How Food & Beverage Brands Should Use Facebook Retargeting in 2025

Every day, countless potential customers visit your website, browse your products, and leave without buying. Did you know that only 3 out of every 100 visitors make a purchase on their first visit? The remaining 97% represent untapped potential—taking valuable revenue opportunities with them.

For food and beverage brands, this challenge is even more critical. Lower price points and faster purchase cycles mean the pressure is on to reconnect with those visitors before they forget about you entirely.

So, how do you reconnect with potential buyers who looked at your delicious offerings, but walked away? And more importantly, how can you nudge them back toward making that pivotal purchase?

The answer lies in Facebook retargeting. Studies show that retargeting ads can reduce cart abandonment rates by at least 6.5% and boost overall brand revenue by up to 33%¹. By honing in on audiences who've already engaged with your brand, you can serve personalized ads that bring them back to your site and encourage them to take the next step.

As we head into 2025, prospecting and broad targeting will remain critical for finding new audiences, but retargeting is where food & beverage brands can close the deal—driving repeat sales and recovering missed opportunities.

In this guide, not only do we go beyond the basics of Meta Retargeting, but we also tackle some of the most frequently asked questions about Facebook retargeting—ensuring you're equipped with actionable answers to optimize your campaigns and maximize results. Ready to unlock the full potential of your traffic? Let's dive in.

What's the Best Retargeting Campaign Setup?

When it comes to retargeting on Facebook, choosing the right campaign setup can make or break your results. Many advertisers wonder if Meta's Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns (ASC) is the answer for retargeting. While ASC simplifies campaign management, it comes with significant limitations, especially for precise retargeting strategies. Let's break it down.

Why ASC Isn't Ideal for Retargeting

ASC campaigns automate targeting and audience selection, but the control they offer is minimal. Unlike manual setups, ASC applies audience settings at the account level, meaning all ASC campaigns within an account will share the same targeting rules. This limits the ability to tailor retargeting campaigns for specific audience segments.

Here's another catch: ASC doesn't allow you to specify or exclude audiences in the traditional sense. Instead, it uses a budget percentage system, offering limited control over precise budget allocations. For instance:

• Setting the budget at 0% for existing customers doesn't exclusively target new prospects—it simply excludes your existing customers from budget allocation.
• Setting it at 99% gives Meta the freedom to spend up to 99% of your budget on existing customers, but it won't necessarily do so.

Even worse, ASC often claims to target new audiences but can show your ads repeatedly to engaged users, as evident by high frequency rates for supposedly "new" audience segments. This lack of transparency makes ASC less reliable for retargeting warm audiences effectively.

Pro Tip: Use Meta's audience breakdown and frequency reports to validate ASC's performance claims and adjust your strategy if needed. For instance, if the frequency for a "new audience" is higher than expected, it's likely targeting existing engaged users instead.

The Better Alternative: Manual Sales Campaigns

While ASC can simplify campaign management, its limitations make manual sales campaigns (previously called conversion campaigns) a more effective choice for precision. Unlike ASC, manual campaigns let you:

• Specify Audiences: Target high-intent groups like cart abandoners or product page viewers while excluding recent purchasers.
• Control Budget Allocation: Use Ad Set Budget Optimization (ABO) to allocate more budget to smaller, warmer audiences, like 30-day visitors, and less to colder, larger ones, like 180-day visitors.

This approach ensures your spend focuses on the audiences most likely to convert, rather than being left to Meta's automated system.

When ASC Works

Despite its drawbacks for retargeting, ASC can still be a valuable tool for certain scenarios, particularly in prospecting. If your goal is to find new customers or scale broadly, ASC can simplify management by letting Meta handle the targeting. Just remember:

• Align Creatives Carefully: Meta's AI heavily relies on your creative messaging to determine targeting. Use consistent creatives within each ASC campaign (e.g., all "Welcome Offers" in one campaign) to avoid confusing the algorithm.
• Validate Claims: Use tools like audience breakdown and frequency reports in Ads Manager to check whether ASC is truly reaching new audiences. For instance, if the frequency for a "new audience" is higher than 1, it's likely targeting existing engaged users instead. 

Key Insight: ASC is designed to simplify advertising for businesses with less experience in campaign management. While it works for basic setups, its automation sacrifices the granular control needed for effective retargeting.

