One Now"

Purpose: Surround prospects with testimonials everywhere they go online.

#4 The Fence Jumper

Goal: Offer an irresistible deal to push hesitant buyers over the edge

Components:

• Image: Product with high-contrast "SALE" or "DISCOUNT" overlay
• Headline: "For Limited Time Only $XX"
• Description: Reason for the sale (seasonal, clearance, etc.)
• CTA: "Buy Now", "Add Now", or "Claim Offer"

The 8 Retargeting Recipes

Recipe #1: The Cart Fixer

Perfect for e-commerce stores

Setup:

• Pixel people on your order page
• Exclude people on your thank you page
• Run product reminder ads for 1-30 days
• Budget: $50-$500/day (depending on cart volume)

Recipe #2: The Blog Monetizer

Turn readers into customers

Setup:

• Pixel people on content pages
• Exclude existing customers
• Days 1-30: Instant celebrity or product reminder
• Days 31-45: Fence jumper
• Days 46+: Brander
• Budget: $10-$25/day steady

Recipe #3: The Instant Celebrity

Especially powerful for coaches and service providers

Setup:

• Pixel all website visitors
• Exclude confirmed customers
• Days 1-14: Multiple instant celebrity ads across networks
• Piggyback product reminder for clickers
• Budget: $25-$100/day
• Note: Don't combine with Blog Monetizer

Recipe #4: Face to Face

Personal video follow-up

Setup:

• Pixel sales page visitors
• Exclude confirmed customers
• Days 1-3: Personal video introduction
• Days 4-7: Fence jumper
• Budget: $25-$250/day
• Note: Great with Blog Monetizer, not with Greased Funnel

Recipe #5: The Microwave

Quickly filter interested prospects

Setup:

• Target broad but relevant audience
• Run 3-5 minute content video on Facebook/YouTube
• Days 1-14: Product reminder to 50%+ video watchers
• Days 15-30: Fence jumper
• Budget: $100-$1,000/day for video, $25-$100/day for follow-up

Recipe #6: The Greased Funnel

Optimize each funnel step

Setup:

• Create pixels for each funnel step:
  • Landing page
  • Sales page
  • Cart page
  • Upsell page
• Run customized ads for each step (1-7 days)
• Budget: $5-$25/day per funnel step
• Note: Don't combine with Cart Fixer

Recipe #7: The Webinar Assistant

Boost registrations, attendance, and sales

Part 1 - Registration Boost:

• Pixel registration page visitors
• Exclude confirmed registrants
• Days 1-3: Product reminder for webinar
• Budget: $25-$100/day

Part 2 - Attendance & Replay:

• Pixel confirmation page visitors
• 24 hours before: Webinar reminder ad
• 24-72 hours after: Replay reminder ad
• Budget: $10-$50/day

Recipe #8: The Earnings Multiplier

RFM segmentation strategy

Audience Segments:

• Leads only
• All customers
• Single purchase customers
• Multi-purchase customers

Part 1 - Lead Conversion:

• Target leads-only audience
• Exclude all customers
• Days 1-30: Fence jumper
• Budget: $25-$250/day

Part 2 - Repeat Purchases:

• Target single-purchase customers
• Exclude multi-purchase customers
• Days 1-30: Fence jumper (all products)
• Budget: $25-$50/day

Part 3 - VIP Treatment:

• Target top 20% spenders
• Days 1-30: Product reminder
• Budget: $25-$50/day

Advanced Retargeting Concepts

Message Sequencing

Just like email sequences, your retargeting ads should tell a story over time. Instead of showing one ad repeatedly, create a sequence that guides prospects through your funnel.

Audience Laddering

Create increasingly specific audiences based on engagement level and behavior. This allows for more targeted messaging and better ROI.

Burn Pixels

Always exclude people who've already converted to avoid wasting budget and annoying customers.

Key Takeaways

1. Start with Recipe #2 (Blog Monetizer) if you create content
2. Use Recipe #1 (Cart Fixer) if you have e-commerce
3. Never run competing recipes simultaneously
4. Always exclude converted customers
5. Test different ad creatives within each strategy

Remember: Retargeting is about being helpful, not pushy. Provide value at each touchpoint, and your conversions will naturally increase.

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Ready to implement these retargeting recipes? Book a strategy session and let's heat up your campaigns together.