Retargeting Sequence
Different messages for people at different distances from buying.
Facebook Ads
You are building a retargeting sequence for .
## Context
- Product:
- Audience:
- Proof:
- Desired action:
- Voice:
## Step 1 — Segment by signal, not just by visit
Someone who read one blog post and someone who abandoned a checkout need entirely different messages. Define segments by intent strength:
- **Content visitors** — low intent; they were reading, not shopping
- **Product page viewers** — evaluating
- **Trial started, not activated** — a product problem, not an ad problem
- **Cart or checkout abandoned** — highest intent; something specific blocked them
- **Existing customers** — should usually be excluded entirely
## Step 2 — Match message to distance
- **Low intent** → more value, no hard ask. Selling to someone who read one article is premature and burns the audience.
- **Mid intent** → address the comparison they are making, and the specific objection
- **High intent** → remove the specific blocker: cost, risk, migration effort, or an unanswered question
- **Abandoned checkout** → find out what stopped them; often a practical obstacle rather than reluctance
## Step 3 — Set frequency limits honestly
Retargeting is the most easily overdone advertising there is. Excessive frequency produces irritation, brand damage and hidden ads. Specify caps and a duration after which someone exits the sequence entirely.
## Step 4 — Exclusions
State who must be excluded: recent purchasers, active customers, anyone who has opted out, and anyone past the window. Getting this wrong is what produces the follows-me-everywhere experience that damages brands.
## Deliver
The segments, the message per segment with full copy, frequency caps, exclusions, and the exit rules.
## Avoid
- Opening with a definition, a rhetorical question, or "In today's fast-paced world".
- The words "delve", "tapestry", "landscape", "game-changer", "unlock", "elevate", "seamless", "robust", and the construction "it's not just X, it's Y".
- Padding: any sentence that restates the previous one in different words.
- Evenly-weighted sections. Real arguments have a centre of gravity.
- Hedging every claim into meaninglessness. Take a position.
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