For retargeting campaigns, manual sales campaigns with ABO give you the precision and control needed to optimize budget allocation and ensure your ads reach the right audiences. ASC may be tempting for its simplicity, but its automation sacrifices the granularity required for effective retargeting. Use ASC selectively for prospecting, and always test and monitor performance to ensure it aligns with your goals.

Which Facebook Retargeting Audiences to Target?

As you probably already know, the sales funnel can be divided into three stages: Top Funnel (Awareness), Middle Funnel (Consideration), and Bottom Funnel (Conversion and Loyalty). The last two stages belong to retargeting, as shown in this image:

On Facebook, you can cover these stages by creating and targeting the following audiences:

1. Awareness: Broad audiences, interests, and lookalike audiences
2. Consideration: Social Media Engagers, Ad Engagers, Website Visitors, Email Subscribers
3. Conversion: Customer Lists and Past Purchasers

Learn how you can create Facebook retargeting audiences step by step in our previous blog post.

Now, let's dig deeper into best practices for the middle funnel and bottom funnel, through each of those Facebook retargeting audiences. 

Middle-funnel audiences are users who've interacted more deeply with your brand. They've shown intent, but haven't yet decided to buy. The goal with these audiences is to stay present during their customer journey and keep your product top of mind as a viable option. Here are some tips on how to do that.

• Social Media Page Engagers: People who've liked, commented, shared, or clicked on your page, social media content or ads.
  • Tip: Create separate Instagram and Facebook Engagers audiences for each time window (read all about time windows in the next section).
• All Website Visitors: Individuals who've visited any page on your site.
  • Tip: If your site doesn't have much traffic, this audience will probably be the best choice for you, because of its size. You might not have enough resources or need for more detailed segmentation.
• Product Page Visitors: Users who've visited specific product pages, indicating interest in particular offerings.
  • Tip: If you have large enough audiences for specific product pages, you might want to target specific pages visitors with a particular message. For example, target the visitors of "gluten-free" pages with ads offering just the gluten-free products from your catalog.
• Specific Website Audiences: These visitors are the closest to purchasing. They have taken high-intent actions, and your ads should focus on removing any remaining barriers. We found these four work best for our clients:
  • Add to Cart Visitors: People who added items to their cart but didn't check out.
  • Initiated Checkout: Individuals who began the checkout process but didn't complete it.
  • Top 25% Time Spent on Site: Visitors who've spent significant time exploring your website, signaling interest but hesitation.
  • Page Views Frequency 2+: Users who've visited your site multiple times, suggesting strong interest.
• Video Viewers: People who watched at least 3 seconds or 25% of your video, indicating higher interest in your offering.
  • Tip: Test one or more video view segments if there's enough volume. But, most of the time, 25% video viewers is good for a start. Later, if you see the need to refine further, you can split it into smaller segments.
• Email Subscribers: A list of your leads, or people who've signed up for your email marketing.
  • Tip: These lists work great with retargeting campaigns, as they consist of warm audiences familiar with your brand and may just need an extra push to make an order. Perfect opportunity to incentivize them with your sales ads and discounts.
  • Note: Use customer lists while you can! Officially, customer lists are not being completely removed just yet, but Meta's restrictions on detailed targeting exclusions will reduce your ability to control who sees your ads within those lists.
• Google UTM Tracking: If a user clicks on your Google ad, visits your site, but doesn't make a purchase, you can use their UTM data to retarget them with an ad on Meta. This approach ensures your messaging stays consistent across platforms and keeps your audience engaged wherever they interact with your brand.
  • Tip: In the audience creation process, choose URL Contains: "gclid"
• Repeat Buyers and Customer Lists: After a purchase, retargeting doesn't stop. Existing customers are valuable for driving repeat sales, upselling, and fostering brand loyalty.
  • Tip: Increase customer lifetime value by offering subscriptions, discounts, and other incentives to encourage repeat purchases.

With your audiences aligned to the funnel, the next step is understanding how to time your retargeting efforts. In the next section, we'll explore how to perfect your retargeting windows to engage users at the right moment for maximum impact.

What Are Retargeting Windows?

