The 3 Most Important Retail Media CMOs Must Prioritize in 2021

Mastering the most important retail media will be key for 2021 and beyond. There’s no other industry that has been so drastically impacted by the Internet than retail. The game has literally changed so much that strategies as recently as a decade ago are completely outdated. In today’s post, learn what the most important 3 retail media are for CMOs to focus on this year and beyond.

For CMOs looking to find the right balance for their online/offline marketing spend, it can be difficult to predict where those precious digital marketing dollars should be split. The best multichannel marketing strategies ensure that all a brand’s marketing efforts work in conjunction with one another, across every channel, to meet each customer at exactly the right moment in their buyer’s journey. 

Marketers can’t be expected to master every place a customer might find product information. However, CMOs must help their teams by prioritizing the most important retail channels in order to place the best bets.

The following are the 3 most important retail media that CMOs must focus on in 2020:

Amazon is more than a place to sell products

There’s not a CMO on the planet that would overlook Amazon as a retail channel.

But those who skip Amazon Advertising as a marketing channel are missing out on a huge portion of top-of-the-funnel customers. Even if a customer doesn’t buy from you on Amazon, chances are that they will have used Amazon during their product research.

According to data from Total Retail, 75 percent of shoppers use Amazon to discover new products. Furthermore, another industry report found that 46.7 percent of customers start searching for products on Amazon, no matter which channel they end up using to complete the purchase. 

In fact, Amazon is actually outpacing Google among retail channels when it comes to product discovery. The same study found that just 34.6 percent of shoppers began their product search on Google. Using Amazon Advertising to make sure your products are easily discoverable is about more than just Amazon sales; it’s about educating new customers on your product–no matter which channel they seek out next. 

Google Shopping campaigns are a ‘must-buy’ retail channel

Once shoppers discover new products, their journey is very often just beginning. When customers decide what they’re looking for, most then turn to search engines to compare products, prices, and retailers’ reputations. 

The research stage very often means the difference between making a sale and losing out to someone higher in the search rankings, which is probably why Google Shopping ads accounted for more than a third (39%) of ecommerce advertiser SEM spending recently in Skai’s Q3 2019 Quarterly Trends Report.

Google Shopping ads show images and prices at a glance, making it easy to compare products, which could be why they convert at a rate 30 percent higher than Google text ads. And with 80 percent of consumers reporting that they compare prices online before making a purchase in stores, all retailers can benefit from making sure their product comes in at the top of Google Shopping search results. 

Facebook Dynamic Ads are a great option across the funnel

And for searchers who have already found products on Amazon, then come across a business’s ad while comparing prices, retargeting on social media with a Facebook Dynamic Ad could be just the final touchpoint needed to turn a shopper into a customer. In Skai’s Q3 2019 Quarterly Trends Report, Facebook dynamic product ads made up 37% of ecommerce social advertiser spend.

“Dynamic product ads combine the strengths of Facebook in one ad format — a highly targeted audience with highly relevant creative,” says the co-founder, JUNIQE on a Facebook Business blog post. “Since each user sees unique creative with products they’ve actually looked at enriched with recommendations, they are much more likely to convert at a cheaper CPA compared to other ad formats.”

With Facebook boasting 2.38 billion monthly users, chances are, Facebook Dynamic Ads will reach quite a few users who have expressed interest in a brand. And even if audiences have not yet discovered a particular brand, Facebook Dynamic Ads can also target users who have expressed interest in similar brands or products, making it easier than ever to reach those who failed to touch ads on Amazon, Google or other retail channels.

When it comes to planning digital strategy, picking an advertising channel should not be an either/or proposition. Making sure all ads on every channel work in conjunction with one another to move buyers from the discovery to the purchase stage of their buyer’s journey should be one of the modern CMO’s main objectives. 

Mastering today’s retail channels requires an advanced toolset

Skai’s suite of marketing technologies helps advertisers to drive performance, stay productive, and stay sharp with the campaign insights to enable data-driven decision-making.

Our platforms help marketers find success across Amazon, paid search, and social advertising.

• Retail Media. Create, manage, forecast and optimize Amazon Sponsored Ads campaigns at scale
• Paid Search. Achieve next-level performance with the award-winning, industry leader in SEM
• Paid Social. Engage social customers while achieving your branding and performance goals

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