Skai https://skai.io/ Skai - Digital Marketing Technology Tue, 29 Oct 2024 15:55:39 +0000 en-US hourly 1 Q3 2024 Quarterly Digital Trends Report https://skai.io/reports-and-whitepapers/q3-2024-quarterly-digital-trends-report/ https://skai.io/reports-and-whitepapers/q3-2024-quarterly-digital-trends-report/#respond Tue, 29 Oct 2024 15:49:03 +0000 kiley.jecha@kenshoo.com https://skai.io/?post_type=insights&p=277103 Learn quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year digital advertising campaign performance trends from Q3 2024

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by kiley.jecha@kenshoo.com

Q3 2024 Quarterly Trends Report

See the breakdown of industry trends and performance across retail media, paid search, and paid social. Download the report to dive into spending, pricing, and results across channels, and find out what influenced the digital advertising market in Q3.
  • Key performance indicators for the first quarter of the year across retail media, paid search, and paid social.
  • How full-funnel efforts across the walled garden publishers made an impact on spending growth.
  • The latest on rising ad prices and where those price increases may be at least slowing down.
  • What are the key drivers for spending growth in each major digital marketing channel.

Retail media: Even as CPC growth slowed down to just 2% YoY, investment in the retail media channel jumped 28%.

Paid social: Strong QoQ growth for lower-funnel tactics suggest lower annual growth may stem from slow-moving changes in how Meta and other publishers target different stages of the funnel.

Paid search: Spending growth on paid search slowed to 3% over last year, with click prices up by 5%.

In this report:

Download the report to learn quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year digital advertising campaign performance trends from Q3 2024.

  • Full-funnel efforts across the walled garden publishers made an impact on spending growth, with the likes of Amazon DSP, Google Performance Max and Meta Advantage Shopping Campaigns+ all growing at a faster rate than their respective marketing channels.
  • Ad price inflation moderated in Q3, with retail media seeing prices up just 2% YoY after an 11% increase last quarter. Paid search CPC growth dropped from +9% last quarter to +5% in Q3, and social CPM declined YoY.
  • Spending continued growing across channels as impression and click volume either increased to compensate or, in the case of paid search, did not shrink enough to bring down overall investment in the channel.
  • Advertiser spending on July’s Amazon Prime Day sales event was greater than that of the entire Cyber Five weekend in the 2023 holiday season.
Download the Report

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unBoxed 2024: What’s New From Amazon Ads and Why It Matters https://skai.io/blog/unboxed-2024-whats-new-from-amazon-ads-and-why-it-matters/ https://skai.io/blog/unboxed-2024-whats-new-from-amazon-ads-and-why-it-matters/#respond Mon, 28 Oct 2024 14:20:39 +0000 Noa Reikhav https://skai.io/?post_type=blog&p=277083 Summary Amazon’s unBoxed 2024 revealed a clear focus on full-funnel, omnichannel advertising, introducing advanced tools and features to help advertisers connect with customers. Key innovations include an updated DSP experience, no-code AMC solutions, AI-powered campaign and creative tools, new measurement systems, and audience bid boosting. These updates align with the industry’s move towards cohesive strategies... Read More »

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by Chris "Coz" Costello

unBoxed 2024: What’s New From Amazon Ads and Why It Matters

Summary

Amazon’s unBoxed 2024 revealed a clear focus on full-funnel, omnichannel advertising, introducing advanced tools and features to help advertisers connect with customers. Key innovations include an updated DSP experience, no-code AMC solutions, AI-powered campaign and creative tools, new measurement systems, and audience bid boosting. These updates align with the industry’s move towards cohesive strategies across touchpoints, offering deeper insights and refined targeting for better results.

Amazon Ads’ unBoxed event is the company’s annual showcase of new retail media tools, features, and strategies to help advertisers connect more effectively with customers. With keynote presentations, product reveals, and insights from industry experts, unBoxed continues to serve as a vital touchpoint for marketers looking to stay ahead of evolving trends and maximize their advertising potential.

