Retargeting Pixels

A retargeting pixel on a short link captures every person who clicks — into an advertising audience — before they ever reach the destination. It turns link engagement into a retargeting list.

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Definition

Retargeting pixels on short links are advertising platform tracking scripts attached to a short link that fire when the link is clicked — automatically adding the visitor to the corresponding ad platform's retargeting audience before the visitor reaches the destination page.

Retargeting (also called remarketing) is the practice of showing advertising to people who have previously expressed interest — in this case, by clicking a specific link. A person who clicked a link to a product page but did not purchase is a highly qualified retargeting audience: they expressed intent, then dropped off. Following up with targeted advertising to this audience typically produces higher conversion rates than cold audience advertising.

Retargeting pixels on short links in Cuttly are available on eligible subscription plans — see the pricing page for plan details.

How It Works in Cuttly: Automatic Redirect Change

An important technical point: adding a pixel to a Cuttly short link automatically changes the redirect type from 301 (permanent redirect) to HTML meta refresh redirect. This change happens automatically — you do not need to configure it manually.

Why is this necessary? A standard 301 redirect completes before any page-level JavaScript can execute — the browser is sent to the destination immediately with no intermediate page loading. Advertising pixels require JavaScript execution to fire. The HTML meta refresh redirect creates a brief intermediate page that:

1. Loads in the browser with the pixel JavaScript code
2. Pixel fires → visitor is added to the ad platform retargeting audience
3. Page immediately forwards the visitor to the final destination via meta refresh
4. Visitor arrives at the destination — the intermediate step is typically imperceptible

The intermediate page is optimised to be as fast as possible and is effectively invisible to visitors under normal network conditions.

Setting Up a Pixel in Cuttly

1. Go to the list of short links in your dashboard
2. Click the pixel settings button for the short link
3. The pixel settings form opens. Two options:
   • Select from your saved pixel list — if you have previously saved pixels, select one and click "Add +"
   • Add a new pixel — select the advertising platform from the form, enter the pixel ID from that platform, and save
4. After the pixel is added, it appears at the bottom of the form. It can be removed at any time.
5. The redirect for this link automatically changes from 301 to HTML meta refresh

Full setup guide: How to Set a Pixel for a Short Link.

Saved Pixel List

Cuttly allows you to save your pixel IDs to a reusable pixel list in your account. Once saved, a pixel from the list can be added to any short link in a few clicks — no need to re-enter the pixel ID for each link. This is particularly useful when using the same pixel across many campaign links.

Pixel on Short Link vs Pixel on Destination Page

GDPR, Cookie Consent and Your Responsibility

Retargeting pixels set third-party cookies on visitor devices — the advertising platform's cookies (Meta, Google Ads, etc.). Under GDPR and ePrivacy requirements, setting third-party tracking cookies requires appropriate consent from visitors in the EU. Ensuring this compliance is the responsibility of the organisation using the pixels — not of Cuttly as a platform.

Cuttly provides two settings in your account to support GDPR compliance for pixel-enabled links — accessible from Account Settings → Pixel settings:

1. Your Privacy Policy

Enter the URL of your organisation's privacy policy. This is required before cookie consent can be added to target URLs using pixels. The privacy policy URL is displayed to visitors as part of the cookie consent mechanism — giving them the information required by GDPR before any pixel cookies are set.

2. Pixel Cookie Consent

A global account-level toggle. When Pixel Cookie Consent is enabled, all links using pixels will require cookie consent from visitors before the pixel fires. This applies across all pixel-enabled short links in your account.

Both settings are available separately for your main Cuttly account and for each team workspace — each team can have its own privacy policy URL and cookie consent configuration, independent of the main account and other teams.

Important: Cuttly provides the technical mechanism for cookie consent — but it is your organisation's responsibility to ensure that your privacy policy is accurate and up to date, that the consent mechanism meets the requirements applicable to your audience and jurisdiction, and that your overall use of retargeting pixels complies with GDPR, ePrivacy and any other applicable data protection regulations. Consult your Data Protection Officer or legal counsel for guidance specific to your context.

High-Value Use Cases

• Email campaign retargeting. Everyone who clicked the email CTA but did not purchase is added to a retargeting audience — follow up with a reminder ad or a discount offer.
• Social post retargeting. Everyone who clicked a product post link is added to a retargeting audience — converting social interest into purchase intent through follow-up advertising.
• Partner content retargeting. Links distributed through partner sites or influencer content add interested visitors to retargeting audiences without requiring pixel access to the partner's page.
• QR Code retargeting. Physical touchpoints — store visitors who scan a product QR Code are added to a digital retargeting audience.

Related Terms

• Redirect Types
• Device Targeting
• Conversion Tracking
• GDPR & Analytics
• A/B Link Testing