Remarketing vs retargeting: what is the difference and when do you use which in B2B?

Remarketing and retargeting sound like two things, but most people mean the same by them: reaching people again who already know your brand. Still, there is nuance. TL;DR: in everyday practice, retargeting is used more often for paid ads based on behaviour, while remarketing is broader and also covers email and your own channels. What really counts for your results is not the term, but which type you use: site retargeting, search retargeting, CRM retargeting or email retargeting. This article breaks down each type and links it to a concrete B2B scenario.

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Is there really a difference between remarketing and retargeting?

Honest answer: technically not much, and anyone claiming there is a strict, universal definition is overstating it. The terms have become largely interchangeable. Google uses “remarketing” in its own documentation, many ad platforms use “retargeting”, and marketers happily switch between them.

There is one nuance that does keep coming back in practice, and that Search Engine Journal explains clearly in its comparison of remarketing and retargeting:

• Retargeting usually refers to paid ads you show based on earlier behaviour, such as a website visit or a search.
• Remarketing is more often used as a broader umbrella, including email campaigns and reactivating your own contacts.

For your decisions, that distinction is a side issue. The question that does matter is which data source you build a list on and who you reach with it. That determines whether you approach someone you already know, or someone you have never seen but who was looking for your solution. If you want to go through the basics calmly first, read our article on remarketing. Also see our short explanation of the difference between remarketing and retargeting if you only want the core.

Which types of retargeting exist?

Instead of arguing about words, it is more useful to look at the underlying types. Each type works on a different data source and fits a different moment in your marketing funnel.

Site retargeting

This is what most people know. A pixel or tag on your website puts visitors in a list, and you use that list to show them ads later on other sites, on social media or in search results. It works well because you are talking to people who already showed interest, so your conversion odds are higher than with cold ads.

The limitation: it only works for people who already visited your site. Anyone who never found you, you will not reach this way.

Search retargeting

This is where it gets interesting for B2B. Search retargeting requires no website visit. Interest is determined by a recent search, for example on Google, Yahoo or Bing (Chango). Someone searches for “industrial cleaning supplier” but lands on a competitor’s site? With search retargeting you can still reach that person afterwards, even though they were never on your site.

Some platforms estimate purchase intent (an “intent score”) based on an enormous volume of search events in their data network, in the order of billions of searches (Chango). For the top of a long B2B sales cycle, that is gold: you catch people who are actively searching, before they even know you.

CRM retargeting

With CRM retargeting you upload your own contact database (email addresses or company data) to an ad platform, which matches those contacts and shows ads to them. This is the basis of account-based campaigns: you target the decision makers within the companies you want to win.

It is also ideal for building exclusions. Existing customers and open quotes are often exactly the ones you do NOT want to hit with the same ads again.

Email retargeting

This is retargeting through your own mailbox: someone clicks in a newsletter, views a service page, but does not request anything? A follow-up email or an automated sequence brings that person back. It costs no ad budget and it reaches people who already have a relationship with you.

When do you use which type in B2B?

In a long B2B sales cycle with multiple decision makers, one type is rarely enough. The art is to stack them at the right moment. The table below links each type to a concrete scenario.

A typical build-up looks like this: search retargeting attracts new, searching prospects, site retargeting keeps visitors warm during the months-long decision period, CRM retargeting reinforces the campaign on your target accounts, and email retargeting catches the people who were already very close.

For the broader context of paid channels you can also read our overview of [online advertising](/en/blog/online-advertising/), or specifically about remarketing in search ads with RLSA.

How do you avoid brand fatigue with frequency capping?

The biggest risk of retargeting is irritation. If someone sees your ad ten times a day, you create resistance instead of trust. In a long B2B cycle, where you want to stay visible for months, that is a real danger.

The solution is frequency capping: a limit on how often someone sees your ad. A commonly used guideline sits around 17 to 20 impressions per month to prevent prospects from getting annoyed (ReTargeter). Treat that as a starting point, not as law: for a complex service with a high order value, exposure may be higher than for a simple enquiry.

A few rules of thumb we apply:

• Cap the frequency per person and per period, not just per campaign.
• Rotate your messages so the same person sees variation instead of endless repetition.
• Exclude converters. Anyone who already enquired or is a customer does not belong in your list.
• Put an end date on your lists so you do not burn budget on people who dropped off long ago.

Is retargeting actually worth it for your business?

Not always, and we would rather say that honestly. Retargeting platforms claim impressive returns, some even talk about a multiple of their clients’ ad spend coming back as revenue (AdRoll). But such figures usually come from ecommerce, where the purchase happens fast and impulsively. In B2B it is different.

Retargeting is worth it for you if:

• You have enough website traffic or a contact list to fill a workable list.
• Your sales cycle is long enough that repeated contact genuinely adds something.
• You steer on qualified enquiries and revenue, not on click-through rates. Those always look good in retargeting, simply because you are talking to warm people. That says little about whether real leads come out of it.

Barely any traffic and no list worth mentioning? Then you are better off investing in attracting the right visitors first, before you consider retargeting. A high return on an empty list does not exist. How we look at such a choice, you can read in our approach to paid advertising.

Frequently asked questions about remarketing and retargeting

Is remarketing the same as retargeting?

In practice the terms are used interchangeably and people usually mean the same thing by them. When a distinction is made, retargeting more often refers to paid ads based on behaviour, and remarketing to a broader mix including email. For your results, what mainly counts is which type you use, not which term you use.

What is the difference between site retargeting and search retargeting?

Site retargeting reaches people who already visited your website, via a pixel or tag. Search retargeting works without a website visit: it targets people based on their recent searches. Search retargeting is therefore suitable for finding new prospects who do not know you yet, while site retargeting keeps existing visitors warm.

Does retargeting also work for B2B with a long sales cycle?

Yes, provided you approach it differently than ecommerce. You keep people warm for months instead of days, you target multiple decision makers within an account, and you lead with content instead of direct offers. Combine types and steer on qualified enquiries.

How often may someone see my retargeting ad?

A common guideline sits around 17 to 20 impressions per month per person, but adapt it to your context. For a complex, high-value service the frequency may be higher, for a simple enquiry lower. Always set a cap to avoid brand fatigue.

Getting started with retargeting that delivers leads

The terminology of remarketing versus retargeting matters less than the choice of which type you use, for whom, and at which moment in a long B2B cycle. Combine search, site, CRM and email retargeting deliberately, cap the frequency, and keep your eyes on qualified enquiries instead of on clicks. Want to know which mix pays off for your business, and hear honestly when it is not yet worth the effort? Plan your free intake.