Sponsored by Affinity Solutions • December 17, 2024 •
Damian Garbaccio, Chief Business and Marketing Officer, Affinity Solutions
CTV and retail media are some of the fastest-growing advertising channels and the spend is only going to increase. CTV ad spend is forecast to reach $33.35 billion next year, accounting for 7.8% of all spend while retail media networks will reach a stunning $62.35 billion, accounting for 14.7% of spend.
CTV accelerated this year due to brands embracing shoppable ad formats, evidenced by Warner Bros. Discovery recently introducing “Shop with Max” as a new ad tech offering and NBCUniversal and Walmart bringing shoppable ad experiences to live sports ahead of Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Beyond being an effective way to reach consumers, shoppable ads remove friction by taking shoppers directly to a retailer’s website or a specific product, creating a better customer experience and shortening the purchase cycle. In fact, a recent LG Ad Solutions study found that 47% of consumers had made a purchase within three months after seeing a TV ad. Shoppable ads have moved the channel beyond its brand awareness legacy to a highly effective way of driving consumer purchases.
Retail media is expanding rapidly with new networks seemingly launching daily, giving advertisers access to new inventory and shoppers. In the last year, JP Morgan Chase, United Airlines and Costco have announced RMNs. While these channels have their benefits, the proliferation of services leads to fragmentation in the market, making it hard to truly understand ROI.
Amid all of this growth, there remains an opportunity for these channels to drive even more effective ad campaigns with alternative data sources. While ACR data and first-party purchase data can inform ad buys on these platforms, they don’t provide a full picture of consumer engagement.
Enter consumer purchase insights which capture the actual transaction of dollars that consumers spend.
Consumer purchase data uncovers patterns for advertisers
Consumer purchase data presents a new kind of marketing currency by creating a more complete picture of consumer behavior, preferences and shopping patterns. It informs the entire marketing funnel — from planning and insights to targeting and measurement — to increase ROI. Consumer purchase data is the source of truth that unites fragmented data and allows organizations to test and learn to drive better outcomes.
For example, Bain & Company worked with a brand struggling with declining sales. Despite investing heavily in strengthening its loyalty program due to a historically loyal customer base, sales continued to slump. When the brand combined its first-party data with consumer purchase data, it found the loyalists’ average basket size was actually growing. Without this data, the brand might have continued to invest valuable resources into solving the wrong problem.
When used effectively, consumer purchase data allows businesses to turn insights into scalable segments, validate their strategies, and ensure they reach the right audience with the right message.
360-views of consumer habits build better advertising outcomes
Traditional metrics like engagement or time spent on the ad leave advertisers guessing about the efficacy of their ads. With consumer purchase data, CTV advertisers can clearly connect their campaign to a purchase, allowing them to prove a specific outcome and determine the incremental return on investment. For example, an advertiser who ran a shoppable ad on Black Friday can see whether the advertisement led to a purchase instead of just showing that the shopper engaged with the ad.
For advertisers using a specific RMN, consumer purchase insights can show how consumers interact outside of a specific ecosystem, giving a 360-degree view into where and how consumers shop. For instance, a brand leveraging Amazon’s RMN can’t truly understand their target audience’s shopping and digital habits beyond Amazon. With consumer purchase insights, they can see where else those consumers shop to better understand how they perform in an increasingly competitive landscape. This valuable data facilitates more personalized campaigns and enables retailers to adjust their existing strategies to keep more share of wallet.
As the industry transitions away from more traditional channels, retail media and CTV will continue to see significant gains and run away with ad spend. However, to truly leverage their power, retailers need consumer purchase insights. Transactional data is the only data that offers a complete view of consumer behavior needed to drive higher engagement and better outcomes. 2025 is shaping up to be the year of the user. It’s time for advertisers to equip their toolbox with insights that will boost their campaigns’ efficacy and foster more meaningful customer relationships.
Sponsored by Affinity Solutions
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