One of the most critical elements of a successful retargeting campaign is getting the timing right. Retargeting windows—how long you target a user after they've interacted with your brand—can dramatically impact your conversion rates. 

While there's no one-size-fits-all answer, understanding the nuances of different windows and tailoring them to your audience and campaigns can make all the difference in 2025. Just keep in mind that first, you have to test different audience sizes to be able to conclude how each one of them works for your business.

How to Use Retargeting Windows with Your Audiences?

So, the best way to start is by creating all the time windows for each audience type. Once you have them in your ad sets, you can exclude shorter window audiences from longer window audiences, and also exclude recent purchasers from them.

Let's take a look at a breakdown of when and how to use short or extended time windows.

Short Windows for High-Intent Periods

During promotional periods, such as flash sales, holiday discounts, or exclusive product launches, shorter retargeting windows (typically 30 days, or 7/14 days, if you have a large enough audience) are often the most effective. 

These windows focus on users who have recently engaged with your brand—whether they've browsed a product page or added an item to their cart—and ensure your message stays fresh in their minds.

Smaller windows work particularly well when paired with compelling creatives, such as time-sensitive offers or discounts, because they tap into a sense of urgency. For instance, cart abandoners during a sale are more likely to convert when reminded of the offer within a few days.

Medium Windows for Mid-Intent Audiences

People who have visited your website 31 day ago up to 90 days ago might still be interested but need a little more encouragement. These might include visitors who viewed a product page or lapsed customers who haven't interacted with your brand in a while.

For food and beverage brands, this is an ideal window for products like subscription boxes, seasonal gift baskets, or meal kits. Messaging should focus on re-engagement, emphasizing product benefits, seasonal relevance, or new flavors. For example, "Haven't seen our holiday flavors yet? Come back and try something new!"

Extended Windows for Long Consideration Cycles

For products that involve more thoughtful purchasing decisions, such as luxury assortments, premium subscriptions, or gift baskets, wider retargeting windows (90-180 days) can be more appropriate. These campaigns allow you to nurture leads who may need time to research or budget for their purchase.

That said, retargeting too far out—180 days—tends to deliver diminishing returns unless it's paired with specific strategies like customer list retargeting. These broader windows are better suited for maintaining brand awareness rather than driving immediate conversions.

Keeping Your Retargeting Windows Clean

If you don't set up your Facebook retargeting campaign structure right, you might end up double bidding on the same audiences and showing the same ads to the same people for 6 months. To avoid this, it's essential to keep your campaign structure clean. For example:

• From the 30-day visitors audience ad set, exclude 30-day purchasers audience.
• From the  60–day visitors audience ad set, exclude visitors from the 30-day window (if you're already targeting that audience in another ad set).

Download our complete Facebook retargeting cheat sheet, featuring a detailed list of retargeting audience types and time windows to help you create a highly effective Facebook retargeting campaign structure.

Clean segmentation helps you analyze performance of each specific audience more effectively and ensures each audience receives the most relevant messaging. This ensures your ads are targeting unique groups of users, prevents overlap, and avoids wasting ad spend on people already reached by other campaigns. 

Now that we've optimized your timing, let's explore how to use dynamic ads and creative strategies to make your retargeting campaigns even more compelling.

How to Optimize Facebook Ad Creatives for Retargeting?

In a previous post, we covered the basics of the content ideation process and how to approach crafting the right message for each stage of the sales funnel. This time, we're diving deeper—unpacking the nuances of retargeting creatives and offering practical examples to help you fine-tune your strategy for maximum impact.

Think about someone visiting your website, browsing your products, but leaving without making a purchase. Retargeting ads allow you to remind them of what they were considering, re-engaging their interest. The key is tailoring the message to where they are in their buying journey. Let's explore how to craft creatives that truly stand out and convert.

Here's a refined list of ad examples for different audiences:

For Recent Visitors (Within 7–30 Days)

These users have recently interacted with your brand, so focus on encouraging them to take the next step.

• Dynamic Product Ads (DPA) - Show products dynamically, whether they match their interests or highlight related items, without being overly specific.
  • "Discover more of what you'll love! Explore our latest collection of organic treats."
• Urgency-Driven Discounts - Use time-sensitive offers to prompt immediate action.
  • "Limited Time Only: Enjoy 20% off your favorite snacks!"
• Limited Stock Alerts - Highlight product demand to create urgency without targeting specific user behavior.
  • "Popular products are selling fast—shop now to secure yours!"
• Exclusive Free Shipping - Offer enticing perks to lower the barrier to purchase.
  • "Enjoy free shipping on orders over $25 this week only!"

