PAID FOR POST
Temperatures might be soaring across Europe, but Christmas bells are already ringing for many brands. The golden quarter is fast approaching and Analytic Partners believes the one wish retailers should not miss from their lists this season is retail media
In recent years, retail media has become a strong tool in the marketing mix as it offers a solution to dwindling third-party cookies with its strong first-party data, an alternative to fading media such as TV.
It is also embedded into the ecommerce boom with significant potential to drive customer conversion by targeting and retargeting potential consumers.
This allows it to integrate into strong customer-centric strategies to target the consumers that are shopping everywhere – online and offline – and comparing prices to get the best possible deal at a time when budgets are tight.
Especially during noisy seasons such as the golden quarter, thoughtfully crafted omnichannel marketing strategies are essential for brands. But how do you best include emerging channels such as retail media?
Why: Think strategy first
Successful omnichannel strategies involve many moving parts, so it’s important to know how and where to start with retail media as part of it. What is the end goal? And can this be achieved with retail media?
When debating these questions, remember that precise targeting is a key strength of first-party data. Think of the lower funnel – reaching those who are already showing an interest in making a purchase in the lower funnel can be costly, but it also promises better conversion.
How: Create and leverage synergies
Once brands know what they want from their retail media strategy they can focus their efforts to meet expectations.
For those just getting started, a solid, measurable and well-planned investment with a bigger retailer holds less risk. They can often provide brands with a more mature offering and more detailed data for measurement.
But remember that retail media ads not only drive sales on the platform, they also have a significant halo effect on non-platform sales. In fact, we have seen that 45% of Amazon display ads are driving sales outside the platform, according to Warc.
So, while the potential of retail media is unparalleled, it should be considered as a cog within a machine.
Analytic Partners’ ROI Genome data indicates that media channels complement each other, so as their number increases within the marketing mix so too does ROI. According to our research each additional channel drives an additional 11% ROI improvement.
What: Test, measure and optimise
The last thing to keep in mind is that retail media is evolving and so too should a brand’s retail media strategy. Keeping a test-and-learn mindset is vital for its successful implementation – especially during the golden quarter as brands can review and adapt after each event.
Measuring what is and isn’t working will be key for scaling up investments effectively and efficiently.
But don’t measure in isolation, make sure the activity is measured as part of the marketing mix – research shows that using siloed data could have a significant impact, with every marketing dollar being spent, 35 cents can be lost.
A close collaboration with the media owner will be key to measurement and success.
