Embrace the Ascent of Retail Media: 5 Practical Tips for a Competitive Advantage

Our 2024 roundtable experts have been seeing the industry’s quest for alternatives for a while. Cookie deprecation, big tech companies getting sued for antitrust and anticompetitiveness, and traditional media’s shrinking revenue have all led to retail media becoming mainstream, they say in our media trends report.

GroupM, a global media investment group with over 10,000 employees, found similar insights in its 2023 report. “Retail media is the third-fastest growing advertising channel in 2023 (behind digital OOH and CTV, although those channels are a fraction of the size). Retail media… is forecast to exceed TV revenue (including CTV) in 2028,” it shares.

But don’t wait until 2028. The opportunity window to gain a competitive advantage is now.

Source: GroupM

The Opportunity for a Competitive Advantage in Retail Media

Some parts of the industry are already leveraging this new opportunity — but they’re mainly digital companies. Traditional media companies and retail media companies aren’t, says Matthew M. Rohrs, sales director here at ADvendio, in our 2024 report. For many, this “is still in that infancy stage,” especially in Europe, explains Jens Hansen, ADvendio’s northern Europe account manager. They say, “‘We’re gonna hold out and ride out for another year,’” he says.

That leaves the space open for competitors to shine, yet this opportunity might be time-limited. “Over the past six to nine months, it feels like if we just bring the right incentive, suddenly,” they take action — “a change from last year,” he says.

Meanwhile, brands and advertisers are deciding who to partner with, and they’re building relationships that might be easier to nurture than to exchange with other media companies. “On average, CPG companies are not willing to work with more than ~6 retail media networks,” discovered Bain & Company.

Source: Bain & Company

So what’s a media company to do to get selected and thrive?

1) Hold On to Good Media Talent

If you’re in the media industry, you’ve felt the decline in traffic. “Social media companies are making it harder and harder for you to leave,” says Gavin Dunaway, marketing director at The Media Trust and former editorial director at AdMonsters, in our report. Google and AI tools, like ChatGPT, are doing the same.

The resulting drop in revenue is leading to consolidation and downsizing in a quest for greater efficiency, says Rohrs in the report. That means letting people go. But as retail media grows and retailers enter the publishing game, “most of the retail folks are snagging up these media people,” says Rohrs.

Budgets might be tight for valid reasons, but holding on to your top talent is the key to making all other strategies — and advanced technology — work. Ultimately, it’s your people who ensure business continuity and scalability.

2) Embed Product Sales in Your Publications

One of the reasons retail media is so successful is because it targets active shoppers. People who consume TV, magazine or online media might not be active shoppers at the moment, but they could be when offered relevant products.

For example, if you publish content about communication, you could offer books, games and even link to a therapy or coaching service.

You could also develop retail-focused content, like “best toddler toys to encourage curiosity.”

Source: My Bored Toddler

3) Enlist Third Party Advertisers

Once you’re selling products, you have new inventory — and an audience with a high purchase intent. This is the time to reach out to advertisers and provide these options:

• If your publication is already well known for offering great products, get complimentary advertisers. If your audience members are buying home decor, they might need home insurance or meal prep services too.
• If you aren’t there yet,or if you want to scale faster, develop content around brands’ products. In the toy example above, you could offer ad space to a toy brand or a toy retailer.

4) Become the Advertiser

Following what we discussed above about high purchase intent audiences, you can get more of them to your publication by advertising on retailers’ owned media channels. Here’s why it matters:

• If they’re interested enough to browse through products, or even make purchases, they’re potentially interested enough to consume content about the topic.
• The bigger your audience sector with high interest and high purchase intent, the more profitable your publication can become — both by selling products yourself and by charging more for ad space.

A couple of potential ways to test:

• Try good ole advertising. If you have a publication for business executives, advertise with retailers who sell business attire. Buy ad space on their website, newsletter on in-store screens to let them know your publication exists, or that you’re running a special promotion.
• Make it an experience. Start a story on an in-store screen or on a retailer’s website. Give enough value to make them want to read or watch the next part of the series on your website. Or use this to humanize your publication. Say, using the business publication example above, have your editors recommend business fiction books in a book store’s media. Then, encourage them to check out your in-depth interviews with business leaders who implemented these books’ lessons in real life.

5) Collect First Party Data & Offer Robust Measurement

“Brands are primarily turning to retail media networks because of their access to unique first-party data,” discovered a BCG survey. There are many ways to access such data (here are 11 suggestions), yet to truly differentiate your publication, you’ll need to turn it into meaningful insights.

Source: BCG

Most of the excitement around the technology that retail media enables is about robust campaign measurement, explains BCG, but it goes even further than that. “Brands expect retail media networks to deliver full-funnel reporting (from awareness to customer action) that yields deep customer insights,” it adds.

Understand Your Industry Better to Help Your Retail Media Stand Out

As you take your media company to its next growth stage, it’s important to understand the full experience your target audience and partners are experiencing in the industry. This matters both to your ability to impact buying decisions and to stay competitive in a constantly evolving landscape.

In early 2024, we gathered three of our favorite AdTech experts and spent time listening. They shared the interesting trends they’re seeing in the media industry. We wrapped their inside knowledge into a report for you, combined with industry data and action items you can implement.

Check it out here for free to stay ahead of media industry trends in 2024 and beyond.

Originally posted on ADvendio.com on 15th July 2024.