Link Retargeting: How to Retarget Anyone Who Clicks Your Short Links

Here's something most marketers overlook: every link you share is a retargeting opportunity you're probably wasting.

Think about it. You share links on social media, in emails, on forums, in Slack communities, in newsletters you guest-write. Hundreds or thousands of people click those links every week. They land on the destination page, do their thing, and disappear. You have zero way to reach them again.

Link retargeting changes that. And once you start using it, you'll wonder how you ever ran campaigns without it.

What Is Link Retargeting?

Link retargeting (sometimes called "pixel links" or "retargeting links") lets you embed a tracking pixel — from Facebook, Google, TikTok, LinkedIn, or any ad platform — into a short URL. When someone clicks that short link, the pixel fires in a quick redirect before they land on the destination page.

The result: that person gets added to your retargeting audience, even if the page they land on isn't yours.

Read that again. You can build retargeting audiences from links to other people's websites.

Sharing a great article from Forbes that's relevant to your audience? Wrap it in a retargeting link. Now everyone who clicked it is in your custom audience, ready to see your ads later.

Why This Matters More Than You Think

You're Already Sharing Links Everywhere

If you're doing content marketing at all, you're sharing links constantly:

• Social media posts (Twitter/X, LinkedIn, Instagram bio, TikTok bio)
• Email newsletters
• Community posts (Reddit, Discord, Slack groups)
• Guest posts and collaborations
• Podcast show notes
• Presentations and webinars

Every one of those is a missed retargeting opportunity if you're using plain URLs or basic short links without pixel support.

Cold Audiences Are Expensive

Running ads to cold audiences on Meta or Google typically costs 3-5x more per conversion than retargeting warm audiences. People who already clicked a link you shared have shown interest in your topic. They're warm. Retargeting them is dramatically cheaper and more effective.

Content Curation Becomes a Growth Channel

Here's the tactical play that smart marketers use: curate great content in your niche, share it through retargeting links, and build audiences from other people's content. You don't even need your own blog to build a retargeting pool.

A SaaS company we worked with shared 3-4 industry articles per week on LinkedIn using retargeting links through y.hn. Within two months, they had a retargeting audience of 12,000+ people who had engaged with content in their niche. Their Facebook ad CPA dropped 62% when targeting this audience versus cold lookalikes.

How Link Retargeting Works (Step by Step)

The technical flow is straightforward:

1. You create a short link with a retargeting pixel attached (e.g., your Facebook Pixel ID)

2. Someone clicks the link — say y.hn/a3k

3. The redirect page fires your pixel in the visitor's browser (takes milliseconds)

4. The visitor lands on the destination page as normal — they notice nothing different

5. Your ad platform registers the visit and adds the person to your custom audience

The entire redirect adds maybe 100-200ms. The person clicking has no idea a pixel fired. They just see the page they expected.

Setting Up Link Retargeting with y.hn

y.hn makes this dead simple. Here's how to set it up:

Step 1: Grab Your Pixel ID

Go to your ad platform and copy the pixel/tag ID:

• Facebook/Meta: Events Manager → Pixel ID (looks like 462918371649283)
• Google Ads: Tools → Audience Manager → Your data sources → Tag ID
• TikTok: Events Manager → Website Pixel → Pixel ID
• LinkedIn: Campaign Manager → Insight Tag → Partner ID

Step 2: Add the Pixel to y.hn

In your y.hn dashboard, go to Settings → Retargeting Pixels. Add your pixel ID and select the platform. You can add multiple pixels from different platforms — they'll all fire on every link click.

Step 3: Create Links as Normal

That's it. Every short link you create will now fire your retargeting pixels automatically. No extra steps per link. Every y.hn/whatever link becomes a retargeting link.

Want to get selective? On Pro and Business plans, you can choose which pixels fire on which links. Useful if you're managing campaigns for different clients or products.

Real Scenarios Where This Drives Results

Scenario 1: The Newsletter Curator

You run a weekly newsletter sharing the best articles in your industry. Each issue has 5-8 links. You have 3,000 subscribers, and your average click rate is 25%.

That's roughly 750 clicks per issue × 6 links = 4,500 pixel fires per week. In a month, you've built a retargeting audience of ~15,000 engaged readers (accounting for overlap). Run a conversion campaign to this audience for your product — you'll see CPAs you didn't think were possible.

Scenario 2: The Social Media Manager

You manage a brand's Twitter/X and LinkedIn accounts. You post 3 times daily, each with a link. Average 200 clicks per post.

That's 600 clicks/day × 30 days = 18,000 pixeled visitors per month. Segment by platform (LinkedIn clicks might be decision-makers; Twitter might be broader) and tailor your retargeting ads accordingly.

Scenario 3: The Affiliate Marketer

You promote products through review articles, comparison posts, and social shares. Every affiliate link you share through y.hn retargeting links builds your audience. Even people who didn't buy on the first click get retargeted with your content later, giving you a second (and third) shot at the conversion.

Advanced Tips

Layer Retargeting with UTM Parameters

Combine link retargeting with UTM parameters for full visibility. Your retargeting pixel captures the person; your UTMs tell your analytics where they came from. Together, you know *who* to retarget and *what messaging* resonates with them.

Example: y.hn/a3k → destination URL has ?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=industry_roundup

Now you can create a retargeting audience of "people who clicked our LinkedIn industry roundup links" and serve them specific ads about your industry expertise.

Create Platform-Specific Audiences

If you share the same article on Twitter and LinkedIn, use two different y.hn short links — one for each platform. Same destination, but now your retargeting audiences are segmented by source. You can serve different ad creative to the LinkedIn audience (more professional, B2B-focused) versus the Twitter audience (more casual, broader).

Set Frequency Windows

Most ad platforms let you set audience duration (how long someone stays in the audience after the pixel fires). For link retargeting:

• 7-day window: Best for time-sensitive offers and product launches
• 30-day window: Good default for most campaigns
• 90-day window: Good for high-consideration B2B purchases
• 180-day window: Use for building large awareness audiences over time

Don't Forget Exclusions

Retarget clickers, but exclude converters. If someone already bought your product, stop showing them acquisition ads. Use your conversion pixel to build an exclusion audience alongside your retargeting audience.

Common Questions

Does this slow down the redirect?

Barely. y.hn's retargeting adds roughly 100-150ms to the redirect. Users don't perceive it.

Is this compliant with privacy regulations?

The pixel fires are subject to the same rules as pixels on your own website. If your ad platform's pixel is GDPR-compliant on your site, it's compliant through a retargeting link. y.hn doesn't store personal data from the pixel — that's between the visitor's browser and the ad platform.

Can I retarget across multiple ad platforms simultaneously?

Yes. y.hn lets you attach multiple pixels. A single click can fire your Meta pixel, Google tag, and LinkedIn Insight Tag all at once.

How many retargeting audiences can I build?

As many as you want. Create different short links for different campaigns, and your ad platforms will automatically segment the audiences based on which links were clicked.

The Bottom Line

Every link you share without a retargeting pixel is an audience you're leaving on the table. The math is simple: if you're already sharing links (and you are), adding retargeting pixels costs you nothing extra but gives you a growing pool of warm audiences for your paid campaigns.

With y.hn, there's no complex setup. Add your pixel IDs once, and every short link you create automatically becomes a retargeting link. Your link sharing workflow doesn't change at all — but your ad performance will.

Start retargeting with y.hn →