For Long-Ago Visitors (60–180 Days)

Reconnect with users who haven't interacted with your brand for a while by providing educational or value-driven content.

• Educational Ads - Provide tips or information that reintroduce your product's benefits.
  • "Learn how our organic smoothie kits fit into your healthy lifestyle."
• Brand Stories - Share your story to rekindle interest and build trust.
  • "From farm to table: See how our snacks are made with care."
• Popular Product Showcase - Highlight popular products without referencing past interactions directly.
  • "Our best-sellers are back in stock! Check out what everyone's talking about."
• Seasonal Hooks - Use timely events or themes to make your products feel relevant again.
  • "Celebrate the season with our limited-edition holiday treats!"

For Social Media Engagers

This audience is already familiar with your brand and shows interest but may need additional motivation to take action. Here are tailored examples to re-engage this audience effectively:

• Introduction to Best-Sellers - Use carousel or video ads showcasing popular products to draw social media followers into your ecosystem.
  • "Our community's favorites are here—discover what everyone's talking about!"
• Value-Focused Messaging - Reinforce your brand's value proposition to pique their interest and encourage a deeper connection.
  • "Discover the perfect balance of flavor and nutrition with our all-natural snacks!"
• Exclusive Social Media Offer - Reward social media engagement with an exclusive discount to drive first-time purchases.
  • "As one of our social followers, enjoy 10% off your first order—shop now!"
• Product Highlights with Social Proof - Build trust by pairing product highlights with customer testimonials or ratings.
  • "Join the buzz! Our snack bars are rated 5 stars by thousands of happy customers."

For Product Page Viewers (Browsers)

Target users who showed interest in specific products but didn’t add them to their cart or make a purchase.

• Feature Highlights - Highlight product benefits without referencing their specific browsing history.
  • "Packed with wholesome ingredients, our snacks are the perfect pick-me-up!"
• Social Proof - Use testimonials or reviews to reassure and encourage engagement.
  • "Our customers are raving about our new organic snack line—check it out today!"

For Cart Abandoners

Cart abandoners are high-intent users who need incentives to convert. Focus on offering value without being overly specific or intrusive.

• Cart Reminder (DPA) - Use dynamic ads to display relevant products without directly mentioning abandoned carts.
  • "Don't miss out—shop now and enjoy exclusive savings!"
• Incentive Offers - Combine discounts with perks like free shipping to drive conversions.
  • "Order now to unlock 15% off and free shipping!"
• Stronger Incentives - Incentivize purchases with bundled deals or high-value offers to seal the deal.
  • "Exclusive Offer: Try our premium snack bundle and save big today!"

For Loyal Customers (Past Purchasers)

Focus on driving repeat purchases and increasing lifetime value with loyalty-driven messaging.

• Loyalty Rewards Program - Encourage participation in loyalty programs to build deeper customer relationships.
  • "Earn rewards with every purchase—join our loyalty program now!"
• Seasonal Promotions - Reward loyal customers with exclusive or early access to seasonal offerings.
  • "The holidays are here—get early access to our seasonal collection!"
• Reorder Reminder - Offer practical reasons to reorder without making it personal or presumptive.
  • "Restock your pantry with our best-selling organic treats and enjoy free shipping on orders over $50!"

For Seasonal or Holiday Shoppers

Target new and returning customers with timely and thematic campaigns.

• Gift Guide Ads - Position your products as thoughtful, easy gifts.
  • "Find the perfect gift for every foodie—shop our holiday bundles today!"
• Limited-Edition Offerings - Drive urgency and excitement with seasonal exclusivity.
  • "Only here for the holidays: Try our exclusive peppermint snack bars!"
• Stocking Stuffer Ideas - Highlight affordable, festive options for holiday shoppers.
  • "Delicious stocking stuffers under $20—shop now!"