This year’s unBoxed 2024 was dedicated to full-funnel advertising – with frequent usage of the term “omnichannel” – and it was very clear that this has become the main focus and growth engine for Amazon Ads. While Sponsored Product ads remain a foundation for the Amazon Ads business, everything else they’re building is where their interests now lie.

Relying on a single channel or tactic in retail media limits the ability to reach and convert shoppers effectively. A full-funnel approach connects all touchpoints—both on and off retail sites—to engage consumers with consistent, relevant messaging throughout their journey. This strategy enhances the shopping experience and drives better results by ensuring every interaction counts.

At its core, a full-funnel approach requires seamless connectivity between different media types, data points, tactics, and capabilities. Skai’s strength shines as an omnichannel, cross-publisher platform built to address this complexity. For us, a full-funnel strategy isn’t just a direction—it’s a fundamental belief in how marketing should be done to drive more meaningful and cohesive results. 

And more importantly, Skai is the only platform that is already built for this. While others try to play catch-up – which will prove difficult, if not impossible – we stand alone in truly delivering an omnichannel approach to full-funnel, cross-publisher advertising. 

Key announcements from unBoxed 2024

At Skai, we were excited to see many of the new innovations unveiled at Amazon Ads’ unBoxed 2024, as they align with our vision of where the industry is headed. The focus on full-funnel connectivity and advanced tools resonates with our belief in creating cohesive, data-driven strategies that maximize impact. 

Let’s take a look at some of the key announcements and explore how they fit into this evolving landscape.

A refreshed Amazon DSP experience

The new Amazon DSP experience includes updates to the user interface to improve the customer experience, making the platform more intuitive and transparent. Enhancements such as standard line items and a central Home Page with Recommendations & Insight Cards will provide advertisers with clearer, more actionable insights. Read more.

Maximizing impact with Skai: With an improved Amazon DSP console, we can now focus even more on our unique connectivity, intelligence, and optimization across retail media, paid search, and paid social. This makes Skai even more of a perfect complement to Amazon Ads! New features like campaign creation and frequency-capping tools will increase streaming TV adoption for new-to-CTV advertisers. For example, frequency capping allows brands to reduce spend while increasing precision, leading to broader reach with net new customers if reinvested.

Ads data manager and no-code AMC solutions

Amazon Ads introduced an ads data manager, which offers advertisers a secure interface to upload signals once and use them across Amazon DSP and Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC). Integrated with leading providers like Treasure Data and Salesforce, this tool enables advertisers to connect their first-party data to Amazon DSP audiences. Read more

New AMC solutions also introduced no-code capabilities in an intuitive interface—extending AMC’s sophisticated analytics capabilities to brands of all sizes. Read more.

Maximizing impact with Skai: The combination of Amazon’s data and no-code AMC capabilities means advertisers can quickly uncover advanced insights for audience targeting and measurement. Skai’s platform is built to support these insights by integrating with Amazon DSP once available via API. This is not just about integrating data into Amazon but using these unified data points for enhanced optimization and actionability through our visualization and analysis tools.

AI-powered Performance+ campaigns

Amazon introduced Performance+, an expanded campaign type for Amazon DSP that uses AI and first-party data for automated audience creation, optimization, and campaign setup. This feature now includes additional tactics like remarketing and retention, offering automated solutions for more refined targeting. Early adopters have seen significant gains, including a 51% improvement in customer acquisition costs in one case study. Read more.

Maximizing impact with Skai: As an Amazon Ads partner, Skai can use Performance+ to help brands reach the right customers at the right time. With AI-powered optimization leveraging Amazon’s first-party signals to rank users hourly, Skai supports refined targeting and pacing controls to maximize conversions and efficiency. This strategy is particularly beneficial for both endemic and non-endemic advertisers running streaming TV campaigns.

Advanced measurement tools

Amazon has introduced a suite of advanced measurement tools, including a new multi-touch attribution system that uses machine learning to understand how every ad engagement contributes to purchasing decisions. Additionally, the introduction of Long-Term Sales metrics offers insights into the 12-month impact of brand campaigns, while Conversion Path reporting provides a detailed 60-day view of the customer journey. Read more.

