Hi there,
Thanks for reaching out. A campaign with that kind of budget is a serious undertaking, so it's right to be questioning every part of the strategy, especially the retargeting creative. It's a common sticking point.
Happy to give you some of my initial thoughts and guidance based on what you've shared. The short answer is yes, you absolutely must retarget, but your question about creative points to a much bigger, and more important, issue. It's not just about what ad you show them next; it's about understanding why they didn't convert in the first place and having a full-funnel system in place to handle it. A lot of agencies miss this part.
We'll need to look at why they're not converting...
Before we even get to the retargeting creative, we have to look at the initial experience. With a budget of $200k-$400k, you're going to be pushing a massive amount of traffic to that landing page. If that page has any friction, you're not just losing leads, you're actively burning thousands of pounds a day. Retargeting can't fix a broken first impression, it can only try to patch it up.
I've looked at countless campaigns where the focus is on optimising the ads, when the real problem is a landing page that’s working against them. You mention your team will "optimise the funnel as best as I can", but what does that actually mean? Often, it's things people overlook:
-> Your Offer Itself: Is a "lead form signup" a compelling enough offer? For many businesses, especially if the commitment feels big or the value isn't immediately obvious, a simple "contact us" form is one of the weakest offers you can make. It screams "I want to sell you something". We'll come back to this, because it's probably the most important part of this whole letter.
-> The Landing Page Copy: Does your headline speak directly to their biggest problem? Most B2B copy is sterile and talks about features. It says "We sell fractional CFO services". Who cares? Nobody wakes up thinking "I need a fractional CFO today". They wake up terrified that their cash flow is a mess and they might miss payroll. Your copy needs to reflect that pain. One framework we use with our copywriters is Problem-Agitate-Solve. For example:
"Are your cash flow projections just a shot in the dark? (Problem) Are you one bad month away from a crisis while competitors are confidently raising their next round? (Agitate) Get expert financial strategy for a fraction of a full-time hire. We build dashboards that turn uncertainty into predictable growth. (Solve)"
That's a world away from "Sign up for more information". You have to enter the conversation they're already having in their head. If your copy isn't doing this, your conversion rate will suffer, and your retargeting pool will be full of confused, uninterested people.
-> The Friction of the Form: How many fields are in your lead form? Are you asking for their name, email, phone number, company name, job title, inside leg measurement? Every extra field you add will decimate your conversion rate. Only ask for the absolute bare minimum you need to qualify them. You can gather more information on the follow-up call. If your form is long, that's likely a huge reason people are clicking away.
Honestly, getting this top-of-funnel experience right is 80% of the battle. Your "overcompensated media buyer" should be having these tough conversations with you. If they're just focused on CPC and CTR, they're missing the plot.
I'd say you need a proper audience strategy...
Right, so on to your actual question. "Would you even retarget in the first place?"
Yes. 100%. To not retarget with that kind of budget would be marketing malpractice. People are busy. They get distracted. Their boss walks in, their kid starts crying, they get a notification. They might have been genuinely interested but just didn't have the time to finish. Retargeting is your second, third, and fourth chance to bring them back.
But it has to be structured. When I audit Meta accounts, the biggest mess I see is in the audience setup. People just lump all "website visitors" into one bucket and show them the same ad again. You need to be more sophisticated than that.
Think of your audiences in terms of a funnel: Top (ToFu), Middle (MoFu), and Bottom (BoFu). The people who clicked your ad but didn't convert are a core MoFu audience.
Here’s how I’d priortise and structure the audiences for a lead-gen campaign like yours. The further down the list, the 'warmer' the audience, and the better they should perform.
| Funnel Stage | Audience Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| ToFu (Cold Traffic) | Detailed Targeting | Your primary prospecting. Interests, behaviours, demographics that match your ideal customer profile (ICP). This is where you test your core assumptions about who your customer is. |
| ToFu (Cold Traffic) | Lookalike Audiences | Create lookalikes based on your best custom audiences first. A lookalike of past customers is gold. Then work down to lookalikes of people who submitted a lead, visited the landing page, etc. |
| MoFu (Warm Traffic) | Landing Page Visitors (30/60/90 Days) | This is your core retargeting audience. People who showed intent by clicking but didn't convert. You MUST exclude people who already submitted the lead form. |
| MoFu (Warm Traffic) | Video Viewers (50%+) | If you're using video ads, people who watched a significant portion are highly engaged. Retarget them with a more direct call to action. |
| BoFu (Hot Traffic) | Form Abandoners | If your form is on a seperate page or you can track 'form interaction' events, these people are on the finish line. They need a gentle nudge, maybe addressing a final concern. |
You run seperate campaigns or ad sets for each stage of this funnel. Your ToFu ads are about grabbing attention and identifying a problem. Your MoFu/BoFu ads (the retargeting) are for building trust and closing the deal. You definately don't show them the same creative.
You probably should hit them with different creative angles...
So, what do you show them? You're right on the money with your thinking: hit home the value and handle objections. They didn't sign up for a reason. Your job in retargeting is to guess that reason and give them the answer.
Don't just run one retargeting ad. Create a small campaign with multiple ad creatives, each tackling a different potential objection or reinforcing a different value prop. Here are some angles you should be testing:
1. The Social Proof Angle (Handles "I don't trust you"):
This is probably the most powerful. Use a customer testimonial, a case study result, a clip from a client interview, or even just a quote in an image ad.
Sample Copy: "Still on the fence? Here’s what [Similar Company Name] achieved after filling out that form. [Insert powerful result: e.g., 'They cut their project delivery time by 40% in 60 days.'] See the full story."
2. The Objection Handler Angle (Handles "It seems complicated/expensive/time-consuming"):
Directly address what you think is stopping them. Be brutally honest.
Sample Copy: "Think this will be a massive, complicated project? It's not. Our process is just 3 steps. 1. A quick 15-min chat to see if we're a fit. 2. We handle the rest. 3. You see the results. It’s that simple. Let’s book that first chat."
3. The Value Prop Reinforcement Angle (Handles "I'm not sure it's worth it"):
Remind them of the core benefit. What is the 'after' state they will acheive? Don't talk about your service; talk about their transformation. I remember one campaign for a medical job matching SaaS where we had to do this constantly, we managed to reduce their CPA from £100 down to just £7 by focusing relentlessly on the 'dream job' outcome for the user.
Sample Copy: "Imagine opening your report next month and seeing [Specific Positive Outcome]. That journey starts here. Don't let [Specific Negative Consequence] hold you back any longer."
4. The Urgency/Scarcity Angle (Handles "I'll do it later"):
This needs to be used carefully and genuinely. Is your campaign only running until summer? Use that.
Sample Copy: "Our summer intake is closing soon. This is your last chance to get [Your Offer] before we're booked out. Don't miss it."
You should test different formats for these angles too. A short, authentic-looking UGC (user-generated content) style video of a happy client can outperform a slick, corporate video. A simple carousel ad breaking down your 3-step process can be more effective than a single image. You need to be testing these combinations relentlessly.
| Potential Objection | Creative Angle to Test | Ad Format Idea |
|---|---|---|
| "I don't trust this company." | Testimonial / Case Study | Short video of a client, or a carousel ad with results. |
| "I'm not convinced of the value." | Reinforce core benefit / transformation | Image ad with a powerful 'After' state headline. |
| "It seems too complex or a hassle." | Simplify the process / Explain what happens next | Carousel ad breaking down "How it Works in 3 Steps". |
| "I'll get around to it later." | Introduce genuine scarcity or urgency | Ad copy with a clear deadline and countdown timer if possible. |
You'll need a better offer... so delete the 'lead form' button
Ok, maybe not delete it entirely, but you need to seriously challenge it. This is the bit of advice that most agencies are too scared to give. They'll happily take your money to send traffic to whatever page you give them. A real expert questions the foundation.
The "Request a Demo" or "Contact Us for a Quote" button is the most arrogant, high-friction call to action in marketing. It asks for everything from the prospect and offers nothing of immediate value in return. It presumes they have time to be sold to.
Your offer’s only job is to deliver a moment of undeniable value—an "aha!" moment that makes the prospect sell themselves on your solution. With a $400k budget, you have the firepower to test some truly high-value offers that will crush a simple lead form.
Instead of just retargeting with ads that say "Hey, come back and fill out our form!", what if you retargeted with an offer that solves a small piece of their problem for free? You give value first, to earn their trust and their contact details.
For example, instead of a lead form, could you offer:
-> A Free, Automated Tool? For a marketing agency, this could be a free SEO audit. For a finance consultant, a 'Business Health Score' calculator.
-> A High-Value Content Asset? Not a flimsy blog post. A comprehensive, beautifully designed PDF guide, a state of the industry report, a downloadable spreadsheet template that helps them do their job better.
-> A Free, Interactive Taster? For a training company, a free 15-minute video module. For a SaaS, a limited free trial or freemium plan is the gold standard. I remember one B2B SaaS client generated over 1,500 trials just by making the offer frictionless.
When you shift the offer from "Give me your details so I can sell to you" to "Give me your email and I'll send you this incredibly useful thing for free", the entire dynamic changes. Your CPL will likely go down, but more importantly, the quality of your leads will skyrocket. The person who downloads a guide on 'How to Fix Cash Flow Issues' is infinitely more qualified than someone who just vaguely clicked a 'Learn More' button. This is how you pre-qualify people properly.
I've detailed my main recommendations for you below:
| Challenge Area | My Recommended Solution |
|---|---|
| Weak Initial Conversion | Stop focusing only on the ads. Audit the landing page ruthlessly. Rewrite copy to focus on pain points (Problem-Agitate-Solve). Drastically simplify the lead form to the absolute minimum fields required. |
| Ineffective Retargeting | Stop showing the same ad again. Build a dedicated MoFu/BoFu retargeting campaign that systematically tests different creative angles: social proof, objection handling, value reinforcement, and urgency. Use a mix of video, carousel, and image formats. |
| Disorganised Audience Structure | Implement a proper ToFu/MoFu/BoFu structure. Create distinct audiences for Landing Page Visitors, Video Viewers, and Form Abandoners. Critically, ensure you are excluding converted leads from all retargeting audiences to prevent wasted spend and annoyance. |
| High-Friction Offer | Challenge the "lead form" itself. Brainstorm and test higher-value, lower-friction offers in your retargeting (or even ToFu) campaigns. Offer a free guide, tool, checklist, or case study to provide value first and generate higher quality, more motivated leads. |
A campaign of this magnitude needs more than just a media buyer to press the buttons. It needs a strategic partner who can challenge your assumptions and build a complete system from the initial click to the final conversion. Tbh, a lot of what I've outlined here is what separates a standard campaign from one that genuinely delivers massive returns.
If you'd like to go through this in more detail and have us take a proper look at your current strategy and setup, we offer a free, no-obligation initial consultation. It's a 20-minute strategy session where we can give you some more specific pointers for your situation.
Hope this helps!
Regards,
Team @ Lukas Holschuh
