Converged funnel. Flattened funnel. Collapsed funnel. The non-funnel funnel. The funnel has been such a powerful visualization for the buying process for so long that, even a decade into radical shifts in consumer shopping habits, it’s hard to let go.
It’s still useful in explaining and shaping marketing strategies and tactics. Consider retail media, which is very strong at what was once the bottom of the funnel. If a shopper is in a retail app or a store, it’s safe to assume they’re about to purchase.
But I have complete confidence that if you’re using retail media or commerce marketing for the bottom of the funnel only, then you’re missing out on major opportunities.
Retail media matters
Beyond in-app or in-store ads, retail media now encompasses everything from search to connected TV. Walmart, for example, has a deal in place with NBCU, making them an entry point into upfront deals. Amazon and other retailers like Target have offerings across platforms.
People are shopping – discovering, researching, searching – and purchasing across digital and real-world platforms like never before. At the same time, consumer preferences, regulatory pressure, and tech company policies are leading to the phase-out of the tracking mechanisms our industry has relied on since the dawn of digital advertising.
Brands are being told loudly and often that they’ll need to rely on first-party data. Yet brands across categories might not have a huge data set to pull from. And even when they do, there might be a gap between what they have and what they need to craft a meaningful market plan.
This is where retail media matters. The data and the insights that major retailers can offer are quite powerful. And not just for bottom-of-the-funnel marketing.
Hesitation isn’t healthy
Because shopping habits have changed, the lines are much blurrier. Just as you can have discovery in a store aisle, you can have it in an app or on a retailer website. Search can drive brand and performance. Conversely, as shoppable TV ads become a reality, you can have the best of performance and branding. This is another reason brands should consider retail media: They can drive awareness and sale in a single session.
So with all that potential, why are some brands still hesitant to jump in with both feet?
It comes down to effort, power balance and measurement. Operationally, it’s a huge lift. You have to work with each network separately. Even with the advent of data clean rooms, some brands feel like they’re ceding too much control of their own data or that retailers have the upper hand. On top of that, there’s no global standard for measurement and a prevalence of walled gardens.
There’s also hesitancy among brands who don’t see themselves as a natural fit for a number of these retailers. That hesitancy can lead to missed opportunities. Even for non-endemic brands, the wealth of data and insights that these retail networks are sitting on can likely teach you new things about shoppers and your brand, as well as create some distance between you and your competition.
Consider what an auto brand or dealership could do with grocery data. For shoppers who order online and pick up at the store, retailers not only know the details of those shopping trips; they also know the makes and models of cars. Imagine engaging a frequent shopper who buys in bulk with ads for an SUV.
With so much opportunity for brands, retailers and agencies, we can work together to bring forward solutions and create a win-win situation for all involved.
Shifting the mindset
Brands have heard time and time again that they need to break down their silos, especially when it comes to approaching brand and performance or separate media channels. But it’s more than that: A new era of shopping habits requires new ways of thinking.
For one, on the planning front, commerce often comes in too late. To win in commerce, marketers need to plan in reverse by bringing commerce to the start of the journey instead of at the end. When there’s the right amount of time and attention dedicated to this space, you can bring forward unbridled creativity.
There’s also how you actually look at the data generated by retail media. Brands should look at four components in particular: recency (which is one predictor of what people will do next), scale, whether the data is transactional and longitudinal history.
Brands don’t have to navigate these new territories alone. And they don’t have to blow up their budget and shift all their money into this. There’s ample opportunity to experiment and determine what mix of approaches to this new media opportunity works best for a particular product. Chances are the results will speak for themselves.
“Data-Driven Thinking” is written by members of the media community and contains fresh ideas on the digital revolution in media.
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