A 180-day retargeting window is paying to re-show ads to dead leads

A 180-day retargeting window is paying to re-show ads to dead leads

Retargeting audiences decay — intent fades fast after a site visit. A bloated window dilutes spend across cold 'warm' users.

ROAS by retargeting recency window (25 ecom accounts):
— 0–7 day visitors: 6.8× ROAS
— 8–30 day: 3.9×
— 31–90 day: 2.1×
— 91–180 day: 0.9× (below break-even)

The 180-day blob averages to a number that hides the dead tail.

Fix: tier retargeting by recency (0–7, 8–30, 30–90) with separate budgets and bids. Cap or cut the 90+ day segment unless your sales cycle genuinely runs that long.

Read: a 'warm' audience that visited 5 months ago is cold — stop heating an empty room.