Retail Media. The topic that appears to be at the centre of every digital marketing conversation in the e-commerce world. And with annual ad spend predicted to reach $121 billion in 2023 alone, the opportunity to reach new audiences with a well-crafted retail media strategy is significant. However, knowing the best way to get started and which retailers to leverage can be challenging. To help provide more clarity in this ever-growing space, we teamed up with some of the biggest names in the industry at our 2023 Retail Media Summit. We heard from Boston Consulting Group, Amazon and our very own VP of Digital Marketing Strategy as they discussed the rapidly evolving retail media landscape and shared insights for brands and retailers looking to optimise their programmes and ad spend.
Here are some of the key takeaways:
Retail Media continues driving conversions
Insights showed the significant impact of retail media on conversions throughout the entire buying journey. With research showing that product searches often start on retail sites such as Amazon rather than search engines, retail media allows advertisers to not only reach shoppers even closer to their purchase but to also help drive brand awareness earlier on in their journey. Using precise targeting and contextual relevance, a strong retail media strategy can help to engage customers at every stage of the purchase funnel, helping to create measurable impact.
Measure, measure, measure
The speakers discussed the factors causing the rapid growth in retail media and one of the key drivers identified was the focus on measurable ROI for marketing budgets. Retail media fits the bill perfectly. With GDPR regulations and tightening rules around user tracking and 3rd party cookie usage, understanding how well ad campaigns are performing is becoming harder. First-party data is quickly becoming the new gold. And retailers are sitting on a huge pot of it.
Brands were encouraged to pay attention to Closed Loop Measurement (CLM) as part of a winning strategy. Establishing direct links between marketing activities and in-store or online sales enables brands to gain deeper insights into the effectiveness of their advertising campaigns and consumer purchase behaviour, in turn supporting strong ROI whilst also helping to drive increased investment.
AI is transforming the retail media landscape
AI-powered solutions are reshaping how brands and retailers approach advertising and creating more opportunities to connect with consumers throughout their journey. AI has allowed brands and retailers to enhance their customer targeting, creating detailed customer profiles and helping to deliver more personalised experiences. And the capabilities don’t end there. AI is also helping to optimise the way retailers interact with brands, allowing them to own and tailor the purchase funnel for each consumer. By harnessing the power of AI, brands and retailers can optimise their display ad campaigns on retail media platforms enabling better targeting, enhanced ROI and ROAS, and more efficient allocation of advertising spend.
Selecting the right Retail Media Networks is crucial
Amazon led the way in monetising advertising opportunities for sellers on their sites and it’s no surprise that retailers are now seeing the huge potential in creating their own offerings, capitalising on lucrative ad revenue, and allowing sellers to benefit from their valuable first-party data. As the retail media options increase, brands need to carefully consider where to focus ad spend. At the summit, the experts advised brands to first look at offerings from retailers they already have relationships with to assess the advertising options that will maximise return on ad spend and ultimately profitability.
Beyond these existing relationships, brands need to select retail media networks that align closely with their audience, offering them reach and engagement with new customers.
Automation will help you scale faster
Automated processes play a pivotal role in most successful ad strategies. With potentially thousands of products in inventory and many moving parts when managing ads, staying on top of multiple campaigns and ensuring ad spend is going to the right products can be challenging and time-consuming. Automated ad management can help brands to minimise manual tasks, make data-driven decisions, and quickly adapt to campaigns and ad spend to changing market conditions and inventory levels. By using a centralised e-commerce platform to manage both inventory and advertising, brands and retailers can harness data to make informed and guided advertising decisions, and improve business performance.
Let’s not forget about product content!
Let’s face it, competition is fierce out there and setting yourself apart amongst thousands of other listings can be challenging. Clicking on a sponsored ad is just the first part of the journey, seeing those clicks turn into conversions is another matter. Link Walls, VP of Digital Marketing, discussed the importance of regularly reviewing product content and optimising details as part of a winning retail media strategy. Well-crafted and informative product descriptions, high-quality images, and accurate specifications not only help customers make informed purchasing decisions but also contribute to a positive user experience allowing you to stand out in a crowded market and ensure you’re getting the most out of your ad spend.
Rithum, a Rithum company, can help you automate your retail media campaign, provide management and tracking support and help deliver sales growth and a higher return on your ad spend. Click here to find out more about the retail media services we offer. Looking to understand more about creating a successful retail media strategy? Download our free e-book here.
