If you want to increase conversions, reduce customer acquisition costs, and reach people who've already shown interest in your business again, understanding how to do remarketing on Google Ads is essential.
This powerful strategy puts your brand in front of the right audience again, at the right time. And when done well, it delivers meaningful results.
Throughout this article, I'll explain in detail how to do remarketing on Google Ads, walk you through the step-by-step, practical strategies, examples, and even how to boost your campaigns with push notifications, creating a more efficient and automated way to reconnect with users.
What is remarketing?
Before understanding how to do remarketing on Google Ads, it's important to be clear on the concept.
Remarketing is a technique that lets you show your ads to people who've already visited your site, interacted with your brand, or taken specific actions, but haven't converted.
This includes adding something to their cart, visiting a product page, downloading an e-book, and more.
The advantage is that these users already know your brand and are closer to making a decision.
With personalized ads and a good strategy, remarketing becomes a powerful tool for increasing sales.
How to install the Google remarketing tag?
Knowing how to install the Google remarketing tag is the first step to activating this strategy.
Step 1: Access your Google Ads account
In the top menu, click “Tools and settings” > “Shared library” > “Audience manager.”
Step 2: Get the tag
Click “Audience source setup” and select “Google Ads tag.” The platform will generate a unique code for you.
Step 3: Install it on your site
You can install it directly in your site's HTML code, or use a tag manager like Google Tag Manager (recommended).
Ideally, place the tag between your site's <head> tags.
This tag will be responsible for tracking visits and actions on your site, building a rich foundation for your remarketing campaigns.
Bonus tip: while the tag handles data collection, you can activate push notifications to capture opted-in visitors and keep nurturing that relationship, even outside the Google environment.
What are the most commonly used remarketing strategies today?
When learning how to do remarketing on Google Ads, it's essential to know the main strategies that produce real results.
One of the simplest and most popular approaches is standard remarketing, which shows ads to people who've already visited your site. This strategy is effective for keeping your brand top of mind and encouraging users to come back.
Another powerful option is dynamic remarketing, which is especially useful for e-commerce.
It shows exactly the products or services the visitor previously viewed, creating a highly personalized experience and considerably increasing the chances of conversion.
It's also worth highlighting remarketing lists for search ads, where instead of showing banners, you reach the user at the moment they're actively searching on Google.
This approach is excellent for capturing qualified leads, right when they're most likely to make a decision.
Finally, there's video remarketing, aimed at people who engage with your content on YouTube.
By advertising to those who watched your videos or engaged with your channel, you reinforce your brand's authority and deepen the relationship with your audience in a continuous, strategic way.
5. Campaigns combined with push notifications
You can trigger push notifications based on the user's behavior on your site.
Example: did someone abandon their cart? Send a push and reinforce it with remarketing on Google. The combined impact generates even bigger results.
What's the difference between a pixel and a tag?
This is a common question for those just starting to understand how to do remarketing on Google Ads.
Pixel
The pixel is a snippet of code used, for example, on Facebook Ads. It also collects browsing and conversion data, but it's tied to the Meta environment (Facebook and Instagram).
Tag
The Google Ads tag works similarly, but within the Google ecosystem. It collects data for remarketing, conversions, and can also be used for Google Analytics and other products.
In short: both are used to track user actions, but on different platforms. It's entirely possible (and recommended) to use pixel + tag + push notifications together, creating a smart web of data and automation.
How to do remarketing on Google Ads: step by step
Now let's go through the practical process of how to do remarketing on Google Ads:
1. Install the remarketing tag
As we saw above, this is the foundation. Without it, Google won't be able to track your visitors and build audiences.
2. Create audience lists
Go to “Audience manager” and create your lists based on:
- Visitors of a specific URL
- People who stayed X minutes on the site
- Those who added something to their cart but didn't buy
- Those who visited specific categories
You can create different lists based on behavior and deliver more personalized messages.
3. Create your remarketing campaign
Go to Google Ads > “New Campaign.” Choose your objective (such as Sales or Leads) and, when setting up the audience, select the list you created.
You can target different channels: Display Network, YouTube, Gmail, and Search.
4. Create compelling ads
Keep in mind that the user has already seen your brand. Now it's time to convince them to come back. Use mental triggers like urgency, social proof, discounts, and testimonials.
Include strong calls to action (CTAs), such as:
- “Come back and get 10% off”
- “The product you saw is still available!”
- “Only today: free shipping for you!”
Integrate push notifications to remind the user instantly and directly, such as: “Did you forget something in your cart?” or “We have a special deal for you today!”
5. Track and optimize
Monitor metrics such as:
- Conversion rate
- Cost per click (CPC)
- Cost per acquisition (CPA)
- Impression frequency
Test different creatives, channels, and audiences. Constant adjustments make all the difference in final performance.
How to use push notifications to boost your remarketing?
Push notifications are a direct and effective channel to complement your remarketing efforts once you already know how to do remarketing on Google Ads.
They appear in the user's browser or on their phone, even when they're not on your site. A leader in push notification innovation is AI Web Push, which makes automated marketing easier with artificial intelligence.
Benefits:
- High delivery and open rates
- Zero cost per send (unlike paid clicks)
- Behavior-based automation
- Message personalization
Automation example: if a user visits a product page and leaves, you can send a push 10 minutes later with an offer.
If they still don't convert, trigger Google Ads with a targeted ad. This combined effort generates more sales with less effort.
Master remarketing on Google Ads and boost your results
Learning how to do remarketing on Google Ads is essential for any digital strategy aimed at conversion, loyalty, and return on investment.
By intelligently using tags, custom lists, and strategic creatives, you can reach the people who really matter again: those who already know your brand.
By combining this technique with push notifications, you create a complete, automated, and highly personalized experience, increasing the impact of your communication and strengthening the relationship with your audience.
Now that you know how to do remarketing on Google Ads, it's time to put it into practice and turn clicks into real results!