In performance marketing, not all users are equal.
Someone who has already visited a website or engaged with a product is far more valuable than a random new visitor. Remarketing and interest-based targeting in the Google Display Network (GDN) are designed exactly for this: to re-engage the most promising users with highly relevant, visual ads.
AIRVOLKSMARKETING leverages these tools to increase conversion rates, strengthen brands, and guide users through the entire customer journey.
1. What Remarketing in the Display Network Actually Does
Google Ads remarketing allows advertisers to show ads specifically to people who have previously visited their website or used their app. This is done via a tag or tracking code that builds remarketing lists of past visitors, which can then be targeted across the Display Network, YouTube, and other Google properties.
Numerous studies and industry reports show why this matters:
- Retargeted visitors are significantly more likely to convert than new visitors – estimates often range from ~70% higher conversion probability up to several times higher effectiveness than non-retargeted traffic.
- Returning visitors in general convert at higher rates than new visitors in ecommerce and lead-gen environments.
For AIRVOLKSMARKETING, remarketing lists are therefore not a “nice to have”, but a core asset in any serious Display strategy.
2. How Remarketing Works: From Visit to Targetable Audience
Technically, the foundation is simple:
- Tagging:
A Google Ads or Google Tag Manager remarketing tag is placed on the website. This tag collects anonymised data about visitors (page views, events, etc.). - List Building:
Visitors are grouped into audience lists based on behaviour, such as:- “All visitors – last 30 days”
- “Viewed product pages”
- “Started checkout but did not convert”
- “Visited specific blog content or category pages”
- Targeted Ad Delivery:
These lists are then used in Display campaigns to show tailored ads as users continue to browse the web within the GDN.
AIRVOLKSMARKETING typically segments remarketing lists by intent and funnel stage rather than using a single “all visitors” list, to enable differentiated messaging (e.g., reminder vs. incentive vs. upsell).
3. Interest-Based Targeting: Reaching New But Relevant Users
Beyond remarketing, the Display Network offers interest-based audience segments that help reach new users who behave similarly to existing customers.
3.1 Affinity & In-Market Segments
Google’s affinity and in-market audiences are prebuilt segments:
- Affinity segments: based on long-term interests and lifestyle patterns (e.g., “Health & Fitness Buffs”, “Travel Enthusiasts”).
- In-market segments: users who are currently researching or comparing products/services and are more likely to be in a buying phase.
These segments allow AIRVOLKSMARKETING to target people who have not yet visited the website, but exhibit relevant intent or interest.
3.2 Custom Segments & Custom Audiences
Google Ads also supports custom segments, where advertisers define audiences using keywords, URLs and apps related to their ideal customer. Google then finds users whose behaviour suggests interest in those topics or products.
AIRVOLKSMARKETING uses custom segments, for example, to:
- mirror the behaviour of existing high-value customers,
- target users consuming specific competitor or industry content,
- blend keyword-based and URL-based signals for precise interest profiles.
4. Contextual Targeting: Showing Up in the Right Environment
In addition to audience-based targeting, Display campaigns can target context, such as:
- Topics (e.g., “Travel”, “Real Estate”, “Fitness & Wellness”),
- Keywords in the content of pages,
- Specific placements (certain domains, YouTube channels, apps).
AIRVOLKSMARKETING often combines:
- Contextual targeting to ensure relevance of the environment, and
- audience or remarketing targeting to sharpen user relevance.
This dual approach aligns with best practices for the GDN: reach at scale, but maintain contextual fit and brand safety.
5. Dynamic Remarketing: Personalised Ads at Scale
Standard remarketing shows the same ad to all past visitors.
Dynamic remarketing, by contrast, shows personalised creatives with the exact products or services a user previously viewed – often including price, image and other attributes.
For retail and ecommerce, dynamic remarketing typically requires:
- a Google Merchant Center account with a product feed,
- correctly implemented dynamic tags to capture product IDs and events,
- responsive Display assets to render individualised product ads.
Key benefits of dynamic remarketing:
- Shows exact items users viewed, added to cart, or nearly purchased.
- Can recommend related or complementary products.
- Often achieves higher conversion rates and ROAS compared to generic display, because the relevance is extremely high.
AIRVOLKSMARKETING treats dynamic remarketing as a “king discipline” for accounts with sufficient product data and traffic, especially in ecommerce, travel, and real estate lead-gen with structured inventory.
6. Why Remarketing & Interest-Based Campaigns Are Game-Changing
Studies and platform data highlight several advantages:
- Remarketing campaigns deliver significantly higher conversion rates than non-targeted display campaigns; some analyses report up to 70% higher likelihood to convert or multiple times better performance than generic display.
- Retargeting keeps the brand top-of-mind across devices, influencing later decision moments.
- Interest-based segments help acquire new yet qualified users more efficiently than broad untargeted reach.
For AIRVOLKSMARKETING, the combined impact is:
- Higher conversion rates at comparable or lower cost per acquisition.
- Better utilisation of existing traffic – paid clicks from Search or Social don’t “die” after one visit.
- Stronger brand presence throughout the customer journey via repeated visual exposure.
- Tighter alignment between upper, mid, and lower funnel, because audiences can be moved from prospecting to remarketing and then to conversion-focused campaigns.
7. How AIRVOLKSMARKETING Typically Structures These Campaigns
In a practical setup, AIRVOLKSMARKETING often implements:
- Standard remarketing lists
- e.g. all visitors 30/60/90 days, product viewers, cart abandoners, lead-form starters.
- Dynamic remarketing (where applicable)
- based on Merchant Center or other structured product/service feeds.
- Interest-based prospecting
- using affinity, in-market and custom segments to find “lookalike” users.
- Context + audience combinations
- for better brand safety and relevance, especially in regulated or high-value niches.
- Layered measurement & attribution
- tracking not just last-click conversions, but also assisted conversions and view-through or path-based contributions, in line with modern attribution approaches.
This transforms Remarketing and interest-based Display from a simple “reminder channel” into an integral, data-driven component of the full performance funnel.
References
- Google Ads Help. About Remarketing in Google Ads & About dynamic remarketing for retail.
- Google Developers. Dynamic Remarketing Overview & Merchant Center documentation.
- Google Ads Help. About audience segments & Custom segments.
- Interteam Marketing, Search Engine Land, PPC Land. Affinity and in-market segments & interest-based targeting.
- Invesp, SalesLion, Intoact, 2Stallions. Retargeting and remarketing effectiveness statistics.
- Channable & ClickGuard. Google Display Network quick guides and remarketing best practices.
- Conversios, CustomerLabs, ZeroGravity Marketing. Practical guides to dynamic remarketing implementation and benefits.
