Have you heard of Impression Based Remarketing yet? If it’s not on your radar, then it should be – it’s changing the face of paid advertising into something a lot more nuanced.

Ever feel like your remarketing campaigns are playing catch-up? You spend time crafting beautiful ads, set up all your targeting, and wait for users to click. But what about the people who saw your ad, noticed your brand, but didn’t interact?

In the old world of digital advertising, if someone didn’t click, they were gone. Invisible. Lost to the ether.

Thanks to Impression Based Remarketing, things are changing.

Microsoft Advertising introduced the feature this year, and it’s a genuine game-changer. Instead of building remarketing lists based only on who clicked or visited your site, Microsoft now lets you target anyone who’s simply seen your ad.

No click required. No visit needed. Just an impression.

And that simple shift could completely redefine how remarketing, and paid ads as a whole, work.

The Problem With Traditional Remarketing

Don’t get us wrong, traditional remarketing is great. It can elevate your conversion rates to new heights, especially during the busy retail peak season in Q4, and is generally an essential component of any paid campaign. However, it does have its limitations.

The usual process, as you know: a user clicks your ad, visits your landing page, maybe adds something to the cart, and leaves. You use that site visit to trigger a remarketing list and show them follow-up ads across the web.

It’s effective, but it can also be narrow. Here’s why:

• You’re relying on a click. That means you’re missing the hundreds (or thousands) of people who saw your ad, recognized your brand, but didn’t interact at that moment. Maybe they were busy. Maybe they didn’t trust you yet. Maybe they were on mobile and didn’t want to fill out a form. Whatever the reason, they’re gone from your radar.
• Privacy is making it harder. Between cookie deprecation, browser restrictions, and new privacy rules, tracking every click and visit isn’t as reliable as it used to be.
• The user journey is messy. People don’t just see one ad, click, and buy. They might see your ad on a search result, again on a native placement, hear about you on social, then finally convert days later from a branded search. Traditional remarketing doesn’t always capture that nuance.

In short, the remarketing model we’ve relied on for years is showing cracks. It’s reactive, waiting for clicks or an action, rather than proactive in nurturing brand visibility and familiarity. And that is how the industry is beginning to function, in part due to the rise in generative AI and the nature of search changing. As paid ad pros, we need to adapt.

Enter Impression Based Remarketing

Microsoft Advertising’s Impression Based Remarketing flips the script.

Instead of waiting for that click, this feature allows you to create an audience of people who’ve simply seen your ad across search, native, and other placements. Those impressions alone are enough to add users to your remarketing list.

That means you can continue to reach them later, even if they didn’t engage the first time.

Here’s how it works in practice:

• You can choose up to 20 source campaigns or ad groups whose impressions feed your audience list.
• You can define a membership duration (from 1 to 30 days) keeping your audience fresh and relevant.
• You can then use that audience for targeting, exclusions, or bid adjustments in future campaigns.

Imagine building awareness audiences made entirely of people who’ve seen your ads within the last 10 days. A whole new segment of potential customers that never would’ve appeared in your traditional remarketing lists. Who would say no to that?

Why This Matters More Than Ever

So, why does Impression Based Remarketing matter to you as a marketer or business owner?

Because this shift opens doors that were previously closed.

1. You reach the “silent audience”

Not everyone clicks. In fact, most don’t – a recent study found the average display ad CTR in 2025 is only around 0.35% across industries. But many people still notice your ad – your headline, your brand name, your product image. Impression-based remarketing gives you a second chance with those silent scrollers who might be interested, they’re just not ready yet.

2. You’re adapting to a privacy-first future

As tracking gets tougher, click-based signals become unreliable. Impressions, on the other hand, are broader, less invasive, and still informative. They let you build intent-driven audiences without breaching privacy walls.

3. You can build brand familiarity

Remarketing has traditionally focused on conversion, with a target of getting them back to buy. But visibility and recall matter too. Being seen multiple times before someone clicks builds trust. Impression-based remarketing lets you strengthen that early-funnel connection.

4. You get more mileage from every campaign

Every ad impression you pay for can now serve a dual purpose: awareness and audience building. Instead of wasted visibility, you’re feeding future campaigns with ready-made audiences who already know your brand.

That’s efficient marketing.

How To Use Impression Based Remarketing Strategically

Just because the feature exists doesn’t mean it’ll automatically deliver magic. Like any powerful tool, you’ll want to use it strategically.

Here’s how:

1. Map your customer journey

Ask yourself: what should happen after someone sees my ad?

• If they’re early in the journey, serve them ads that educate or build curiosity.
• If they’ve seen your ads multiple times, focus on credibility – testimonials, reviews, or proof.
• If they’re showing signs of high intent, use urgency and offers to convert.

You’re essentially creating layers of remarketing based on visibility and familiarity, not just clicks.

2. Choose your sources wisely

Don’t just add every campaign. Pick the ones that generate meaningful impressions, your most eye-catching search or native placements. This ensures your impression-based lists are high-quality and relevant.

3. Watch your list sizes

You’ll need enough impressions to build usable lists. Think broader at first, then refine once you see performance data.

4. Measure what matters

Traditional KPIs like click-through rate might not tell the full story here. Instead, look at view-through conversions, brand search lift, and conversion assist metrics. These show the influence of impressions, not just direct clicks.

What This Means For Advertisers Right Now

If you’ve ever felt your remarketing lists were shrinking or less effective, you’re not alone. The digital landscape is evolving, and advertisers need to evolve with it.

Impression-based remarketing is Microsoft’s way of saying: “Let’s stop waiting for clicks and start valuing attention.”

For marketers, this means:

• More resilient campaigns in a cookieless world.
• A chance to capture upper-funnel audiences earlier.
• The ability to nurture awareness and intent before that all-important click.

It’s a smarter, more holistic approach to remarketing, one that fits the way people actually browse and buy today.

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Ready to Embrace the Shift?

Impression Based Remarketing isn’t just another shiny new ad feature – it’s a signal of where paid media is heading. The way users interact with ads is evolving, and the way we measure engagement has to evolve too.

If you’re in the paid space, whether that’s managing client accounts, running campaigns in-house, or handling strategy, now’s the time to rethink how you define audience intent.

Here’s how to get ahead of the curve:

• Experiment early. Start by testing impression-based lists alongside your traditional remarketing campaigns. Compare performance and audience behaviour – you might be surprised at how often “non-clickers” convert later.
• Shift your mindset. Stop thinking of clicks as the only sign of engagement. In today’s multi-device, multi-channel world, being seen is often the first real touchpoint.
• Broaden your funnel. Use impression-based remarketing to nurture upper-funnel audiences, ie. those who have seen your ads but aren’t yet ready to act. It’s about building recognition and trust before conversion.
• Think strategically about creative. Since these audiences haven’t clicked yet, they may not know much about you. Focus your creative on awareness and intrigue, the kind that earns that next, crucial interaction.
• Stay informed. As more platforms adopt impression-level targeting, this approach will likely become an industry norm. Early adopters will be the ones setting benchmarks for what works.

Paid advertising is moving toward a future where attention matters as much as interaction. By embracing impression-based remarketing now, you’re aligning with how modern audiences actually experience ads.

This isn’t about abandoning clicks; it’s about seeing the bigger picture. Because the truth is, your next best customer might already have seen your ads, they just haven’t clicked yet.

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