Remarketing vs. Retargeting: What’s the Difference (and Which Works Better in 2025)

Marketers love to throw around the terms remarketing and retargeting — often as if they mean the same thing.

They don’t.

While both strategies focus on re-engaging people who’ve already interacted with your business, the way they do it (and the tools they use) are quite different.

Understanding the difference isn’t just marketing trivia — it’s essential if you want to reduce ad waste, improve conversions, and maximise ROI across Google Ads, Meta, and other platforms.

So, let’s unpack the difference between remarketing and retargeting — and explore which one delivers the biggest results in 2025.

Key Takeaways

• Retargeting uses paid ads to re-engage people who visited your website or app.

• Remarketing focuses on email and customer list campaigns to reach past users directly.

• Both drive conversions, but retargeting is better for discovery, while remarketing excels at retention.

• The most effective 2025 strategies combine both — powered by automation and first-party data.

1. Retargeting: Bringing Back Your Browsers

Retargeting is all about ads that follow your audience.

Ever visit a product page, then see that exact item pop up while watching a YouTube video or scrolling Facebook? That’s retargeting in action.

It relies on pixels and cookies — small snippets of code that track visitors and help you serve them relevant ads later.

You can set up retargeting through:

• Google Ads Remarketing Campaigns

• Meta Ads Manager

• LinkedIn Matched Audiences

With retargeting, you can target people who:

• Viewed your products but didn’t purchase.

• Started checkout but abandoned their cart.

• Visited your site’s key landing pages.

For example, if someone reads your Google Ads Strategy for 2025 blog post but doesn’t contact you, you can retarget them with an ad promoting your Google Ads Management services.

It’s a gentle nudge back into your funnel — one that often converts 2–3x higher than cold traffic.

2. Remarketing: Reconnecting Through Relationships

Remarketing focuses on re-engaging your existing customers or subscribers — often through email or customer data uploads.

Instead of tracking cookies, remarketing relies on first-party data like:

• Customer email lists.

• CRM contacts.

• Past purchasers.

You can use this data to:

• Send re-engagement emails (“We miss you — here’s 10% off”).

• Upload lists into Google Ads’ Customer Match (policy here) to show targeted ads.

• Create lookalike audiences in Meta Ads to find new customers similar to your best ones.

Remarketing works beautifully for:

• Replenishment campaigns (e.g., skincare, supplements).

• Upselling or cross-selling to existing buyers.

• Loyalty promotions or VIP offers.

It’s personal, data-driven, and powerful — especially when integrated with tools like Google Analytics and your CRM system.

3. The Key Differences Between Remarketing and Retargeting

The difference comes down to data source and delivery channel.
Retargeting chases clicks.
Remarketing builds relationships.

And when you combine both, you get a full-funnel strategy that keeps your brand visible and valuable.

4. Which Strategy Works Best in 2025?

Here’s the truth:
The days of cookie-based marketing are fading fast.

With privacy laws tightening and third-party cookies disappearing, first-party data — the kind you own — is becoming your most valuable asset.

That’s why remarketing is gaining more importance in 2025.
Brands that nurture their own audiences (email lists, CRM data, and analytics insights) will outperform those relying purely on ad pixels.

That said, retargeting isn’t dead — it’s evolving.

Modern retargeting in Google Ads now uses AI-powered audience signals and integrations with Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to reach the right users at the right time.

If you want to see how this works, check out our step-by-step guide:
How to Create Remarketing Lists in Google Ads.

Combining both remarketing and retargeting — supported by automation and smart data — will give you the best of both worlds: reach and retention.

5. How to Combine Both for Maximum ROI

Here’s a proven framework we use at Above Digital:

1. Start with Retargeting: Use Google Ads Remarketing or Meta Ads to bring visitors back after they’ve engaged with your site.

2. Layer in Remarketing: Upload your customer data or email subscribers to Google Ads for personalised follow-up via Customer Match.

3. Automate with AI: Use tools like Google Analytics and Performance Max to optimise across channels automatically.

4. Measure & Refine: Track engagement through Analytics and refine your messaging based on what converts.

This combined strategy can increase conversion rates by 30–50%, while lowering acquisition costs across your campaigns.

The Bottom Line

Remarketing and retargeting are two sides of the same coin.

Retargeting brings back the curious.
Remarketing reignites the loyal.

When used together — supported by data, automation, and smart segmentation — they turn lost clicks into conversions and one-time customers into lifelong fans.

If you want to build a high-performing campaign that uses both strategies, talk to the team at Above Digital — we specialise in data-driven Google Ads and SEO for Australian Businesses that deliver measurable results.

Because in 2025, marketing isn’t about chasing traffic — it’s about reconnecting with the right people at the right time.