Tapping into Retail Media at Every Stage of the Digital Marketing Funnel

By 2025, retail media ad spending is predicted to reach $165.9 billion, making up one-fifth of worldwide digital ad spending. As retail media matures, advertisers are increasingly turning to what The Mars Agency has declared one of the "most universally recognized" and "effective methods' of commerce marketing.

In this post, we'll share how this powerful solution plays a pivotal role in helping you reach customers at every stage of the digital marketing funnel, from awareness to engagement and conversion.

Understanding the Digital Marketing Funnel and Retail Media

The digital marketing funnel describes the steps that shoppers take as they move from prospective customer to buyer. While there are different definitions of the funnel, we like this high-level one that accurately describes the path most shoppers take as they move from pre-purchase to purchase:

• Awareness: prospective customers are introduced to a certain product or service
• Consideration: prospective customers research the brand and/or the product by looking at reviews, "how-to" videos, and other pieces of content
• Conversion: buyers make a decision to purchase the product or service

Retail media has a place within every stage of this funnel. Powered by first-party customer data, the term refers to advertising space on retailer websites, mobile apps, and across other digital channels. It allows advertisers to boost awareness and visibility, reaching shoppers while they are close to the point of purchase.

Retail media is different from commerce media, in that it includes advertising opportunities offered by merchants outside of the retail sector (think travel, financial services, and more).

Let's look at the data to see how impactful retail media is in reaching consumers across the digital marketing funnel.

Awareness: Retail Media's Role in Getting Noticed

According to Criteo, 85% of brands and agencies agree that retail media'sability to drive upper-funnel brand awareness is growing stronger.

Why is it so powerful? It helps advertisers significantly boost brand awareness by leveraging the visibility and audience of online retail platforms. This includes major retailers such as Amazon, Walmart, Target, Kroger, and Hy-Vee, as well as specialty retailers, who have a niche all their own thanks to their highly focused audiences.

These sites already have thousands to millions of visitors who are actively searching for products. Advertisers can use sponsored product ads, display ads, and video ads to effectively shout, "Hey, look at me!", showcasing targeted products to shoppers who have already shown interest in buying.

As retail media continues to expand, more marketers are touting the importance of using brand-building metrics like brand awareness to measure the success of marketing efforts. In fact, according to EMARKETER, the importance of brand awareness among US retail media marketers grew 16 percentage points in the last year alone.

Source: EMARKETER

Consideration: Driving Interest & Intent Through Retail Media

Recent PubMatic research found that retail websites are 50% more effective at driving a response from shoppers than social media. Why? Because retail media brings brands closer to the moment of purchase.

Key Tactics to Drive Consideration with Retail Media

• Personalized product recommendations powered by first-party data
• Interactive ads featuring product videos/tutorials
• User-generated content (reviews and ratings) embedded within the ad experience

Conversion: Sealing the Deal with Retail Media

At the final stage of the funnel, retail media can make or break a sale. The goal? Convert engaged shoppers into paying customers with precision tactics that nudge them across the finish line.

Recommended Retail Media Strategies for Conversion

• Retargeting ads based on a shopper's browsing history
• In-cart promotions for complementary products (e.g. coffee beans for a coffee maker)
• "Buy Now" buttons embedded directly within ads for seamless purchasing
• Post-transaction ads with highly relevant and targeted offers

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Conclusion: Retail Media's Impact Across the Digital Marketing Funnel

Each stage of the digital marketing funnel directly impacts the others. Without awareness, there can be no engagement, and without engagement, prospective shoppers never become buyers. Retail media is a foolproof way to reach shoppers wherever they are in the funnel and lead them to the final stage.

We'll leave you with three final data points from Criteo to cement this channel's expansive impact:

• Brands that advertised on retailer platforms reported a 59% increase in organic share of sales within two weeks.
• In incrementality tests, US brands that ran sponsored product ads reported a 428% incremental return on investment.
• EMEA brands that ran on-site display ads saw an increase of 160% in sales per user.

If you want to reach exclusive audiences and accelerate your customer acquisition efforts, now is the time to take action.

Whether you're looking to tap into post-purchase ads or explore channels like sponsored content and creator-powered performance ads, we have the advertising expertise to accelerate your growth. Contact us today to get started.

Check out more resources to get fluent in:

In-App Advertising | Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) | Customer Acquisition Cost

Fluent, Inc. is a leader in performance marketing, offering data-driven customer acquisition and partner monetization solutions that exceed client expectations. We connect brands with consumers at the most optimal moment, unlock additional revenue streams for partners, and empower advertisers to acquire their most valuable customers at scale. Connect with us now to level up your business: https://fluentco.com/contact/

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