Data-Driven Retail Media Strategy

Revolutionizing Retail Media Measurement: Unlocking RMN ROI with Data-Driven Approaches ROI is the primary metric for understanding media efficiency and investment allocation. However, the lack of accurate ROI measurement for Retail Media Networks (RMNs) leads to suboptimal decision-making. Key Challenges: • Outdated Attribution: Traditional Marketing Mix Models (MMMs) rely on broad assumptions, undervaluing RMN ROI. • Data Silos: Fragmented RMN data obscures the customer journey, complicating precise attribution and optimization. • Lack of Detail: Aggregated data misses the specific tactics and placements driving successful RMN campaigns. Solutions: • RMN-Optimized MMMs: Tailor MMM models to RMN data, including metrics like impressions and conversion rates for accurate performance assessment. • Unified Data Ecosystems: Integrate RMN data with other channels for a comprehensive view, enabling precise attribution and holistic optimization. • Granular Analysis: Dive deep into RMN campaigns, analyzing by product category, audience segment, and placement to maximize ROI. Way Forward: • Custom MMM Frameworks: Adaptable MMMs tailored to each RMN’s unique attributes. • Advanced Data Integration: Seamless integration of RMN and other marketing data for comprehensive performance insights. • AI-Powered Insights: Leverage AI to uncover hidden patterns and optimize campaigns for unprecedented efficiency and ROI. The future of retail media measurement lies in adopting RMN-centric, data-driven strategies. How are you adapting your MMM approaches to fully capture RMN impact? Share your insights! Think Blue Parag Shah Sri Rajagopalan #RetailMedia #MarketingMixModeling #DataDrivenMarketing #RetailAnalytics #MarketingInnovation Image by zarubin-leonid on Freepik

A mid-sized brand reached out to us on LinkedIn. 📧 Their message was direct and urgent: "We've seen your work and need your expertise." We set up a call. 📞 After having a conversation, we found that, despite having a decent online presence, they were battling stagnating sales and an underperforming PPC strategy. 📉 They had tried various approaches, but none worked out. After agreeing to work together, the first thing we did was to review their existing campaigns and their PPC structure. The first thing we noticed was the lack of a data-driven approach; they had the tools and the budget but lacked the strategic direction to make the most of their PPC efforts. Over the next few days, we conducted a basic audit to understand all the bottlenecks. This wasn't just about numbers; it was about understanding the brand's story through data. These were the findings and strategies we provided/implemented: 🔶 Campaign Utilization • Observation: Not using SB Video Ads and SD Audience Targeting. • Strategy: Explore opportunities in SB Video Ads and SD Audience Targeting to expand reach. 🔶 Ads-Type Performance • Observation: Overspending on SP, with 95% of budget allocation. • Strategy: Reallocate the budget to 80% on SP and distribute the rest to SB and HSA, enhancing brand presence. 🔶 Match Type Performance • Observation: Broad targeting is leading sales (53%), but Product targeting is underused. • Strategy: Improve ASIN targeting, refine phrase match, and balance the distribution between broad and auto-match types. 🔶 Performance Insights • Observation: High ACoS in SB Video ads with exact match; underperformance in ASIN targeting in SD. • Strategy: Test broader match types in video ads and HSA, focus on competitive ASIN targeting. 🔶 Branded vs. Non-Branded Terms Performance • Observation: Only 1% of budget for high-CVR (41%) branded keywords. • Strategy: Increase allocation for branded keywords and develop a funnel strategy to enhance CVR across the board. 🔶 Bidding Strategy Performance • Observation: Fixed & down bidding showing promising results yet receiving minimal budget. • Strategy: Redirect more funds to fixed & down bidding strategies for improved efficiency. 🔶 Placement Performance & Budget Utilization • Observation: TOS placements have superior CVR and CPA but lack budget allocation. • Strategy: Integrate TOS modifiers and reassess budget distribution for optimal performance. This analysis, based on 60 days of data, provided them with a roadmap to increase sales, improve ROI, and smarter budgeting. Cheers! Amir -------------------- If you're interested in auditing your brand, reach out! 💌 Work We're Most Proud Of: 🔥 $10K to $103K in 30 days with a 4.9% ACoS! 🔥 $126K in sales in 30 days with 5.39% ACoS and 18.55 ROAS! 🔥 $93K in sales within 5 months with 63.24 ROAS and 5.39% ACoS! Let's talk business if you're an Amazon brand owner or an agency owner?🤝 #amazon #amazonfba #amazonppc #amazonadvertising

Most brands treat Amazon and Walmart advertising like a standalone channel. Their P&Ls tell a different story. The disconnect is costing companies millions. Retail media on these platforms operates fundamentally differently from traditional advertising platforms. While marketing teams celebrate campaign metrics in isolation, finance teams wonder why profitability isn't following suit. The reality? Amazon and Walmart advertising performance is inseparable from inventory management, pricing strategy, and competitive positioning. A campaign showing strong return on ad spend can mask underlying issues: Products going out of stock during peak visibility Pricing that erodes margins despite efficient ad spending Competitors undercutting offers exactly when your ads gain traction We've entered a new landscape where retail and media have converged. Organizations still operating with marketing, operations, and finance in separate silos find themselves at a significant disadvantage. This isn't theoretical. It's what we've observed working with brands trying to scale profitably on Amazon and Walmart. Our focus this past year has been building solutions that bridge these critical gaps by creating visibility across traditionally disconnected data points to reveal the true drivers of performance. Because succeeding in retail media isn't about maximizing ad spend. It's about understanding the complete feedback loop between advertising, operations, and financial outcomes, then taking coordinated action based on the full picture. #Xnurta #RetailMedia #AmazonAds #WalmartAds #AIforCommerce