Maximizing impact with Skai: As the industry moves away from focusing solely on ROAS, these new measurement tools open up more opportunities to assess impact across the funnel. Skai is designed to integrate any data point, connect it to anything, and drive actions, especially in incrementality solutions such as ours that align with this evolving measurement landscape.

AI-powered creative tools

In a move that democratizes high-quality ad creation, Amazon Ads introduced a trio of AI-powered creative tools. The video generator enables brands of all sizes to produce compelling video ads without breaking the bank. The new audio generator creates interactive audio ads in minutes for audio advertisers. The crown jewel is the AI creative studio, a comprehensive platform that combines AI functionality with expert-level controls, allowing advertisers to create and iterate on high-quality ad content with ease. Read more.

Maximizing impact with Skai: It’s great that Amazon Ads is offering more visual ad formats and placements, especially for marketing teams who typically do not work on visual advertising. Skai will support these creatives in our Creative Center, a hub within our platform that helps with managing and optimizing creative assets at scale across multitudes of channels and publishers. 

With Creative Center, all assets are brought into one central location so marketers can easily monitor and compare performance insights for creative assets across all campaigns in one place and test different versions to see what works best. The solution also enables faster activation and collaboration, allowing marketers to close the feedback loop between analysis, activation, and creative iteration.

Ad Relevance and New Product Campaigns

Amazon Ads introduced Ad Relevance, which leverages signals, addressability, and AI to deliver more relevant ads without third-party cookies. Additionally, the New Product Campaigns service helps brands launch products more efficiently during the crucial first 90 days by leveraging data-driven media plans and Amazon Marketing Cloud insights. Read more.

Maximizing impact with Skai: Skai already supports existing offerings and will continue integrating new Amazon capabilities as they become available. As a comprehensive platform, Skai enables brands to leverage rich data to optimize outcomes across other retailers and media types beyond just Amazon, providing a true omnichannel solution.

Audience bid boosting

Amazon introduced audience bid boosting, a feature powered by AI that offers more bid controls to target high-purchase-intent shoppers and improve both sales and ad efficiency. Advertisers can create custom audience segments by combining their first-party data with Amazon’s, through the privacy-safe Amazon Marketing Cloud. Read more.

Maximizing impact with Skai: Audiences are the “secret sauce” of retail media, and allowing advertisers to better leverage these capabilities for optimization is a straightforward value add. With Skai’s Audience Center, complex insights from Amazon’s audience signals can be translated into actionable strategies, helping marketers expand reach to relevant audiences and discover new opportunities for display and video advertising. Audience Center’s integration with Amazon DSP enables data-driven decisions that enhance engagement and ROI throughout the customer journey.

Limited ads on Prime Video in select regions

Starting in 2025, Amazon will introduce limited advertisements on Prime Video in regions including Brazil, India, Japan, the Netherlands, and New Zealand. This move aims to support ongoing content creation while helping brands connect with new audiences. Read more.

Maximizing impact with Skai: As Prime Video expands its ad offerings, Skai is positioned to quickly support new marketplaces, unlocking value for customers as these opportunities become available. This allows marketers to extend their reach and engage audiences in new regions.

Looking ahead: embracing the full-funnel future of retail media advertising

The key takeaway from unBoxed 2024 is clear: the future of advertising isn’t just about individual tactics or isolated channels; it’s about connecting every piece of the puzzle to create cohesive and impactful strategies. 

As Amazon continues to innovate with full-funnel solutions and advanced data tools, the opportunity lies in embracing this interconnected approach. It’s not just about adapting to new features—it’s about rethinking the way brands engage with consumers across touchpoints and unlocking the power of a more connected ecosystem.

At Skai, we believe this shift toward true omnichannel and full-funnel strategies is essential for staying ahead. By prioritizing seamless integration, rich data insights, and cohesive execution, marketers can elevate their strategies to meet the demands of an increasingly complex digital landscape.

For us, unlocking new revenue opportunities and driving operational efficiency throughout the customer journey isn’t on the roadmap – it’s already here.