By aligning your retargeting ads with the specific needs and behaviors of different audience types, you can create campaigns that feel relevant, engaging, and persuasive—without crossing the line into being overly personal or intrusive. These examples ensure your retargeting strategy is both impactful and considerate.

How to Maximize Retargeting ROI with Dynamic Ads?

Dynamic ads are a powerful way to engage users by showcasing products tailored to their browsing behavior. Think of them as the online equivalent of a personal shopper, curating a selection of products that perfectly match the user's interests.

By pulling directly from your product catalog, these ads display items users have viewed, added to their cart, or related products they might find interesting. Whether reminding a user of a smoothie kit they explored or suggesting complementary snack bars, dynamic ads create a personalized experience that drives conversions while building trust. 

Importantly, dynamic ads can also be used for broad audience targeting, making them versatile for both retargeting and prospecting campaigns. 

Why Dynamic Ads Work So Well for Retargeting?

• Highly Relevant Content at Scale
  Dynamic ads automatically match the right products to the right users, eliminating the need to manually create multiple ads. Whether you're retargeting cart abandoners, people who viewed a product, or customers who have bought from you before, you can reach them with exactly what they're most likely to be interested in.
• Personalized, Yet Scalable
  Personalization drives conversions, but creating custom ads for each user can be time-consuming and inefficient. Dynamic ads let you automate this process, delivering personalized content to thousands of people with minimal manual work. This makes dynamic ads perfect for businesses with large product catalogs and high-volume traffic.
• Seamless User Experience
  The power of dynamic ads is in the user experience. Because the ad serves the exact products or related items that the user interacted with, there's less friction in the buying process. A customer who views a specific snack pack will see that same product when retargeted, along with similar items they might like, increasing the likelihood of a purchase.
• Improved ROI
  By showing users the products they are most likely to buy, dynamic ads typically yield better results than static ads. The personalization boosts relevancy, making the ads more compelling, which often leads to higher click-through rates (CTR) and conversion rates (CVR). Plus, because the process is automated, you can scale efficiently without sacrificing performance.

Key Strategies for Dynamic Ads

Dynamic ads are a powerful tool, but to maximize their effectiveness, it's crucial to follow some key strategies and best practices:

1. Segment Your Product Catalog by Categories
   Segment your catalog by product categories (e.g., "healthy snacks," "smoothie kits") to show users only the most relevant items based on their behavior. This makes your ads more targeted and personalized, without being intrusive.
2. Target High-Intent Audiences
   Focus on users who have shown clear intent, like cart abandoners or past visitors. Dynamic ads work especially well when reminding users of the exact products they engaged with or related items they may be interested in.
3. Combine Dynamic Ads with Other Formats
   Keep your campaigns fresh by combining dynamic ads with other formats like carousel ads or video. This offers variety and keeps your audience engaged.

By following these strategies, you can create dynamic ad campaigns that feel personalized, are more engaging, and ultimately drive higher conversions.

In the following section, we'll explore smart budgeting strategies to maximize your retargeting ROI and drive consistent results.

How to Make the Most of Your Retargeting Ad Spend?

When it comes to running successful retargeting campaigns, how you allocate your budget can truly make or break your results. Two key options you can select are Ad Set Budget Optimization (ABO) and Campaign Budget Optimization (CBO). Both have their pros and cons, and understanding when to use each can help you maximize your return on ad spend (ROAS).

1. Ad Set Budget Optimization (ABO) – Take Control

With ABO, you're in the driver's seat. You set a specific budget for each audience segment, giving you complete control over where your ad spend goes. This is particularly useful for retargeting smaller, high-intent audiences, like those who've interacted with your brand recently.

For example, if you're targeting a 7-day audience (people who have engaged with your brand in the last week), you want to allocate more of your budget here. Why? Because these users are more likely to convert. They're fresh leads, and it's the perfect moment to follow up.

On the flip side, if you're targeting a 180-day audience (people who interacted with your brand months ago), you'll want to reduce your budget for this group. Why? Because the longer someone has been out of touch, the less likely they are to take action. With ABO, you can make these adjustments and put your money where it counts.

2. Campaign Budget Optimization (CBO) – Let Meta Take the Wheel

With CBO, you set your budget at the campaign level, and Meta's algorithm decides how to distribute it across your different ad sets. It's a more hands-off approach, where you trust Meta to allocate your budget to where it's likely to get the best results.