Retail media is well-positioned to soar in the next 2 years. Here’s why: Ad networks have suffered from higher CACs because of various privacy rules. As a result, Amazon, Walmart, and even Instacart ads are all doing extremely well. In today’s Whiteboard Wednesday, I’m going to walk you through 2 questions to consider for your brand: 1. What makes retail media so powerful? 2. What are some of the emergent ways you can take advantage of it? The example I want to highlight here is Uber: Between rides and Eats, Uber is gathering a ton of user data. They use that data to sell ads within their app — especially in the Eats app, people pay for the privilege to be placed as a transactional prompt in the middle of an ongoing order. But this is obvious — and barely scratches the surface of capabilities. The part of the Uber Ad network that impresses me the most is this “second screen” experience being physically implemented into rides. These are literal screens on the back of passenger seats. I ran into this recently: I got into an Uber and the screen said “Welcome, Rishabh” before presenting all of my trip information alongside personalized ads. Oh, did I mention it was touchscreen? So not only could they show me ads based on all of the relevant information Uber has on me, but I could also complete a transaction right on that screen because my credit card is stored with them. Beautiful. Retail media is all about providing advertising opportunities in a way in which search and discovery can allow transactions to be completed within that media network. For Uber, that’s happening with this second screen experience. So how can you take advantage of this while scaling a brand in 2024 and beyond? Across all of these retail media opportunities, advertisers are going to spend more and more time thinking about where to invest. Within the next two years, third-party cookies are going away. Networks with scale are going to gain a lot while fighting for space. Now is the time to start investing so you can be ahead of your competitors in the retail media game. Find the competitive edge, just like Uber did. Got questions? Drop them below, would love to hear some thoughts! PS— make sure to follow here for weekly installments of Whiteboard Wednesday!

Brands need an efficient and effective way to evaluate #RetailMedia Networks 📌 The Mars Agency’s Retail Media Report Card offers a streamlined evaluation of top networks based on essential criteria required for effectively planning, executing, and analyzing retail media campaigns. 📌 With #measurement standards to be released next week, this report card serves as a foundational step toward achieving transparency and consistency across the retail media landscape. Download the report below: https://lnkd.in/egGXEhVG "On the path to standardization, consistency in RMN Product definitions and capabilities is key. The Mars Agency created, and refined, a best-in-class RMN Score Card that helped shape some of The Collective's Product Roadmap. The ever-evolving Score Card provides common definitions and CPG feedback that enabled us to quickly fill gaps in our Product Suite, which improved our ranking. Specifically, three features were prioritized, and delivered, ahead of schedule based on the insights gained from The Mars Agency." - Evan Hovorka Albertsons Companies “In this version, we decided to provide a deep-dive analysis of data clean rooms, which have become a valuable tool for building effective retail media plans and, therefore, an important criterion for evaluating networks. We’ll take a deep dive into other key criteria each quarter.” Ethan Goodman The Mars Agency Some awesome innovations highlighted: 📌 Walmart Connect continuous focus on improvements across ad products and measurement: allowing advertisers to leverage 1PD across all channels and funnel stages and provides closed-loop, omnichannel measurement. 📌 Albertsons Media Collective is reinventing digital circular ad products with Meta and has helped develop a retail media standards framework for the industry. 📌 Amazon’s recent MRC accreditation enhances their DSPs reporting trust and transparency, aligning with the industry’s call for Measurement Standards. Amazon continues to innovate through extension of attributed purchases report, which provides ASIN-level reporting for Sponsored Brands. 📌 CVS Media Exchange (CMX) has increased onsite and app inventory and improved their incrementality analysis. In the horizon they will be adding attribution-based sales and brining predictive and engaged audiences. 📌 Kroger is hot off the heals of their partnership with The Walt Disney Company that incorporates their customizable audiences and closed-loop measurement. Their focus on providing a seamless shopper experience, expansion into new geographic regions, and #data clean room offerings position them for strong growth in the coming year. Shoutout to The Mars Agency team: Eric Pankratz, Jennifer Olsen, Katy Jordan, Andy Howard, Erin Taylor, Kayla Corridon, Heather Luna, Courtney Crossley, Ethan Goodman!

Target's retail media unit, Roundel, is making waves in the retail industry with over 20% growth in the last fiscal year. The strategic focus on creating and selling ads has significantly impacted Target's bottom line, contributing more to gross margins than direct revenue. The unique strength of Roundel is their shopper data. Target crafts tailored product advertisements that resonate with specific audiences through collaborations with top brands such as Apple and Enfamil. This data-driven approach exemplifies the future of retail marketing. #RetailMedia #DataDrivenMarketing Path to Purchase Institute https://lnkd.in/eE27Dfx3

RETAIL MEDIA PROBLEM & SOLUTION Report findings stress industry challenges, urging collaboration and streamlined processes for the channel's full potential. PROBLEM - Gap in value perception between retailers and brands. > 78% of brands find it challenging to justify increasing their investment in retail media. > 40% of brands work with fewer than three retail media networks > 42% work with four to six retail media networks SOLUTION - Simplifying the buying and selling process. > Key to growth lies in the ability to buy and execute retail media across multiple channels and tactics in a single location. > 47% of brands would allocate their budget to midsize retailers if they had the capability to buy and execute across multiple channels/tactics in a single location. > 70% of brands expressed a willingness to invest more in retail media if in-store tactics could be seamlessly combined with digital offerings within a single retail media platform. We're building Axonet [the C-store Retail Media Network] to solve these problems for convenience store operators and their CPG supplier partners. #retailmedia #shoppermarketing #conveniencestores #singleview Article URL in first comment.