Audience: All Audiences | Read time: 14 min | Last updated: January 2026
Retargeting turns anonymous website visitors and social engagers into trackable, reachable audiences. It's typically your highest-converting, lowest-cost advertising because you're reaching people who already know you exist.
This guide covers everything you need to build effective retargeting campaigns: pixel setup, audience building, campaign structure, creative strategy, sequencing, and optimization.
Why Does Retargeting Work So Well?
Someone who visited your website or watched your video is fundamentally different from a cold audience. They've already expressed interest through their behavior. Retargeting capitalizes on that existing awareness.
The Performance Difference
Lower costs: CPMs (cost per thousand impressions) are often 50-70% lower than prospecting campaigns. You're reaching a smaller, more qualified audience, and Meta's algorithm can optimize delivery more efficiently.
Higher conversion rates: Retargeting typically delivers 2-5x higher conversion rates than cold traffic. Website visitors convert at 2-5% on average, compared to 0.5-1% for cold audiences.
Better brand recognition: Multiple touchpoints increase recognition and trust. Research shows that consumers need 7-10 exposures to a brand before taking action. Retargeting systematically builds that exposure.
Shorter sales cycles: Warm audiences move through your funnel faster. Someone who's already watched 75% of your music video needs less convincing than someone who's never heard of you.
The Psychology Behind Retargeting
Retargeting works because of several psychological principles:
Familiarity breeds preference. The mere exposure effect means people develop preferences for things they've seen before. Each retargeting impression builds unconscious familiarity with your music and brand.
Unfinished actions create tension. When someone visits your website but doesn't complete an action (like signing up for your email list), they experience a subtle psychological tension. Retargeting reminds them of that incomplete action.
Social proof compounds. When someone sees your ad after visiting your website, it reinforces that you're a legitimate, active artist worthy of attention.
How Do You Set Up Tracking Pixels?
Before you can retarget anyone, you need to track their behavior. Pixels are small pieces of code that capture visitor activity on your properties.
Meta Pixel Setup
The Meta Pixel tracks visitor behavior across Facebook and Instagram. Install it on every property you control.
Where to install the Meta Pixel:
Your website (every page). This captures all visitor behavior, including which pages they visit, how long they stay, and what actions they take.
Smart link pages. Services like Feature.fm, Linkfire, Hypeddit, and SubmitHub Links all support pixel installation. This lets you track who clicks through to streaming platforms.
Pre-save landing pages. Track who visits your pre-save pages, even if they don't complete the pre-save.
Merch store. Track browse behavior, cart additions, and purchases. Shopify, BigCommerce, and most e-commerce platforms support easy pixel integration.
Step-by-step Meta Pixel installation:
Create your pixel in Meta Business Manager under Data Sources > Pixels
Install the base code on your website (header section)
Configure standard events: PageView, ViewContent, AddToCart, Purchase
Set up Conversions API for server-side tracking (critical for iOS 14+ privacy changes)
Create custom conversions for specific goals like pre-save completions or email signups
Test your implementation using the Facebook Pixel Helper browser extension
Verify events are firing correctly in Events Manager
Standard events to configure for musicians:
PageView: Fires on every page load. This is your broadest retargeting pool.
ViewContent: Fires when someone views specific content like your music page or bio page. Use this for more targeted retargeting.
AddToCart: Fires when someone adds merchandise to their cart. These are high-intent visitors.
Purchase: Fires when someone completes a purchase. Use this for post-purchase upselling and to exclude buyers from acquisition campaigns.
Lead: Fires when someone submits their email. Use to exclude subscribers from list-building campaigns.
Custom events for musicians:
PlaySong: Track music plays on your website or embedded players.
SaveTrack: Monitor playlist additions and song saves.
PreSave: Track pre-save completions for upcoming releases.
ShareContent: Track social sharing to identify your most engaged visitors.
TikTok Pixel Setup
The TikTok Pixel captures user behavior and connects it to TikTok advertising. Install via Events API for better data accuracy in the post-iOS 14 environment.
Essential TikTok Pixel events:
ViewContent: Users who visit your website or music pages.
ClickButton: Users who click streaming platform links.
Subscribe: Users who join email lists or follow profiles.
Purchase: Users who buy merchandise or tickets.
Conversions API Setup
With iOS 14.5+ privacy changes, browser-based pixel tracking has become less reliable. Conversions API sends data directly from your server to Meta, providing more accurate tracking.
Why Conversions API matters:
Browser-based pixels are blocked by many ad blockers and privacy settings. Conversions API bypasses these limitations by sending event data server-side. This improves your audience accuracy and optimization.
