Social media remarketing setup

Remarketing audiences

Consent comes first

ICO guidance on cookies and similar technologies says consent is needed before storing or accessing information on a user's device for non-essential purposes, and that it must be actively and clearly given. Advertising tracking is not needed to provide what the visitor asked for, so the Pixel should only run after consent. Visitors who decline will not join your website audience, so expect it to be smaller than your visitor numbers.

Your privacy information should explain that you use advertising tracking and remarketing, and how people can opt out.

Customer lists

Uploading a customer list lets you reach existing customers or exclude them. Meta's documentation says customer data must be shared in hashed form. You still need a lawful basis for using the data in this way and should be transparent about it in your privacy information. If in doubt about your basis, take advice before uploading.

Setting up remarketing

1. 01

   Consent

   Pixel waits for consent.

   Output: Compliant tracking

2. 02

   Events

   Product views, baskets, purchases.

   Output: Audience signals

3. 03

   Audiences

   By action and time window.

   Output: Custom audiences

4. 04

   Exclusions

   Recent buyers and converted leads.

   Output: Clean targeting

5. 05

   Messages

   Different for each audience.

   Output: Remarketing ads

Exclusions

Exclude people who have just bought from ads for the product they bought. Showing someone an ad for something they already own wastes spend and can annoy them. Exclude converted leads from lead campaigns too. Exclusions depend on purchase events or customer lists being kept up to date.

Example: basket reminders

Remarketing set-up checks

How often people see ads

Remarketing audiences are small, so the same people can see ads many times. Watch how often each person is shown ads, as Meta reports this, and refresh creative or lower budgets if it climbs. Seeing the same ad repeatedly can turn interest into irritation.

Is it adding sales?

People who visited your site are already likely to buy, so remarketing can claim credit for sales that would have happened anyway. Compare total sales from returning visitors over time, or pause remarketing briefly and see what changes, rather than relying only on attributed figures.

Time windows

Audiences can be built from actions within a chosen period, such as visits in the last week or the last few months. Shorter windows reach people while interest is fresh; longer windows give larger audiences but weaker intent. Match the window to how long people usually take to decide in your market, and use different messages for recent and older visitors.

Lookalikes and special categories

Lookalike audiences built from customers can help find new people, but Meta's documentation says they are not available for housing, employment or financial products ads under its special ad categories.