CBO is great for broader audiences or if you want to streamline campaign management. It works well when you're testing multiple audiences and don't need to micromanage every budget detail.

However, because it gives Meta more control, it may not be ideal for highly targeted retargeting campaigns. Meta normally allocates the budget according to the audience size, so if the larger audience does not outperform the smaller audience, your campaign might not turn out to be profitable.

When to Use Which?

• ABO → If you're running retargeting campaigns that focus on smaller, high-intent groups, like recent engagers, ABO is your friend. You can tailor your budget to each segment, ensuring that the right amount is spent on each group at the right time. This gives you precision and control.
• CBO → If you're targeting larger, broader audiences or you're happy with Meta's algorithm making decisions on your behalf, CBO is a good choice. It's also ideal for campaigns where you want to let Meta optimize for you without worrying too much about budget distribution.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Facebook retargeting, and how does it benefit the food and beverage business?

Facebook retargeting involves showing ads to users who have previously interacted with your brand online. For food and beverage brands, this strategy helps re-engage potential customers, reduce cart abandonment, and increase conversion rates by reminding them of your products and encouraging them to complete their purchases.

What is the difference between remarketing and retargeting on Facebook?

Remarketing and retargeting both aim to re-engage users, but they differ in platforms and techniques. Remarketing generally involves reconnecting with users through email campaigns or Google Display Network ads. For example, an abandoned cart email reminding a customer to complete their purchase is a form of remarketing.

Retargeting, on the other hand, focuses on serving personalized ads to users based on their previous online activity. On Facebook, this often includes dynamic ads that show products a user has browsed or added to their cart. While remarketing often happens off-platform, retargeting leverages the power of ad platforms like Facebook to keep your brand top of mind.

What is the difference between prospecting and retargeting on Facebook?

Prospecting on Facebook focuses on attracting new audiences who haven’t yet interacted with your brand. This is achieved using tools like Lookalike Audiences, which identify users with characteristics similar to your existing customers, or interest-based targeting to find potential leads.

Retargeting, on the other hand, concentrates on re-engaging users who have already shown interest in your brand, such as by visiting your website, engaging with your ads, or following you on social media.

While prospecting builds initial awareness and brings new users into your funnel, retargeting nurtures existing interest and drives those users toward conversion. Both strategies work together to cover the full customer journey, from discovery to purchase.

How can dynamic ads enhance my Facebook retargeting strategy?

Dynamic ads automatically display personalized product recommendations to users based on their previous interactions with your website or app. For food and beverage brands, this means showcasing items a user viewed or added to their cart, increasing the likelihood of conversion by presenting relevant products that match their interests.

Why Should I Remarket on Facebook?

Remarketing on Facebook is a powerful way to engage users who have already interacted with your brand. It enables you to re-engage high-intent audiences and remind them of the value of your products, which is especially useful for recovering abandoned carts or reigniting interest in lapsed customers. By tailoring ads to match their behavior—like showcasing complementary products or offering time-sensitive discounts—you can effectively convert warm leads into paying customers. Facebook's sophisticated targeting options and ability to deliver personalized ads make it an essential tool for any brand aiming to maximize customer acquisition and retention.

Final Thoughts

As we approach 2025, rising ad costs and tighter privacy regulations mean every marketing dollar needs to work harder. Retargeting is a powerful way to maximize your budget, focusing on users who have already engaged with your brand and guiding them toward conversion. It helps you stretch your dollar by turning warm leads into paying customers, pushing them further along the sales funnel.

But for sustainable growth, retargeting can't stand alone. While nurturing high-intent audiences is essential, the real opportunity lies in expanding your customer base. Loyal customers will naturally return if your product meets their needs, but to scale effectively, you need to allocate resources toward prospecting—reaching new audiences and converting them into loyal, repeat buyers.

This balanced strategy ensures you're not overly reliant on existing customers while consistently growing your audience. By pairing retargeting with efforts to attract new customers, you'll maximize immediate ROI and secure long-term growth, even in a challenging advertising landscape.

With a strategy that blends retargeting and prospecting, you'll turn new customers into lifelong advocates and future-proof your brand for 2025 and beyond.

Let us know which strategies you're excited to try and how they work for you!