Navigating the Future of Retail Media Networks: What Brands Need to Know

Retail media is quickly becoming a full-funnel experience, facilitating a unified view of the customer journey. Retail media networks (RMNs) allow brands to directly target and engage shoppers already on the path to purchase. Roughly two-thirds of online product searches start on retailer sites. Connecting with consumers at that point in their buyer’s journey sets up brands to make the sale. 

These new platforms have unbridled potential to reshape how brands market to and draw in customers on their e-commerce shopping journeys. Brands need to understand what the future looks like for RMNs to take full advantage of this highly targeted, strategic marketing approach. 

Retail Media is Overtaking Traditional Digital Advertising 

Retail media refers to the ads placed on a retailer’s media network. Retail giants like Walmart, Amazon and Target understand they have a captive audience. Monetizing their platforms with ad space is the obvious choice for retailers, and brands know that their target audience (who are also primed for purchase) is shopping on these platforms. 

RMNs allow brands to purchase ad space, ranging from banner ads to sponsored search placements and even video ads, to target shoppers at every juncture in the buyer’s journey. Instead of content marketing targeting users at various stages within the sales funnel, RMNs collapse the funnel altogether, consolidating it into a single step. 

Traditional ads show up in users’ online activities, often when they aren’t in the headspace to make a purchase. Retail media targets consumers who metaphorically (and many times, literally) have their credit cards in hand. It targets the ideal customer on the platforms where they already are, spending time and energy comparing and evaluating products to determine which one they’ll add to their cart. Recent research from DoubleVerify found that ads on RMN receive a 183% higher engagement rate than average ad network impressions. Neglecting RMNs in today’s e-commerce landscape will cause the loss of engagements, sales and revenue to the competition that takes advantage of advertising on these platforms. 

But simply having a presence within an RMN isn’t enough. A brand’s success in retail media relies wholly on its content. 

Prioritizing Content for a Winning RMN Strategy

Investing in ad space on an RMN without optimizing content is like throwing away money. Securing that space allows you to engage with shoppers, but low-quality content is just as bad –– or worse –– than not advertising on those platforms in the first place. 1WorldSync research found that nearly 8 in 10 shoppers often choose not to buy products due to the poor quality or lack of availability of product content.

Advertising through an RMN allows you to engage with the ideal shopper at the perfect time, but without the right content, you won’t convert visitors into customers. A well-rounded, holistic approach to product content optimization helps maximize your investments. Start with your PDPs. Evaluate content quality piece by piece to ensure you’re making the most of your space on RMNs: 

• Images: Are your images high-resolution? Do they showcase the product from multiple angles? Are you utilizing hero images that call out key features directly within the image?
• Product Descriptions: Are your descriptions detailed and accurate? Do they include keywords that help your product rank in search results?
• Rich Media: Are you incorporating videos, 360-degree views or AR experiences? These can significantly enhance the consumer’s understanding and engagement with your product.
• Reviews and Ratings: Are you actively encouraging satisfied customers to leave reviews? Are you featuring positive feedback prominently?

RMNs to Provide Insights and Data for Hyper-Targeted Campaigns

Engagement and conversion data allow teams to analyze an RMN marketing campaign’s success. Brands buying ad space on these platforms will benefit from more consumer data that helps them understand consumer shopping patterns and further drive personalization.As these platforms evolve, access to retailer or first-party insights becomes more important for brands. RMNs have endless data in their vaults that can help brands plan better, make more informed purchase decisions and strategize more effectively. And unlike third-party data, which is often fragmented and less reliable, first-party insights provide a clear picture of the consumer, which leads to more effective and targeted campaigns. According to a recent survey, 62% of respondents say access to first-party data is the primary reason CPG brands choose to work with RMNs –– nearly double the percentage from the previous year. Furthermore, McKinsey found that 75% of non-CPG advertisers plan to increase their investment in RMNs. 

RMNs have reshaped how brands view consumer data collection and what they can accomplish with it. The approach facilitates closed-loop advertising, where a company can know with certainty whether or not a specific ad led to a purchase. Brands want this kind of linear result. As RMNs become standard for retailers and valuable first-party data does, too, reliance on third-party consumer information will dwindle, and first-party insights will guide marketing strategies. 

Advanced Automation that Streamlines Content Strategy 

Retail media advertising is quickly becoming the new normal. Managing thousands and thousands of PDPs and their related ads across RMNs is impossible. Unless that is, you employ content automation. Moving forward, RMNs and the brands that advertise on them are expected to increasingly integrate artificial intelligence and machine learning to aid in content generation and optimization according to consumer preferences and behaviors. 

Content automation tools are essential for brands to manage seemingly endless and evolving content. If you aim to scale, you must do it right to maintain the trust of both consumers and your trading partners. Content automation tools empower brands to manage content at scale, ensuring every piece of content is accurate, up-to-date, consistent across platforms and optimized to convert. Updating product images, guaranteeing consistent, error-free descriptions and generating content according to various retailer requirements: automation executes these tasks to free up time and talent so teams can allocate resources where needed most. 

The future of RMN will undoubtedly include an even greater reliance on automation to meet shifting consumer demands. As AI and ML advance, content teams can capitalize on this technology to create higher-quality, personalized content experiences that draw shoppers in. 

Position Your Brand for RMN Success with 1WorldSync

Retail media networks are still in relatively early stages. As these platforms develop, so will marketing strategies employed by the brands who advertise on them. Today’s shoppers expect rich, engaging, transparent content everywhere they interact with your brand. 1WorldSync has the tools, solutions and data pool access to help you optimize content for every channel, including RMNs. 

On today’s digital shelf, your content is your product. Connect with us today to learn how 1WorldSync can ensure your content is optimized and ready to publish on RMNs so you can convert eager, willing shoppers today.