Most smart link services (Feature.fm, Hypeddit, SubmitHub Links) now offer built-in Conversions API integration. Enable this when setting up your tracking.
How Do You Build Retargeting Audiences?
Once your pixels are collecting data, you can create custom audiences based on specific behaviors.
Website Visitor Audiences
All website visitors (180 days): Your broadest retargeting pool. Use for general awareness campaigns to keep your music top of mind.
Engaged visitors (90 days): People who spent 2+ minutes on your site or viewed 3+ pages. These visitors showed deeper interest and warrant more aggressive retargeting.
High-intent visitors (30 days): People who added to cart, initiated checkout, or viewed merchandise pages. These are your warmest website visitors.
Time-based segmentation:
The recency of a visit indicates intent level:
1 day: Highest intent, smallest audience. Perfect for immediate follow-up with conversion-focused messaging.
7 days: Good balance of intent and scale. These visitors still remember their interaction clearly.
30 days: Broader reach, moderate intent. Useful for general engagement campaigns.
180 days: Maximum reach, lowest intent. Best for awareness campaigns with new content.
Page-specific audiences:
Music page visitors: Higher intent for new releases. They specifically sought out your music.
Merchandise page visitors: Higher purchase intent. Retarget with product ads and discount offers.
Tour page visitors: Higher ticket purchase intent. Retarget with tour announcements and venue-specific ads.
Bio page visitors: Higher fan development potential. They want to know more about you as an artist.
Video Viewer Audiences
Video completion percentage indicates interest level. Create separate audiences based on watch depth:
25% viewers: Mild interest. These people started watching but didn't commit. Good for awareness campaigns with different content approaches.
50% viewers: Moderate interest. They watched half your video, showing genuine curiosity. Use for engagement campaigns.
75% viewers: High interest. These are warm prospects who invested significant time. Use for conversion campaigns.
95%+ viewers: Very high interest. These people watched almost everything. They're ready for direct conversion asks.
Minimum audience sizes for video viewer retargeting:
For stable ad delivery, you need minimum audience sizes:
25% video viewers: 2,000+ for basic campaigns
50% video viewers: 1,500+ for higher intent targeting
75% video viewers: 1,000+ for highest intent audience
Video completions: 500+ for most qualified audience
Social Engager Audiences
Instagram engagers: Anyone who liked, commented, saved, or shared your content on Instagram. Also includes people who visited your profile or sent you DMs.
Facebook engagers: Anyone who liked, commented, shared, or reacted to your posts. Includes people who engaged with your Facebook Page.
Combined engagement audiences: Create audiences of people who engaged across multiple touchpoints for the highest-quality retargeting.
Customer List Audiences
Upload your existing data for retargeting:
Email subscribers: Your email list uploaded to Meta for direct targeting.
Purchasers: Your customer list from merchandise or ticket sales.
Streaming followers: If you can export follower data (limited availability), use it for retargeting.
Minimum sizes for custom list audiences:
Email subscribers: 500+ for basic campaigns, 2,000+ for scaling
Purchaser lists: 500+ for retargeting, smaller lists can work for exclusions
How Do You Structure Retargeting Campaigns?
Layer your retargeting from broad to specific. Each layer targets a different intent level with appropriate messaging.
The 3-Layer Campaign Structure
Layer 1: Awareness (Broadest)
Audience: All website visitors + all video viewers (25%+) + social engagers
Objective: Keep your music top of mind, build familiarity, introduce new content
Content approach: New music, behind-the-scenes content, personality-focused material. Not asking for anything specific, just maintaining presence.
Budget allocation: 30-40% of retargeting budget
Messaging examples:
"New music coming soon..."
"Here's how this song came together..."
"Thanks for checking out my music"
Layer 2: Consideration (Middle)
Audience: Engaged visitors (2+ minutes or 3+ pages) + 50%+ video viewers + multiple engagement touchpoints
Objective: Deepen relationship, demonstrate value, move toward conversion
Content approach: Deeper content, exclusive previews, artist story, social proof. Begin introducing value propositions.
Budget allocation: 35-45% of retargeting budget
Messaging examples:
"Want early access to my new releases?"
"Here's the story behind the album..."
"Join 10,000 fans getting exclusive content"
Layer 3: Conversion (Narrowest)
Audience: High-intent visitors (cart viewers, checkout starters, merch page visitors) + 75%+ video viewers + email openers who haven't converted
Objective: Drive specific action (pre-save, email signup, purchase)
Content approach: Direct call-to-action, clear value proposition, urgency or exclusivity
Budget allocation: 25-35% of retargeting budget
Messaging examples:
"Pre-save now and be first to hear it"
"Get the exclusive acoustic version when you join the email list"
"Limited edition merch: only 50 remaining"
Sequential Messaging Strategy
Rather than showing the same ad repeatedly, sequence your messaging to guide people through a journey.
