22 Jul Should Retargeting Start Right Away, or After Prospecting Runs First?
Retargeting should launch at the same time as prospecting, from day one — not weeks later, once a top-of-funnel campaign has “had time to run.” Waiting to start retargeting means losing the exact window when a visitor’s interest is strongest, and that window closes faster than most advertisers expect.
The misconception
It’s easy to think of prospecting and retargeting as sequential phases — run prospecting for a couple of weeks, see what’s working, then layer in retargeting once things are stable. That sequencing feels cautious, but it costs real conversions. Someone who visits your site, looks at a product, and doesn’t buy isn’t a “future retargeting opportunity” to get to eventually. They’re a warm lead cooling in real time.
Why the timing matters this much
Buying intent fades. A commonly used reference point is that intent is strongest within roughly 7 days or less of the visit. Come back to someone a week or two after that window with a retargeting ad, and while some interest might remain, a meaningful share of that initial intent is already gone. Retargeting exists specifically to catch people while that intent is still active — which only works if it starts the moment they leave, not after prospecting has had a chance to “prove itself” first.
What running concurrently looks like
From the very start of a campaign, both should be live: prospecting continuously reaching new people, and retargeting continuously re-engaging whoever just left without converting. Neither needs to wait for the other. The structure itself — how they’re split, budgeted, and managed — is a separate question from timing; the two are commonly run as separate campaigns for easier tracking, though combining them under full automation carries its own trade-offs worth understanding on their own.
For businesses with a more complex catalog — multiple distinct product categories — this can mean running several retargeting ads simultaneously, each covering different categories, so a visitor who looked at one thing sees relevant alternatives across what else is available. The specific structure for this is worth its own read — the point here is simply that whatever structure you use, it needs to be live from the beginning, not introduced after the fact.
Why this beats waiting for “enough data” first
The instinct to wait usually comes from wanting performance data before committing budget to a second campaign. But retargeting doesn’t need weeks of prospecting data to justify starting — it needs website visitors, which prospecting starts generating immediately. Once there’s any meaningful traffic flowing in, there’s already an audience worth re-engaging. Waiting past that point isn’t gathering useful data; it’s just letting warm visitors go cold while you decide whether to act on them.
This breakdown is written by Jason Gan, a Meta Certified Professional and Badged Meta Business Partner who has personally audited over 1,000 advertiser accounts since 2010. You can see real account breakdowns on the Jason Gan YouTube channel.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I wait before starting a retargeting campaign, or launch it right away? Launch it right away, running at the same time as prospecting from day one. Waiting weeks to “start” retargeting after prospecting has been running means missing the window while a visitor’s buying intent is still fresh, which fades quickly — often within about 7 days.
How long does buying intent last after someone visits a website from an ad? It varies by product, but a commonly used reference point is around 7 days or less. Some visitors may still be interested later, but the odds of converting drop meaningfully the longer the gap between the visit and being re-engaged.
Do prospecting and retargeting need to be in the same campaign? No — they should run in different ad sets at minimum, and are commonly structured as fully separate campaigns for easier management and clearer performance tracking. Whether they’re technically in one campaign or two matters less than making sure both are actually running from the start.
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