Retail Media has become a powerful tool for brands looking for unique opportunities to reach and engage with consumers through every stage of the purchasing process. With the rise of Retail Media Networks (RMNs) and the availability of first-party data, marketers now have more resources than ever to implement full-funnel campaigns that drive awareness, consideration, and conversion.
In this Q&A blog, members of our Retail Media Committee discuss the intricacies of full-funnel strategies and how retail media can be leveraged to engage consumers at all levels of the funnel.
A big thank you to the following contributors for sharing their thoughts:
Amo Aujla-Tse, Retail Media Strategy Lead at Publicis Media
Kına Demirel, Managing Director at Mimedia
Q. What is a full-funnel campaign?
Amo Aujla-Tse: “A strategically crafted full-funnel campaign effectively delivers awareness, consideration, purchase, and loyalty through personalised content tailored to consumer preferences, the platform they engage with, and the stage of the purchase journey they’re at. By implementing a full-funnel approach, advertisers can enhance brand visibility, establish trust, boost brand sales and revenue, and grow a loyal consumer base.”
Kına Demirel: “A full-funnel campaign is a marketing strategy that targets consumers at every stage of the purchasing process, from initial awareness to final conversion and beyond. The goal of a full-funnel campaign is to guide potential consumers through the entire buyer’s journey by using different types of content and messaging tailored to each stage of the funnel. In general, there are 5 stages of a full-funnel campaign starting with creating awareness and engaging audiences, to consideration in a constant manner. After that, the campaign should encourage audiences to make a purchase, which is the conversion stage. Many full-funnel strategies stop at the conversion stage, however, in a full-funnel strategy, it's essential to retain audiences and ensure they have an enjoyable experience. In doing so, consumers will become advocates of brands and services which is the final stage of a full-funnel campaign.”
Q. How can Retail Media enable full-funnel campaigns?
Amo Aujla-Tse: “Retailers are transforming their advertising capabilities to facilitate seamless connections between advertisers and the right target audiences, supported by enhanced optimisations and measurement tools. The role of retail insights in informing full-funnel strategies is crucial for understanding consumer behaviour at different stages of the consumer journey. Retail insights empower marketers to gain valuable insights about consumer preferences, purchasing patterns, and trends which can shape full-funnel strategies.
Leveraging Retail first-party data, advertisers can access valuable insights for precise targeting, empowering them to drive conversions and cultivate brand loyalty effectively.”
Kina Demirel: “At the awareness stage, Retail Media Networks (RMNs) can provide brands with access to high-traffic retail websites, apps, and in-store digital displays. Entrance to stores, digital displays within stores, and banners on e-commerce sites can help build awareness.
In the consideration stage, retailers can offer content like buying guides, how-to videos, and reviews to educate consumers and differentiate brands. Personalised recommendations via carousel ads, SMS, or email can be used to further engage users. RMNs can also use past data to find interested consumers who haven't yet made a purchase.
Once in the conversion stage, RMNs can offer search ads and sponsored product listings to drive the final sale. Sponsored product listings are strategically placed within product listings and search results to capture high-intent shoppers.
In the retention stage, loyalty programmes and CRM tools like emails and subscriptions help brands identify loyal consumers. This data allows brands to re-engage them with new product launches, events, and offers.
In the advocacy stage, retailers encourage consumers to leave reviews, displaying positive feedback to influence future buyers. They also promote referral programmes, incentivising existing consumers to refer others through personalised ads or emails.”
Q. How do upper funnel activations differ from lower funnel?
Amo Aujla-Tse: “Upper funnel activations create brand awareness and generate interest among a broad audience whose intent hasn’t been qualified. Broader audiences consist of shoppers who may not be familiar with a brand or product within a given category. It is useful to leverage educational and lifestyle brand content, highlighting a brand's values here.
Channels that deliver awareness include TV (CTV), OOH, AVOD/BVOD, Programmatic, Radio/Audio & Social.
Lower funnel activations focus specifically on audiences who have qualified their intent through signals, such as audience inclusion, past purchase behaviour, or browsing. Lower funnel activations deliver immediate action from shoppers close to making a purchase. The target audience includes shoppers who are already familiar with a brand and are actively considering it. Content highlighting product benefits, promotions, and discounts should be leveraged here. Channels that deliver conversions include Retailer Search, Retailer Display, In-Store close to POS, and Social.”
Kına Demirel: “For the launch of a new product, where a TV ad can outline the main usage of the product for the lower funnel, another ad on TV can underline a specific promotion to encourage the purchase. The same applies to Retail Media. For the upper funnel, the main usage of the product can be put on a retailer’s brand, or sent as an email to specific audiences but for the lower funnel, search can be used to stimulate the buying. The main difference of a lower funnel campaign compared to an upper level one is a greater focus on targeted audiences rather than mass.”
Q. Are there any key considerations for the measurement of a full-funnel Retail Media campaign?
Amo Aujla-Tse: “Historically, advertisers have placed a strong emphasis on Return On Ad Spend (ROAS) as the primary KPI for Retail Media campaigns. However, shifting the focus from short-term metrics to encompass broader business objectives, such as enhancing brand awareness/recall and driving incremental sales growth, is crucial for evaluating the effectiveness of full-funnel media campaigns.
Furthermore, when assessing the impact of full-funnel campaigns, additional metrics come into play. These include offline sales impact and additional traffic to physical stores generated by online ads. By incorporating these alongside traditional online metrics, advertisers can gain a more holistic view of the effectiveness of their full-funnel Retail Media campaigns and make informed decisions to optimise their overall marketing strategies. “
Kına Demirel: “Full-funnel campaign measurement should encompass both brand-building (upper funnel) and performance-driven (lower funnel) metrics. This will ensure a comprehensive view of campaign performance across the entire funnel.
For the upper funnel, it is best to focus on metrics such as reach, impressions, engagement rates, and brand lift. The goal is to assess how effectively the campaign drives awareness and interest.
For the mid-level funnel, it is best to measure metrics like clicks, website visits, product views, and engagement with content to understand how well the campaign is moving potential consumers from awareness to consideration.
For the lower funnel, it is best to track direct conversion metrics, such as sales, conversion rate, ROAS, and CPA, to determine the effectiveness of driving final purchases or actions.
It is also important to continue measuring the effectiveness of the funnel after the campaign has finished for repurchase and loyalty effects.”
Q. Can you share two best practices for brands considering full-funnel activation within Retail Media?
Amo Aujla-Tse: “When considering full-funnel strategies within Retail Media, two essential best practices that can significantly enhance a brand’s approach include:
Kına Demirel has shared a case study to demonstrate the power of a full-funnel Retail Media strategy:
