Solved: Failing Sales Retargeting (Simple Segmentation Fix)

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out!

Happy to give you some initial thoughts on your retargeting troubles. It's a really common problem, and tbh, most people get it wrong. They think retargeting is just about showing the same ad to people who've visited their site, hoping they'll eventually give in and buy. That almost never works.

The real issue, and what we'll need to sort out, is that effective retargeting isn't about *repeating* a message; it's about *continuing a conversation*. Your visitors didn't buy for a reason. Our job is to figure out that reason and tailor a new message that addresses their specific doubt or hesitation. It's a bit more involved than just ticking the "retargeting" box, but when you get it right, it's incredibly powerful. Let's get into it.

We'll need to look at why your retargeting is failing... and it's probably not the retargeting.

Here’s the brutally honest truth that most agencies won’t tell you: if your retargeting campaigns are failing, the problem almost certainly isn't your retargeting campaign. The problem is your initial, top-of-funnel campaign. It's the classic "garbage in, garbage out" scenario. You can have the most sophisticated, perfectly segmented retargeting machine in the world, but if you're feeding it with uninterested, unqualified, or just plain wrong traffic in the first place, you're just wasting money faster.

Think about it. You're based in Prague, selling a product or service. You run an initial ad campaign on Facebook or Google. Someone clicks. They land on your site, have a quick look around, and leave. Your retargeting pixel fires, and you start chasing them across the internet. But why did they click in the first place? Was it genuine interest, or just idle curiosity? Did your ad promise something your website couldn't deliver? Did it attract someone who could never afford your product anyway?

This is where so many businesses go wrong. They create broad, generic ads that appeal to everyone and therefore, no one. They target "people interested in business" or some other uselessly vague demographic. The result? A flood of cheap clicks from people who have zero intention of ever becoming a customer. Retargeting these people is like trying to sell steak to a vegetarian who accidentally walked into a butcher's shop. It doesn't matter how good your sales pitch is; they were never the right customer to begin with.

To fix this, you have to stop thinking about your customer as a demographic ("men aged 25-40 in Prague"). That tells you nothing. You need to define them by their pain. Their nightmare. What is the specific, urgent, and expensive problem that keeps them up at night? What are they secretly terrified of? I remember one of our clients, a legal tech SaaS, whose ideal customer's nightmare wasn't 'needing document management'. It was 'a partner missing a critical filing deadline and exposing the firm to a malpractice suit.' That's a real, tangible fear. Your ads need to speak directly to *that* nightmare.

Only when your initial ads are attracting people who feel that pain will your retargeting pool be filled with genuinely potential customers. These are people who understand the problem you solve, they're just not convinced *you're* the right solution yet. And that's a conversation we can win.

I'd say you need to get your audience segmentation right...

Okay, so let's assume you've fixed your top-of-funnel ads and you're now attracting the right kind of people to your website. The next massive mistake I see people make is treating all website visitors the same. They create one audience – "All Website Visitors - 30 Days" – and show everyone the exact same retargeting ad. This is just lazy. It's like a shop assistant shouting the same sales pitch at someone who just walked in the door as they would to someone who's at the till with their wallet out.

You have to segment your audience based on their behaviour, because their behaviour tells you how interested they are and what they're thinking. A visitor who bounces from your homepage after five seconds is completely different from someone who viewed three different product pages, added one to their cart, and then left. They are at different stages of the buying journey and need completely different messages.

This is where we use a simple funnel structure for our campaigns: ToFu (Top of Funnel), MoFu (Middle of Funnel), and BoFu (Bottom of Funnel). Your initial campaign is ToFu. Your retargeting campaigns are MoFu and BoFu.

-> MoFu (Middle of Funnel) Audiences: These are your tyre-kickers and window-shoppers. They've shown some interest, but it's not super strong yet. They are problem-aware but not necessarily solution-aware, or at least not convinced your solution is the one. Your job here isn't to force a sale, it's to build trust, educate, and stay top-of-mind.

• All website visitors (excluding converters and BoFu audiences)
• People who viewed a specific product or service page
• People who watched 50% of one of your videos
• People who engaged with your social media page

-> BoFu (Bottom of Funnel) Audiences: These are the people who are on the verge of buying. They've sent you massive buying signals. Something just stopped them at the last minute – maybe they got distracted, had a question about shipping, or wanted to compare prices. These are your hottest leads, and your ads to them need to be direct, overcome objections, and create a sense of urgency.

• Added to cart
• Initiated checkout
• Viewed the checkout page
• Added payment info

For an eCommerce business, this separation is everything. I remember one campaign we ran for a women's apparel brand where we achieved a 691% return on ad spend. Getting results like this requires a sophisticated approach; for example, general visitors might see ads about the brand's story (MoFu), while cart abandoners see a direct reminder of the item they left behind with a message about limited stock (BoFu).

You need to go into your ad platform (whether it's Meta, Google, or something else) and build these custom audiences based on pixel events or URLs visited. Don't just lump everyone together. By separating them, you can start having a much more relevant, and therefore more profitable, conversation.

You probably should rethink your retargeting offer...

So you've got the right people coming to your site, and you've segmented them properly. Now, what do you actually *say* to them? As I mentioned, just showing them the same ad they already saw and ignored is a waste of time and money. They've seen your initial offer, and for whatever reason, they said "no thanks." You need a new offer.

Your retargeting offer must be tailored to the audience segment you're speaking to. It has to address their specific level of intent and the likely reason they didn't convert.

For your MoFu (Middle Funnel) audiences, the ones who just browsed a bit, you need to back off the hard sell. They're not ready. Pushing a "BUY NOW!" message at them is just going to annoy them. Instead, you need to provide value and build trust. The goal is to make them think, "Hmm, these guys really know their stuff. I should keep them in mind."

Some MoFu offers that work well:

• Social Proof: Show them your best customer testimonials, case studies, or press mentions. If other people trust you, maybe they should too.
• Educational Content: Offer them a free guide, checklist, or webinar that helps them solve a small part of their problem. For example, if you sell high-end cameras, a MoFu ad could offer a "Free 5-Step Guide to Taking Better Portraits." You're giving value first to earn the right to ask for the sale later.
• Brand Story: Tell them what makes you different. Why did you start the business? What's your mission? This helps build an emotional connection that goes beyond price.

For your BoFu (Bottom Funnel) audiences, you can be much more direct. These people were *this close* to buying. Your job is to give them a gentle nudge over the finish line by removing whatever friction or doubt is in their way.

Some BoFu offers that work wonders:

• The Cart Reminder: The most classic and effective BoFu ad. Show them the exact product they left in their cart. Use ad formats like carousels or Dynamic Product Ads to make it personal. The copy can be simple: "Still thinking it over?" or "Did you forget something?"
• The Objection Crusher: What are the common reasons people hesitate? Shipping costs? Return policy? Lack of reviews? Your BoFu ad should tackle these head-on. "Enjoy Free Shipping on Your Order" or "Backed by our 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee."
• The Scarcity Nudge: This needs to be used ethically, but it's powerful. "Only 3 left in stock!" or "Your 10% discount code expires tonight." This creates urgency and encourages immediate action. I remember for one eCommerce client selling maps, we generated $71k in revenue with an 8x return by focusing our campaigns on these high-intent moments.

Remember, the offer isn't just a discount. It's the entire package of what you're presenting in the ad – the message, the creative, and the call-to-action. By tailoring it to the user's journey, you show them that you understand where they are, which makes them far more likely to listen.

You'll need to understand your numbers to make this work...

This might be the most important part of the entire letter. You can have the perfect audience and the perfect offer, but if you don't understand your numbers, you're operating in the dark. So many business owners are obsessed with a single metric, usually Cost Per Lead (CPL) or Cost Per Acquisition (CPA). They have a random number in their head ("My CPA must be under £20!") without any real logic behind it. This leads to terrible decisions, like turning off campaigns that are actually profitable in the long run.

The real question isn't "How low can my CPA go?" It's "How high a CPA can I *afford* to acquire a great customer?" The answer to that question lies in a metric called Customer Lifetime Value (LTV).

Your LTV tells you the total profit you can expect to make from a single customer over the entire course of their relationship with your business. Once you know this number, everything else falls into place. The calculation is pretty straightforward, you just need a few key figures from your business:

1. Average Revenue Per Account (ARPA): What's the average amount a customer spends with you each month?
2. Gross Margin %: What's your profit margin on that revenue? (Revenue - Cost of Goods Sold) / Revenue.
3. Monthly Churn Rate %: What percentage of your customers do you lose each month?

The formula is:

LTV = (ARPA * Gross Margin %) / Monthly Churn Rate

Let's run a quick example. Say you run a subscription box service in Prague.

• ARPA = 1,200 CZK (~£40)
• Gross Margin = 75%
• Monthly Churn Rate = 5%

LTV = (£40 * 0.75) / 0.05

LTV = £30 / 0.05 = £600

This means that, on average, each new customer you acquire is worth £600 in profit to your business over their lifetime. Now we can work backwards. A healthy, sustainable business model often aims for a 3:1 LTV to Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) ratio. This means you have a buffer for other business costs and can reinvest in growth.

So, with an LTV of £600, you can afford to spend up to £200 to acquire a single new customer (your target CAC). Suddenly, a £50 CPA on your retargeting campaign doesn't look so bad, does it? It looks like an absolute bargain. You're paying £50 to make £600. You should be doing that all day long.

Without knowing your LTV, you're just guessing. You're making emotional decisions based on gut feelings about ad costs. This simple calculation gives you a data-driven framework for every decision you make about your ad spend. It empowers you to scale aggressively and intelligently, knowing that every pound you spend is building long-term value.

This is the main advice I have for you:

I know we've covered a lot, and it can seem a bit overwhelming. But it really boils down to a clear, repeatable process. The chaotic, "let's just try stuff" approach to ads is why so many businesses fail. A structured, strategic approach is how you win. I've put together a summary table below that lays out the exact action plan you should follow. This is the framework we use for our own clients, from small eCommerce stores to B2B SaaS companies, and it works.

This isn't just theory. This is a practical roadmap. Start by fixing your ToFu ads to attract the right people. Then, build out these separate MoFu and BoFu audiences in your ad account. Craft the specific messages and offers for each. And finally, track your results against the right KPIs, always with your LTV in mind. It's a process of continuous optimisation, not a one-time fix. We've seen how a structured approach can deliver powerful results. For one client in student recruitment, we reduced their Cost Per Booking by 80%, and for another, a medical job matching SaaS, we helped reduce their CPA from a painful £100 all the way down to just £7.

Putting all these pieces together—the top-of-funnel audit, the audience segmentation, the tailored offers, and the LTV calculations—takes time and expertise. It's what we do every single day. We've managed campaigns for dozens of businesses, from eCommerce to complex B2B software, and helped them navigate these exact challenges.

If you feel like you'd rather have an expert pair of eyes on your ad account to build out this kind of robust strategy for your business in Prague, we offer a completely free, no-obligation initial consultation. We can jump on a call, review your current campaigns together, and identify the biggest opportunities for improvement. It's often the quickest way to get clarity and see what's truly possible.

Hope this helps!

Regards,

Team @ Lukas Holschuh