Retargeting in 2025: The Strategies That Still Work After iOS 14

When Apple rolled out iOS 14.5's App Tracking Transparency in April 2021, the advertising world panicked. Retargeting audiences shrank overnight. Some advertisers saw their custom audiences drop by 40-60%.

Four years later, the dust has settled. Retargeting isn't dead. But the playbook has fundamentally changed.

What Broke

The old retargeting model was simple: pixel fires on your website, Facebook builds an audience of visitors, you show them ads until they convert. It worked because the pixel could track nearly everyone.

Post-iOS 14, the pixel misses a significant portion of iOS users. Your “website visitor” audience is incomplete. Your “add to cart” audience is incomplete. Your “purchase” audience is incomplete. You're retargeting a fraction of the people you should be.

What Still Works

1. On-Platform Engagement Audiences

This is the biggest shift. Facebook can still track everything that happens ON Facebook and Instagram. Video viewers, page engagers, ad clickers, IG profile visitors, lead form openers — all of this data is 100% accurate because it never leaves Meta's ecosystem.

Strategy: Build engagement funnels that create retargetable actions BEFORE sending people to your website. Run video view campaigns first, then retarget the viewers with conversion campaigns.

2. Customer List Audiences

Upload your CRM data (emails, phone numbers) directly to Facebook. Match rates of 60-80% are common. This completely bypasses pixel tracking because you're using first-party data you already own.

Strategy: Segment your customer list by purchase value, recency, and product category. Create targeted offers for each segment.

3. Conversions API Retargeting

With CAPI implemented, your server sends conversion data directly to Facebook. This recovers much of the signal lost from iOS users who opted out of pixel tracking.

4. Broad Retargeting with Exclusions

Instead of building tiny retargeting audiences, use broader targeting with strategic exclusions. Exclude existing customers and recent converters, then let Facebook's algorithm find the buyers in a larger pool.

5. Sequential Storytelling

Create a content sequence: Video 1 introduces the problem, Video 2 presents the solution, Video 3 shows proof, Video 4 makes the offer. Retarget viewers of each video with the next in the sequence.

Budget Allocation

Pre-iOS 14, I typically allocated 20-30% of budget to retargeting. Now I recommend 15-20%, with a heavier emphasis on on-platform engagement audiences and customer list retargeting.

Related Reading

• Paid Advertising Mastery Hub