Do I need a lot of website traffic for retargeting to work?

Not at all. Even a few hundred visitors a month is enough to get started. If you're using paid ads or social media, it adds up quickly.

Is retargeting creepy?

No — retargeting is a normal and expected part of online marketing. As long as your ads are helpful and relevant, it's not intrusive.

How do I know if my retargeting is working?

You'll see people clicking back to your site, downloading lead magnets, or messaging you — sometimes days or weeks after their first visit.

WTF is Retargeting (And Why Should Mortgage Professionals Use It)? • Vonk Digital Mortgage Websites

Have you ever looked at a product online and all of a sudden you start seeing ads for that same product everywhere?!?

If you answered: “Yes” then chances are you are being retargeted based on your visit to that product page.

You know all those people who click your ad or visit your website and then… vanish? Retargeting brings them back. It’s your second (and third) chance to stay in front of them after they leave.

And if you’re spending any money or time to get traffic to your site, whether through ads, social media, or SEO, then you’re wasting effort if you don’t have retargeting set up.

Let’s break down how it works and why it’s one of the smartest, most affordable strategies in your marketing toolbox.

What is Retargeting?

Retargeting is a type of online advertising that shows your ads specifically to people who have already interacted with your brand; usually by visiting your website or clicking on a link.

Ever look at a pair of shoes online and then see them everywhere you go online for the next week? That’s retargeting.

As a mortgage originator, your “shoes” are:

Your mortgage calculators
Your lead magnet
A video you have posted on a landing page
Or just your website itself

Why Retargeting Works So Well in Mortgage

People rarely take action the first time.

Most borrowers shop around: They’re checking rates, comparing options, and trying to feel out who they trust. Retargeting helps you stay top of mind through all of that.

It builds familiarity (and trust): The more someone sees your face, brand, or value, the more likely they are to trust you. Especially when your competitors drop the ball after the first click.

It’s affordable: Retargeting costs a fraction of what you’d pay for brand new clicks. You’re only showing ads to warm leads and warm leads convert better.

Where can you retarget?

You can retarget people on:

Facebook and Instagram
Google Display Network (think banner ads on popular sites)
YouTube
Even TikTok and LinkedIn

We usually recommend aiming for Facebook and Instagram for most loan officer as it’s visual, local, and personal. Often you will need to start with banner ads around the web until you build you build up some traction though.

What Should Your Retargeting Ads Say?

This is where most mortgage pros miss. Keep it human and helpful.

Here are a few simple ideas:

“Still thinking about buying a home? Here’s a quick mortgage calculator.”

“Refi questions? We’re here when you’re ready.”

“We help growing families buy before they sell, without overextending.”

If they’ve already seen your face or visited your site, you don’t need to reintroduce yourself; just remind them you’re there to help.

How to Set It Up (Without Getting Overwhelmed)

This is where most mortgage pro’s bail on the process. The process is rather simple almost like doing a puzzle. It’s a lot of little steps that are each “easy” on their own. But these steps compounded often leave people like you and your team who are busy with their actual job of oirginating loans saying; “forget it” or “I have that on my list.”

Examples are of these puzzle piece are:

Add pixel to your website
Come up with headlines and a call-to-action for the ads
Design or get the actual ads designed in all the relevant sizing formats
Make sure they adhere to advertising compliance regulations
Make sure you have the right privacy policy
Design the landing page or page on your site where you will send the ads.
Decide on what you want the visitor to do when they get to that page
You get the idea. Lot’s of puzzle pieces…

You can leverage the Meta and Google ad platforms to set this up or a thirdparty ad server to manage this.

Or if you are Vonk website client and want to deploy this you can use us to do so. If you are interested in the process and a breakdown of the costs email [email protected] for more details.

PS: I used retargeting as part of my marketing strategy for my past mortgage company for over a decade for borrowers and recruiting. We never endorse things we haven’t done ourselves.

Anthony Balsamo

Anthony Balsamo is the co-founder of Vonk Digital, a website and marketing platform for mortgage professionals. He's a business owner with two decades of hands-on experience building and marketing companies. First his own mortgage company, now a software company and agency serving loan officers, brokers, and lenders across the US. He writes from the operator's seat, not the sidelines.

Anthony spent the last 20 years in the mortgage industry. In 2006 he co-founded a four-person brokerage and grew it into a multi-state lender that made the Inc. 500 and Inc. 5000 lists, was named the San Diego Business Journal's #1 Fastest-Growing Company, and earned a spot on Entrepreneur Magazine's Entrepreneur 360 list of the most entrepreneurial companies in the country. After selling the company in 2018, he stayed on for over a year to help merge the two organizations.

His focus is how mortgage professionals actually generate business, combining online and real-world strategy across websites, paid ads, email, retargeting, content, SEO, and increasingly AI search.

Vonk provides one part of that picture; but Anthony writes and practices the whole process, from a deliberately skeptical, evidence-first point of view shaped by watching every platform shift, and the recycled "certainty" sold with each one, since 2006.