How Ads & Social Media Fuel Retargeting and Marketing Success

1 Traffic Sources
In 2025, driving traffic to your website is all about using the right mix of channels. Paid ads and social media are still the fastest ways to get your brand noticed.

• Paid Advertising: Platforms like Google Ads let you target users based on demographics, interests, and behavior. Whether it’s ads you see on Google, websites, or social media, the goal is simple: to quickly bring people to your site who are likely to buy or show interest. This works especially well for online stores and businesses looking for new clients.¹
• Social Media: With billions of active users across Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, and TikTok, social media is still a major force. We’ve seen how a strong TikTok ad can get more attention and interaction than many other ads, even from experienced advertisers. In 2025, it’s not enough just to share posts. You also need to run ads made for each social media site, create content people enjoy, and make sure everything fits with your overall plan to reach customers. Social media still drives traffic, but it also helps build real relationships, one comment at a time.¹

Besides ads and social media, a good way to get visitors includes³:

• Organic search (making your site easy to find on Google)
• Email marketing (sending messages to people’s inboxes)
• Direct traffic (people typing your website address directly)
• Affiliate and influencer marketing (partners who promote your brand)
• Referral traffic (visitors coming from other websites)
• Video and podcast promotion (sharing videos and audio to reach more people)
• Content syndication (sharing your content on other sites)
• Community engagement (connecting with your audience in groups)
• Web push notifications (alerts sent to users’ devices)
• Press releases (official news shared with media)
• Guest blogging (writing articles for other websites)

2.  Retargeting
Not everyone buys or signs up the first time they visit your site. That is why retargeting helps. It shows ads again to people who already visited, reminding them to come back.

• How It Works: A retargeting pixel is a small piece of code, used by companies like Meta or Google, that places a tiny file called a cookie into someone’s browser when they visit your site. Later on, that person might come across your ads while browsing other websites or scrolling through social media, based on what they looked at earlier. Some tools can even keep track of people across their devices, thanks to shared logins.2
• Why It Works: You know when you check out something on an online store, and then it starts showing up in ads everywhere? That’s on purpose. It’s a way to remind people about stuff they were already interested in. It’s also cheaper than trying to get totally new customers, and it helps keep your brand in their head until they’re ready to buy.3
• Smart Retargeting Tips3:

• You can show people different ads based on the pages they visited, like if they looked at a product or checked out your pricing.
• Segment audiences by behavior. It helps to group people by what they did on your site. For example, someone who asked for a quote but didn’t move forward with the project.
• Customize your messages. That means adjusting your what you say to match what each group cares about.
• Run A/B tests by trying out different ad designs, headlines, and calls to action. This helps you figure out which versions get the best response from people
• If someone has already bought from you, don’t keep showing them the same ads. Instead, show ads for related products or ideas to help them take the next step.

3.  Marketing Funnel
Now comes the funnel. This is where the story unfolds. It’s simply a way to explain the steps someone goes through, from the first time they notice your brand to becoming a regular customer. Automation and CRM help you manage and follow up with customers as they go through their journey.3

• Stages of the Funnel4:
• Awareness: Ads, social media, and content grab people’s attention.
• Interest: Personalized emails and helpful content encourage them to find out more.
• Consideration: Case studies, demos, and reviews help people decide if your product or service is right for them.
• Conversion: Make it easy for potential customers to complete their purchase or sign up.
• Retention: Simple actions like following up, answering questions, and giving special deals bring customers back.
• Advocacy: Happy clients share their positive experiences and recommend your services.

• Tools That Make The Funnel Work Better:

• CRM systems keep all your customer info organized and help you follow up.2
• Email campaigns like welcome messages, reminders, or special offers keep people interested.
• Make sure your landing pages are easy to understand and have clear buttons to help users take action quickly on any device.

4.  Conversion & Growth
This is the stage where interest turns into real results and steady progress: people become customers and your business grows.

• Boosting Sales & Signups:

• Use tools like Google Analytics to find out where people stop before buying or signing up.
• Make forms quick and simple, and send emails that feel personal to help turn visitors into customers.⁴

• Loyalty Programs: Reward customers with points or special deals to encourage them to buy again. CRM tools help you send the right messages and follow their activity.⁴
• Referral Programs: Let’s be honest, people trust their friends way more than ads. People trust people. That’s why word of mouth is such a powerful way to grow a business.¹ A good referral program makes the most of it by:

• Defining clear goals and knowing who it’s for
• Keeping the rules and rewards simple
• Making the process easy and user-friendly for everyone involved

• Loyalty Conversion Rate (LCR): This metric shows how many visitors stick around and turn into loyal customers. A higher LCR means more sales, lower marketing costs, and happier, returning customers who spread the word.6
• Data-Driven Optimization: This just means using what the numbers tell you to make smarter decisions. It involves:

• Keeping an eye on where your traffic is coming from, how many people take action (conversion rates), how interested they are (engagement) and how much each action costs (CPA)
• Adjusting who you target (audience segments), freshening up your ads, and picking better times to send emails.
• Use smart tools to automate tasks and reach people in a personal way, so you get better results from your time and money (better ROI).4

References

1. Nielsen. Global Trust in Advertising: Winning Strategies for an Evolving Media Landscape. New York, NY: The Nielsen Company; September 2015.
2. Bluehost. How to increase website traffic. Bluehost Blog. Published March 6, 2024. Accessed July 23, 2025. https://www.bluehost.com/blog/how-to-increase-website-traffic/
3. Software Experts. Best retargeting ads platform (2025): Meta Pixel recognized as top ad retargeting solution. Yahoo Finance. Published April 22, 2025. Accessed July 23, 2025. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/best-retargeting-ads-platform-2025-110000605.html
4. Clarify. Best CRM and marketing automation tools for 2025: top picks and features. Clarify.ai. Published January 8, 2025. Accessed July 23, 2025. https://www.clarify.ai/blog/best-crm-and-marketing-automation-tools-for-2025-top-picks-and-features
5. LoyaltyLion. 70 customer loyalty program statistics for 2025. LoyaltyLion. Published March 18, 2025. Accessed July 23, 2025. https://loyaltylion.com/blog/35-loyalty-stats-and-benchmarks-for-2022-and-beyond
6. Antavo. Global Customer Loyalty Report 2025. Antavo. Published January 15, 2025. Accessed July 23, 2025. https://antavo.com/reports/global-customer-loyalty-report-2025