Day 1-3 after initial engagement: Show content that acknowledges their interest. Behind-the-scenes, thank you messages, personality content.
Day 4-7: Introduce deeper content. Full song previews, artist story, fan community highlights.
Day 8-14: Add value proposition. What do they get by taking the next step? Exclusive content, early access, community membership.
Day 15-30: Direct conversion ask. Clear CTA with urgency or scarcity elements.
Case Study: Tate McRae Teaser Strategy
Before releasing her single, Tate McRae ran teaser content on TikTok with pixel tracking. She built audiences of users who watched 50% or more of teaser videos, then retargeted them with release announcements.
This pre-release audience building resulted in significantly higher day-one streaming numbers because she was reaching people who had already demonstrated interest.
What Creative Works Best for Retargeting?
Retargeting creative should acknowledge the existing relationship while moving people toward action.
Creative for Each Funnel Stage
Awareness stage creative:
Focus on introducing new content and maintaining presence. Don't ask for anything specific.
New song snippets
Behind-the-scenes studio content
Tour moments and fan interactions
Personal updates and authentic content
Consideration stage creative:
Deepen the relationship by showing more of who you are as an artist.
Full song previews
Artist story and journey
Fan testimonials and social proof
Exclusive content previews
Conversion stage creative:
Direct call-to-action with clear value proposition.
Pre-save announcements with specific benefits
Email signup with exclusive content offer
Merchandise with scarcity messaging
Ticket sales with urgency
Video Creative Best Practices
Acknowledge the relationship: Your creative can subtly acknowledge that they've engaged before. "Thanks for listening" or "Since you watched my last video" creates continuity.
Avoid repetition fatigue: Don't show the same creative repeatedly. Create 3-5 variations for each audience and rotate regularly.
Match the intent level: Don't show hard-sell conversion creative to people who barely know you. Match your ask to their demonstrated interest.
Keep it short for retargeting: 15-30 seconds maximum for most retargeting creative. These people already know you; you don't need to introduce yourself again.
How Do Exclusions Prevent Wasted Spend?
Exclusions are as important as inclusions. Without proper exclusions, you'll waste budget on people who've already converted.
Essential Exclusion Rules
Exclude purchasers from prospecting campaigns. Someone who already bought merchandise shouldn't see ads trying to get them to discover your music.
Exclude email subscribers from list-building campaigns. Don't ask people to join your email list if they're already on it.
Exclude recent converters (7-14 days) from all campaigns. Give people a break after they've taken action. Continued heavy advertising after conversion feels pushy.
Exclude existing followers from follow campaigns. If your goal is to gain followers, exclude people who already follow you.
Building Exclusion Audiences
Create custom audiences specifically for exclusion:
All purchasers (lifetime): Anyone who's ever completed a purchase.
Email subscribers (synced weekly): Upload your email list regularly for exclusion.
Recent converters (rolling 14 days): People who converted in the last 14 days for temporary exclusion.
High-frequency exposed (30 days): People who've seen your ads 10+ times without converting. They may need a break or different approach.
Advanced Exclusion Strategy
Exclude by campaign objective: If running both email capture and merch campaigns, exclude email subscribers from email campaigns and purchasers from acquisition campaigns.
Exclude cross-platform: If someone converted through TikTok, exclude them from Meta acquisition campaigns (upload conversion lists across platforms).
Seasonal exclusions: Exclude recent holiday purchasers from post-holiday campaigns to avoid over-contact.
When Does Retargeting Become Viable?
Retargeting requires minimum audience sizes for stable ad delivery. Running retargeting campaigns with audiences that are too small results in unstable delivery, high costs, and unreliable data.
Minimum Audience Size Requirements
Website visitors:
Minimum: 1,000 visitors in 30 days for stable delivery
Recommended: 2,500+ visitors for consistent performance
Optimal: 5,000+ visitors for reliable scaling
Video viewers:
25% viewers: 2,000+ for basic campaigns
50% viewers: 1,500+ for higher intent targeting
75% viewers: 1,000+ for highest intent audience
Platform engagement:
Page engagement: 3,000+ interactions for effective targeting
Email subscribers: 500+ for basic campaigns, 2,000+ for scaling
Building Audience Before You Can Retarget
If your audiences are too small, focus on building them before spending on retargeting:
Run prospecting campaigns first. Use interest targeting and lookalike audiences to drive traffic to your website and video content. This builds your retargeting pools.
