TheRetargetingTrapNobodySees

Retargeting always looks like your highest-performing campaign. The ROAS is extraordinary. The CPA is low. The conversion rate is multiples above everything else. Your agency celebrates it.

But retargeting doesn't create demand. It captures demand you already paid for. And that distinction is the difference between real growth and expensive self-congratulation.

The attribution illusion

A customer visits your site via a generic Shopping ad. They browse, don't buy, and leave. Two days later, a retargeting ad brings them back and they purchase. Google credits the retargeting campaign with the conversion.

But who actually did the work? The Shopping ad found the customer. The retargeting ad just reminded them. Without the first click, the retargeting campaign has nothing to retarget.

The budget trap

Because retargeting always looks like the best performer, there's constant pressure to increase its budget. But scaling retargeting without scaling the campaigns that feed it just means you're paying more to reach the same pool of people, more often.

At some point, you're not retargeting - you're harassing. And the diminishing returns are invisible in the ROAS number because the denominator stays small.

How to measure it properly

Run an incrementality test. Turn retargeting off for a cohort and measure the revenue difference. Most brands find that 60-80% of retargeted conversions would have happened anyway. That means your retargeting campaign isn't performing - it's just claiming credit.