Expo Preview: Closing the Loop via Digital Marketing Technologies

While today’s path to purchase is not linear, real-time data and advanced analytics enable brands to understand customers along the entire buying journey.“The next battlefield is to move away from being campaign-centric to something more responsive to the shopper,” says DataXu chief revenue officer Ed Montes, who will moderate the Who’s Who Breakfast Presentation scheduled for Oct. 22 at the Shopper Marketing Conference & Expo. “We know a lot about the consumer, and we need to support all of the shopper’s needs as they move along the path to purchase. By putting their data to work with the latest digital marketing technologies, shopper marketers can efficiently deliver a customer-centric approach that is measurable and moves product while building trust.”To preview the presentation, we queried some of the panelists, asking them to weigh in on how they’re “using digital.” Participating were Ethan Goodman, VP, digital practice lead, The Mars Agency; Alicia Smestad, president, Nsight Connect; Marcene Sonnek, digital brand manager, Hormel Foods; and Brian Kittelson, director of integrated shopper marketing, General Mills.Q: How are you measuring digital advertising today?Sonnek: Redemptions, impressions, click-thru rates, sharing, page views, time on site. We are testing solutions that allow us to measure against actual in-store purchase – did the campaign impact sales?Smestad: The holy grail is the ability to measure category growth, penetration or frequency over time in addition to setting up proven test/control and exposed/unexposed volumetric methodologies.Goodman: We’ve been testing measurement approaches that start to connect the dots between online ads and offline activity – did the consumer go into a retail store after viewing our ad, and/or did she buy our product there?Q: How are you attributing digital advertising to your overall ROI for advertising spend?Kittelson: Digital advertising spend is still relatively small compared to TV for most General Mills brands. Digital advertising delivers comparable or higher ROI than TV, but the contribution to the overall ad ROI is still low given its support level, but growing.Sonnek: We have several coupon programs that measure conversions in-store. We also do research on campaigns that show increased brand awareness, household penetration or intent to buy.Q: What key challenges are you or your organization facing in measurement and “closing the loop” to purchase?Goodman: Scale. We have partners that can do real, one-to-one attribution down to the in-store sales level, but the scope of those efforts is generally confined to specific retailers or other limiting factors. In the meantime, we generally default to less reliable/accurate metrics like coupon downloads or directional sales lifts.Kittelson: It is hard to measure very short-term, local-level digital initiatives. Specifically it is hard to accurately attribute sales volume outside of marketing mix models. For short campaigns where mix modeling isn’t applicable, a common method is Control vs. Test. “Control” is often somewhat subjective. We really lean on test and control measurement with new digital tactics that haven’t achieved scale. This gives us an indication/benchmark outside vendor-supplied metrics and analysis.Sonnek: Most measurement that “closes the loop” to purchase is based on programs that are relatively expensive to execute on a mass basis.Q: What innovation have you seen recently in this area that excites you?Goodman: Mobile foot tracking; loyalty card and POS integration; mobile wallet; and WMX [Walmart Exchange], as they’re building a platform that brings the “close the loop” vision to life.Kittelson: Single-source measurement is an area that we’re interested in. Specifically how we can measure real impact on an individual or household overtime.Sonnek: The programs and vendors that utilize large retailer databases to target specific consumer segments based on interests and demographics beyond the standards (age, household income, etc.) excites me. Also retailers who are testing self-scan programs will be able to offer measurable programs that allow brands to communicate with consumers when they are making decisions at shelf.Q: When might the “closing the loop” challenge be solved effectively?Goodman: I don’t think it’s out of the question that we advertisers will be able to fully “close the loop” effectively in the next two to three years, and that’s only if we believe that WMX hasn’t solved it already – which I suppose is a fair push because they’ve only solved it for Walmart.Sonnek: Effective measurement will be a moving target. The most challenging aspect of digital is that it evolves faster than any other medium we’ve utilized. When we have measurement figured out for what we know now, there will be another digital medium that we can’t even imagine today.Smestad: If we’ve “effectively solved the challenge” today, we aren’t working on the next leap to meet consumers’ needs for tomorrow. Our approach to closing the loop will change as often as our digital engagement strategies do in order to drive consumer behaviors.Limited tickets to this presentation are still available. Visit ShopperMarketExpo.com/session/dataxu to register.

Expo Preview: Closing the Loop via Digital Marketing Technologies

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