Measuring Success Across the Funnel
Retail media has grown to be a full-funnel play. From discovery and consideration right down the funnel to purchase, many commerce marketers are underscoring the importance of a full-funnel retail media strategy.
However, one must also be mindful of matching campaign objectives, such as awareness and sales, to appropriate strategies, channels and key performance indicators (KPIs). A campaign with an upper-funnel, awareness objective, for example, should not have return on ad spend as a KPI, but instead a KPI such as “new to brand,” according to Claire Wyatt, vice president of business strategy and marketing science, Albertsons Media Collective.
“One of the most important things to do when you are running media for your clients is to align in the beginning of the campaign on what is actually the objective and, therefore, what should the KPIs be,” Wyatt said during a session at the Path to Purchase Institute’s Retail Media Summit Canada.
To elaborate her point and share a helpful tool, Wyatt presented a chart to RMS Canada attendees that helped match campaign objectives with the right strategies, channels and KPIs. When we followed up with Wyatt to learn more about the chart, she pointed us to its creator: Michelle Weiskittel, head of media, creative and operations, Albertsons Media Collective.
We recently caught up with Weiskittel to discuss the chart, the thought process behind it, and why it was needed in the space.
P2PI: Claire said you were the genius behind the chart she shared at RMS Canada. When did you come up with it and why did you feel it was needed?
Weiskittel: This KPI framework and way of working is something we kicked off during the launch of our retail media business. Early on, we had a strong vision for how we wanted to go to market and do things differently, with a foundation built on trust, transparency and partnership. For me, partnership is akin to solving business challenges and our privacy-safe, first-party data allows us to do this. Whether it’s creating awareness for a new product, or maybe it’s helping a partner who is losing category share — these are all tied to outcomes we can help solve through this framework.
P2PI: Can you walk through your thought process behind this chart?
Weiskittel: The thought process really stems in leveraging the uniqueness of what a retail media network can offer to our partners. The framework strategically brings all the components of media together — across the funnel tied to objectives, channels, targeting and content strategies — so business outcomes can be achieved efficiently and effectively.
P2PI: How often do you think campaign objectives aren’t tied to the right KPIs? Have you witnessed any of this firsthand?
Weiskittel: It happens more often than you think. Everything is expected to have a return on advertising spend (ROAS), but when you don’t connect sales objectives to outcomes, misalignment starts to bubble up. For example, if a brand is looking to gain the highest potential sales outcome, they should be targeting their loyal customers. But, if they’re looking to change a behavior, it may be harder to get that sale. So, it’s important that you have different baselines for different goals and KPIs.
P2PI: When Claire shared the chart at Retail Media Summit Canada, many were snapping pictures of it. How have you seen the chart received when you share it with potential clients or other marketing leaders?
Weiskittel: The chart is integral to operations at Albertsons Media Collective and is included in every proposal deck. It speaks to and highlights our overarching focus and desire to be a true partner for CPGs, always taking a solution-oriented approach.
P2PI: What advice do you have for brand marketers looking to activate a retail media campaign with Albertsons Media Collective or any other RMN?
Weiskittel: First, you must know the retailer’s brand. To do so, you should ask what the retailer says about their brand and how their customers shop it. Ideally, you want to choose a retail media network whose brand sees its customers frequently, ensuring accurate targeting and frequency. They should also find powerful audiences based on customer actions. A retailer’s purchase data can inform behavior through actions making a retail media network’s first-party targeting capabilities a key differentiating factor. Creating an omnichannel customer experience is also important. RMNs offer unique inventory, which should always be able to provide a full-funnel, omnichannel customer experience. My last piece of advice is to test and learn to get the most out of your retail media network partnership based on a brand’s priorities.