Solved: Reach vs Conversion Campaigns for Remarketing

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out!

That's a really interesting question you've asked. It's something that comes up a fair bit, the idea of using Reach campaigns for remarketing to save a bit of money. I'm happy to give you my thoughts on it based on the campaigns we've run for our clients. The short answer is, it's probably not the best way to go about it if revenue is your main goal. I'll explain why below.

We'll need to look at what you're telling the algorithm to do...

Here is the uncomfortable truth about awareness campaigns on platforms like Meta. When you set your campaign objective to "Reach," you are giving the algorithm a very specific command: "Find me the largest number of people inside my chosen audience for the lowest possible price."

The algorithm, being a very literal machine, does exactly what you asked. It hunts down the users who are least likely to click, least likely to engage, and absolutely, positively least likely to ever pull out a credit card. Why? Because those users are not in demand by other advertisers. Their attention is cheap. By choosing 'Reach', you are actively paying the world's most powerful advertising machine to find you the worst possible segment of your own remarketing audience.

I know it feels counter-intuitive. You think, "these people already know me, I just need to stay in front of them". But the system doesn't see it that way. It just sees a command to get cheap impressions. It doesn't care if those impressions lead to a sale. It has fulfilled its objective by showing your ad to someone for a fraction of a penny, even if that person has a history of never buying anything from an ad.

The best form of "brand awareness," even for existing customers, is them buying from you again and having another great experience. That only happens through conversion. True top-of-mind awareness is a byproduct of delivering value and making sales, not a prerequiste for it. That is why, to find customers that will actually buy from you, you should switch your campaign to optimise for a conversion objective, like sales.

I'd say you should align your campaign goal with your business goal...

This is probably the most important rule in paid advertising. If you want sales, you must tell the platform you want sales. It sounds simple, but it's where most people go wrong. By choosing the 'Sales' (or 'Website Conversions') objective, you're giving the algorithm a completely different command: "Find me the people in this audience who are most likely to complete a purchase on my website, and I'm willing to pay a premium for those specific people."

Now, the algorithm goes to work for you. It ignores the passive scrollers and people who never click. Instead, it analyses the billions of data points it has and identifies the users in your remarketing list who have a history of making online purchases, who have recently bought similar items, and who are showing behavioural signals that they're in a buying mood. Your Cost Per Mille (CPM) will be higher, yes. But your Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) will be far lower, and your Return On Ad Spend (ROAS) will actually exist.

We see this play out time and time again. For one of our eCommerce clients selling cleaning products, we generated a 633% return. For another selling maps, we hit an 8x return. For a women's apparel brand, a 691% return. Every single one of these campaigns was optimised for conversions, not reach. If we had used a Reach objective, the results would have been a disaster. The 'impact on revenue' you're looking for comes directly from optimising for that exact outcome.

You probably should structure your remarketing properly...

Just targeting "all website visitors" with one ad set is another common mistake. Not all visitors are equal. Someone who bounced off your homepage is very different from someone who added a £200 item to their cart and abandoned it at checkout. Lumping them all together means you're delivering the wrong message to most of them.

I would usually prioritize audiences based on how far down the funnel they are. The closer they are to buying, the more valuable they are and the more you should be willing to spend to bring them back. Here’s a typical structure we would use for an eCommerce client.

For your remarketing, I would split it into at least two campaigns:

1. MoFu (Middle of Funnel) Remarketing:

This is for people who have shown some interest but aren't close to buying yet. The goal is to bring them back and get them to engage more deeply.

• Audiences: All website visitors (last 30-90 days), people who viewed a product page, people who watched 50% of one of your video ads. Make sure to EXCLUDE anyone who added to cart or purchased.
• Message: The message here can be a bit broader. Showcase your brand, highlight different product categories, or share customer testimonials.

2. BoFu (Bottom of Funnel) Remarketing:

This is your highest-intent audience. These are people who were on the verge of buying. You need to be aggressive here and give them a reason to complete the purchase now.

• Audiences: Added to Cart (last 7-14 days), Initiated Checkout (last 7-14 days). EXCLUDE purchasers.
• Message: Be very direct. Use Dynamic Product Ads (DPA) to show them the exact item they left behind. Consider a small incentive like "Complete your order and get free shipping" or a 10% discount code. Create urgency.

By splitting your audiences like this, you can tailor your message and your budget to the intent level of the user, which is far more effective and profitable than a one-size-fits-all Reach campaign.

You'll need to reframe how you think about cost...

The real question isn't "How low can my CPM go?" but "How high a CPA can I afford to acquire a truly great customer?" The answer is all about Lifetime Value (LTV). If you don't know this number, you're flying blind and making decisions based on the wrong metrics. A cheap lead that never buys again is infinitely more expensive than a pricier lead who becomes a loyal, repeat customer.

Let's do some quick maths. It's usually calculated like this:

LTV = (Average Revenue Per Account * Gross Margin %) / Monthly Churn Rate

If that looks confusing, don't worry. I've built a simple calculator for you below. Play around with the sliders to see how small changes in churn or average revenue can massively impact how much a customer is worth to you.

Once you know your LTV, your whole perspective changes. Suddenly, paying a higher CPM for a conversion campaign that delivers customers worth £1,400 doesn't seem expensive at all. It looks like a bargain. This is the maths that unlocks intelligent, profitable growth and frees you from the trap of chasing cheap, useless impressions with Reach campaigns.

This is the main advice I have for you:

To wrap things up, here are the actionable steps I'd recommend you take. This is the approach we'd implement for a client in your situation to move away from ineffective strategies and towards a profitable remarketing system.

I know this might seem like a lot to take in, especially when the common wisdom is just to "get your brand out there". But for small and growing businesses, every pound spent on advertising has to work towards generating revenue. Shifting your mindset and your strategy from 'Reach' to 'Conversion' is the single most impactful change you can make to your remarketing efforts.

Running ads effectively is about a lot more than just setting up a campaign and hoping for the best. It's about a deep understanding of the platform's algorithms, audience psychology, and the underlying economics of your business. It takes expertise to build and manage a system like the one I've outlined.

If you feel like this is a bit overwhelming or you'd just rather have an expert handle it for you, that's what we do. We often start with a free, no-obligation strategy session where we can look at your specific ad account and give you some tailored advice. It might be helpful to have a second pair of eyes on it.

Hope this helps!

Regards,

Team @ Lukas Holschuh