I know it’s happened to you. You browse for those shoes online. Then those shoes seem to follow you everywhere you go. You see display ad after display ad with those same shoes. They’re pretty awesome shoes, so you go back and buy them. But then you continue to see display ads for those shoes. What gives?!

The remarketing tactic is pretty common practice these days by digital marketers. And there’s a reason – it’s really effective. I’ve been part of studies where we looked at the incremental value of remarketing, and it does work.

But you know what doesn’t work, remarketing those same shoes to someone who just bought them. Chances they buy a second pair – going out on a limb – pretty low. So how can you stop this? A burn pixel. Remarketing pools are overflowing because not enough companies employ burn pixels. The concept is simple – a burn pixel is another tag you place on your confirmation page to inform your remarketing vendor, “hey stop remarketing to this person, they already bought the damn shoes.”

Adding a burn pixel will save you impressions, which will save you money. Now you can take that money and put it back into programs that have a chance at generating more revenue. It’s a beautiful thing.

Have you used burn pixels? How have they helped you focus your impressions?