Create engaging video content. Post videos organically to build video viewer audiences before running retargeting campaigns.
Prioritize email capture. Even small email lists can be used for lookalike audiences once you reach 500+ subscribers.
How Do You Optimize Retargeting Performance?
Daily Monitoring Checklist
Check delivery status: Are your campaigns spending? Retargeting campaigns with small audiences sometimes have delivery issues.
Monitor frequency: How many times are people seeing your ads? Frequency above 3-4 typically indicates fatigue.
Review cost per result: Are your costs within target? Retargeting should be cheaper than prospecting.
Check audience overlap: If running multiple retargeting campaigns, ensure audiences aren't overlapping significantly.
Weekly Optimization Actions
Refresh creative: Swap out underperforming creative and introduce new variations.
Adjust audience windows: If 30-day audiences are performing better than 7-day, shift budget accordingly.
Review exclusions: Ensure your exclusion lists are up to date and syncing correctly.
Analyze conversion paths: Which retargeting touchpoints are most effective? Double down on what's working.
Signs You Need to Adjust
High frequency, low conversion: If people are seeing your ads many times without converting, your creative or offer isn't compelling enough.
Rising costs: If retargeting costs are increasing, your audiences may be fatiguing. Refresh creative or expand audiences.
Declining engagement: If click-through rates are dropping, your creative is losing relevance. Time for new content.
Audience shrinking: If your retargeting audiences are getting smaller, your prospecting efforts aren't bringing in enough new people.
How Do You Retarget Across Multiple Platforms?
Cross-platform retargeting creates a cohesive experience as fans move between TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and your website.
Unified Tracking Infrastructure
Install pixels on all platforms. Meta Pixel, TikTok Pixel, and Google Analytics should all track the same properties.
Use consistent UTM parameters. Track campaign sources across all links so you can attribute conversions accurately.
Share audience data. Upload email lists and customer data to each platform for cross-platform retargeting.
Sync conversion data. When someone converts on one platform, exclude them from acquisition campaigns on other platforms.
Sequential Cross-Platform Messaging
TikTok for discovery: Short-form content introduces your music to new audiences.
Instagram/Facebook for deepening: Retarget TikTok engagers with longer-form content and artist story.
YouTube for conversion: Retarget engaged audiences with full music videos and calls to action.
Email for retention: Once someone joins your list, continue the relationship through email rather than paid retargeting.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much should I budget for retargeting?
Allocate 20-30% of your total paid media budget to retargeting. Retargeting is efficient, but you need prospecting campaigns to fill your retargeting pools. Without new traffic, retargeting audiences shrink over time.
How long should I retarget someone?
Most purchases happen within 7-14 days of initial engagement. Beyond 30 days, conversion rates drop significantly. Use shorter windows (7-14 days) for conversion campaigns and longer windows (30-90 days) for awareness campaigns.
What frequency is too high?
Frequency above 3-4 per week typically indicates fatigue. If your frequency is high but conversions are low, refresh your creative or give the audience a break.
Can I retarget people who viewed my Spotify profile?
Not directly. Streaming platforms don't share audience data with advertising platforms. However, you can retarget people who clicked through to Spotify from your smart links (if you have pixel tracking installed on your smart link service).
How do I know if my pixel is working correctly?
Use the Facebook Pixel Helper browser extension to verify your pixel is firing. In Events Manager, check for "Active" status and verify events are being received. Test purchases and signups to confirm conversion events are tracking correctly.
Your Next Step
Check your Meta Pixel health. Go to Events Manager and verify events are firing correctly. If you see "No Activity," your tracking isn't working. Fix this before spending on ads.
If your pixel is working but your audiences are too small, focus on prospecting campaigns to build your retargeting pools. You need at least 1,000 website visitors in 30 days before retargeting becomes viable.
Use AndR to track how your retargeting campaigns correlate with streaming and engagement metrics. Understanding which audiences convert to actual listeners helps you optimize toward real music business outcomes, not just ad platform metrics.
Sources and Further Reading
Meta Business Help Center. Official documentation on custom audience creation, pixel setup, and retargeting best practices.
TikTok for Business. TikTok Pixel implementation guides and Events API documentation.
Feature.fm Analytics. Smart link tracking and pixel integration for cross-platform retargeting.
Music Business Worldwide Digital Marketing Coverage. Industry analysis of artist advertising strategies and campaign case studies.
This article is part of the AndR knowledge base. Use AndR to track how your retargeting campaigns translate into streaming growth and fan engagement.