Retarget the fans who almost streamed
Cold ads find people; retargeting converts them. Here's how to turn the fans who engaged with your release into a warm audience — and run a campaign that actually moves streams on Meta and TikTok.
Why retargeting works: most people who see your release for the first time won't stream it that instant — but the ones who previewed the clip or tapped a streaming button told you they're interested. Showing those warm fans one more ad is far cheaper per stream than paying to reach strangers again.
git-royal already records that intent for you. Every visit to your page fires funnel events — and because they're sent server-side to your pixel, they survive ad blockers. That means your retargeting pools are fuller and more accurate than they'd be with a browser-only pixel.
Your intent tiers
Warmest at the bottom. Retarget from the warm end first — those audiences are smaller but convert hardest.
PageViewInterested enough to click your ad.
PreviewPlay / PreviewCompleteHeard the music and stayed.
StreamClickHighest intent — your best retargeting seed.
Five things every good retargeting campaign does.
Segment by intent + recency
Build separate audiences for previewers vs. stream-clickers, and use short windows for the hottest ones. Recent + engaged converts best.
Exclude who's already converted
Suppress people who already clicked through to stream (or bought a ticket/merch). You're paying to convince fence-sitters, not the converted.
Watch frequency
Retargeting pools are small, so the same person sees your ad often. Keep frequency under ~4 per 7 days or you'll fatigue them.
Refresh creative
Swap the video every 2–3 weeks. When CTR sags or frequency climbs, the creative has gone stale — not the audience.
Optimize for conversions
Choose the Conversions objective so the algorithm chases streams, not cheap clicks. Traffic/Reach objectives waste a warm audience.
Keep budgets small
A warm audience is small. Start with a low daily budget; it doesn't take much to reach the people who already know you.
Retargeting on Meta (Facebook & Instagram)
- 1
Build the Custom Audience
On Pro, git-royal can create it for you in one click: open a release's Analytics → Retargeting audience, pick the event (stream-clickers are warmest), and it builds a Meta Custom Audience in your own ad account. Prefer to do it by hand? In Meta Audiences → Create audience → Custom audience → Website, choose your pixel and the event, and set a lookback window.
- 2
Set smart lookback windows
Use 7–14 days for stream-clickers (strike while it's hot) and up to 30 days for previewers. Longer windows mean bigger but colder pools.
- 3
Exclude your converters
Make a second Custom Audience of people who already clicked to stream, then add it under Exclude on your ad set. Note: Meta removed interest-based exclusions in 2025 — exclusions now only work with Custom Audiences (your own data), which is exactly what git-royal gives you.
- 4
Launch a Conversions campaign
New campaign → Sales/Conversions objective → optimize for your stream event → target the warm audience, exclude converters, and keep the daily budget modest. Aim to keep frequency under ~4 over 7 days.
Retargeting on TikTok
TikTok works the same way conceptually. git-royal feeds your TikTok pixel server-side; you build and target the audience in TikTok Ads Manager (one-click audience creation from git-royal is Meta-only for now).
- 1
Create a Website Traffic audience
In TikTok Ads Manager, go to Tools → Audiences → Create Audience → Custom Audience → Website Traffic. Pick your pixel, the event (e.g. your stream-click event), and a lookback window.
- 2
Mind the 1,000-user minimum
TikTok requires at least 1,000 matched users in a Custom Audience before you can target it. If a warm segment is too small, widen the event (previewers too) or the window until it clears the threshold.
- 3
Use tiered lookback windows
7–14 days for high-intent actions like stream-clicks; 30 days for general visitors. Build a converter audience too, and exclude it from the ad group.
- 4
Launch a Conversions campaign
Create a campaign with the Conversions objective (not Traffic or Reach). Refresh your video every 2–3 weeks: when CTR drops under ~1% or frequency passes ~4 per week, the creative's stale.
Connect a pixel, start the loop.
Connect Meta and TikTok in Settings, and every release quietly builds the warm audience you'll retarget next.
Common questions.
How big does my audience need to be?+
Meta can run with a few hundred people but does better with more; TikTok requires at least 1,000 matched users before you can target a Custom Audience. If a warm segment is too small, widen the event or lengthen the lookback window.
Why exclude people who already streamed?+
They've already converted — showing them the same 'go stream this' ad wastes budget and fatigues them. Retargeting is for the fence-sitters. Exclude your stream-clickers so spend reaches people who haven't converted yet.
Does git-royal build the audience automatically?+
On Meta, yes — one click from a release's Analytics builds a Custom Audience in your own ad account (Pro, with your ad account connected). On TikTok, you create the audience in Ads Manager for now; git-royal feeds the pixel that populates it.
Do blockers hurt my retargeting pools?+
Much less than with other tools. git-royal sends events server-side to your pixel, so conversions a browser-only pixel would lose still land — meaning fuller, more accurate audiences to retarget.
Can I run both platforms at once?+
Yes. Connect Meta and TikTok in Settings and run parallel retargeting on each. A common split is cold prospecting on one platform and retargeting on both.