Using Behavioral Targeting in Your Funnel

Should you retarget by intent? We ran the test... Most B2B retargeting looks something like this: Someone visits your site, any page at all…and immediately: they’re getting hit with “Book a demo” or “Start your free trial” ads. No nuance. No context. Just one-size-fits-all messaging chasing every visitor around the internet. It’s simple. It’s easy. But also pretty broken. Here’s why: > Not everyone on your site is in the same headspace. > Blog readers aren’t ready to talk to sales. > Product page visitors are curious but not convinced. And people on the demo page? They’re this close but something’s holding them back. Treating all three the same? That’s how you burn ad dollars without actually building pipeline. So we ran a test. One of our clients had a basic retargeting setup. One campaign. One CTA. One generic message. We broke it apart and rebuilt it based on intent. ___________________________ Here’s how we segmented it: Blog readers Top-of-funnel folks in research mode. → We showed them value-first content: guides, checklists, downloads. Product & feature page visitors Mid-funnel visitors sniffing around the solution. → We served ROI calculators, interactive tools, and “how do you stack up” style CTAs. Pricing/demo page visitors Bottom-of-funnel leads with real buying signals. → They saw direct “Book a demo” and “Start your trial” ads with tons of social proof. ___________________________ Here’s what happened over 60 days: Old campaign (one-size-fits-all): > Low click-through rates (~0.4%) > Modest form fill volume > Demo-to-close rates hovering around 17% New segmented retargeting: > 3.1x higher CTR > 2.4x more total form fills > 29% increase in demo-to-close conversion from high-intent segments ___________________________ Better message-match. Cleaner funnel transitions. Better results.

$15K/month in linkedin ads. 20 meetings. 2 deals closed. three weeks later: same budget, same meetings. 12 deals closed. the difference? we stopped ignoring the buying signals hiding in plain sight: the founder was proud of his engagement numbers. 400 likes on his last post. 56 comments from prospects. "we're getting meetings," he said. "but we're leaving money on the table." i looked at his linkedin ads manager. CPL had skyrocketed to $180 per lead. all because he was targeting specific companies. "the more you target on linkedin," i explained, "the more linkedin charges you for those clicks." he was paying premium prices for basic demographic targeting. company size. industry. job title. zero intelligence about buying intent. "linkedin's targeting is company demographic level," i said. "they're not looking at website behavior or buying signals." then i showed him what we were missing. his viral post about sales automation got 56 comments. - 3 of those commenters had visited his pricing page that week. - 2 had downloaded his ROI calculator. - 1 had been researching competitors. but his outbound team was treating all 56 commenters the same. - generic follow-up sequences. - missing lead scoring. - zero prioritization. "we're getting meetings with people raising their hands," i said. "but we're not seeing intent." i pulled up our AI targeting data. - same 56 commenters, scored by buying intent. - top 10% showed serious purchase signals. - bottom 50% were just engaging for content. "here's what we're going to do," i said. "layer lead scoring on your linkedin engagement. target outbound to people already showing interest." three weeks later, he called with results. - same $15K ad spend. - 20 meetings booked. - 12 deals closed. "what changed?" he asked. "we focused on behavioral targeting instead of demographics. prioritized prospects already showing buying signals." behavioral targeting delivers better results than demographic targeting. lead scoring identifies the prospects ready to buy. your linkedin engagement is pipeline gold. don't waste it on prospects who aren't ready to buy.

Remarketing is often the misunderstood middle child of performance marketing. Let’s break a couple of myths🔨 🎯 One size fits all fits probably no one:  I’ve seen many companies burn money on campaigns that don’t recognize that every section of their audience has their own motivations. Why, if I had a penny for every time I visited a site with no intent to purchase their product at all, only to spot a “Schedule a Demo Today” ad by them on whichever site I visit, I’d probably be the richest guy in SaaS! I read somewhere that 84% of users either ignore or are put off by retargeting ads! Shows how important it is to get it right. Start doing these things: - Segment visitors by page depth (1 page vs 3+ pages) - Track time-on-site thresholds (>2 min = higher intent) - Create separate campaigns for pricing page visitors vs. blog readers Tailor your content based on your audience’s behavior and stage in the buyer journey (URL path visitors, action completers, cart abandoners) 🎯 Retargeting works like a mosquito coil:  Retargeting is not plug and play, and it typically doesn’t stop with one level. Retarget for all customer stages. Not only demo and trial signups. This insulates your prospects from leaving the funnel midway. We’ve had cases where we spent thousands of dollars on a retargeting campaign only to make zero sales. But here’s what happened afterward ⭐ : When we triggered another retargeting campaign for the warmer folks from the previous campaign, giving them BOFU content, we made sales. A lot of it! What’s to learn here? You’re unlikely to be bet on with just the first touch point. You have to build that awareness consistently. Create a 3-tier remarketing structure: > Tier 1 (Cold): Educational content, industry reports > Tier 2 (Warm): Case studies, comparison guides > Tier 3 (Hot): Free trials, demos, limited-time offers Build custom audiences for each segment, assign specific content types to each, and implement frequency caps based on ‘bucket temperature’. Also, the focus should also be on increasing the credibility of your company rather than only pushing them towards the CTA. Here's one customized Google + LinkedIn campaign strategy we used for a client recently. What are some retargeting tactics that’s worked for you?

This $500 Retargeting Test Brought In $60K in Revenue: Most brands are addicted to front-end acquisition. But this beauty brand was bleeding cash until we shifted focus to the bottom of the funnel. Here’s what happened: → They were spending $15K+/month on cold traffic campaigns. → ROAS was flat. Revenue was stalling. And worst of all... warm leads weren’t converting. So we proposed something unorthodox: Shut off 20% of top-of-funnel spend... and reallocate just $500 to a retargeting test. We used that $500 to build a segmented retargeting stack: → Segment 1: Cart abandoners (0–7 days) → Segment 2: Viewed product but didn’t add to cart (0–14 days) → Segment 3: Viewed 2+ pages on site but didn’t convert (0–30 days) Instead of generic creatives, we delivered hyper-relevant messaging: → “Still deciding? Here’s what 4,200 customers say…” → “You left this behind. It’s waiting for you.” → “Still thinking about [product]? Here’s a 60-sec demo.” We layered in social proof, urgency, and product benefits based on funnel behavior. ✔️ Result? That $500 test brought in $60,382 in tracked revenue in 21 days. ROAS? 120x. Why it worked: → We targeted warm traffic with precise copy → We aligned ad messaging with funnel position → We didn’t rely on discounts, just relevance This isn’t magic. It’s strategic ad psychology at work. Most brands overlook retargeting or use it as an afterthought. But when done right? It prints profit. ↳ Be honest: If you knew your warm audience was ready to convert, you just had to talk to them the right way, would you: A) Rework your retargeting today? B) Keep pumping cash into cold ads? Drop your letter (A/B) below ⬇️