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Lessons Learned from the Preparation for the End of Cookies https://skai.io/reports-and-whitepapers/lessons-learned-from-the-preparation-for-the-end-of-cookies/ https://skai.io/reports-and-whitepapers/lessons-learned-from-the-preparation-for-the-end-of-cookies/#respond Thu, 24 Oct 2024 16:26:34 +0000 kiley.jecha@kenshoo.com https://skai.io/?post_type=insights&p=277030 Learn how forward-thinking marketers pushed the boundaries of traditional approaches, redefining targeting, engagement, and measurement.

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by kiley.jecha@kenshoo.com

Lessons Learned from the Preparation for the End of Cookies

When marketers prepared for the end of third-party cookies, it felt like the sky was falling. Brand marketers, agencies, publishers, and technology solutions began preparing for the cookieless future. Google’s reversal brought relief, but now that the dust has settled, what can we learn from the innovative thinking sparked during this time? These efforts pushed marketers to think differently, leading to new ways to drive performance and customer action, such as:
  • Building more direct relationships with customers
  • Adopting a more adaptable, data-driven approach
  • Creating more meaningful, relevant interactions
There are lessons to be learned from that innovative time.

Key Themes from the Report: Crumbling Cookies, Fresh Strategies

Rethinking Customer Relationships

To plan for a cookieless future, marketers realized the importance of building direct relationships through first-party data. These strategies can inspire new ways to create personalized connections and deepen customer loyalty.

Adapting Creative Approaches

Shifting to thematic, scalable campaigns became essential in a world without cookies. Marketers can draw on this thinking to design engaging and creative marketing without relying on invasive tracking.

Reimagining Targeting Strategies

Exploring contextual targeting and leveraging first-party data helped keep messaging relevant. These ideas offer a path to precise targeting that respects user privacy.

Evolving Measurement Techniques

The need for new measurement frameworks was clear. Marketers can take inspiration from these approaches to gain reliable insights and optimize campaigns in a privacy-focused landscape.

Embracing Flexibility and Agility

Flexibility was key to adapting to a cookieless world. This mindset encourages marketers to stay agile and ready to respond to new challenges and opportunities.

“The creative thinking and problem-solving that marketers have been refining over the last several years weren’t developed in vain; in fact, they’re more relevant now than ever as the industry shifts toward privacy-first strategies that prioritize trust, transparency, and consumer choice.”

Don’t Miss Out—Unlock Insights from Cookie-Prep Innovation

Download our complimentary white paper today to explore the breakthrough strategies developed during preparations for a cookieless future. Learn how forward-thinking marketers pushed the boundaries of traditional approaches, redefining targeting, engagement, and measurement. Don’t let these valuable lessons slip away—get your copy now!

This report focuses on three key areas where innovative thinking reshaped marketing strategies:

  • Rethinking customer relationships: Building direct connections with customers to drive loyalty and engagement
  • Adapting creative approaches: Crafting scalable campaigns that resonate with audiences without heavy reliance on tracking
  • Reimagining targeting strategies: Using contextual and first-party data to maintain relevance and precision

These insights provide a roadmap for applying these forward-looking strategies to drive future success.

What We Learned Preparing for a World Without Cookies

The anticipation of a cookieless digital ecosystem prompted marketers to engage in deep, forward-thinking strategies and innovations. While third-party cookies remain, their reduced significance—along with broader signal loss—continues to push brands to evolve in a landscape increasingly focused on privacy and consumer trust.

This report provides actionable strategies for the post-cookie era by harnessing the innovative ideas and insights that emerged during this critical period. Marketers can turn their strategic preparations into real-world success by applying these forward-thinking concepts—the evolution of first-party data, capitalizing on walled gardens, and redefining approaches to targeting, personalization, and measurement. The goal is to future-proof marketing efforts and build stronger, more authentic connections with today’s privacy-conscious consumers.

Read the Report

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Heinz UK leveraged Profitero’s Shelf Intelligent Media integration with Skai to increase ROAS and Share on Prime Day https://skai.io/case-studies/heinz-uk-profitero-skai-prime-day/ https://skai.io/case-studies/heinz-uk-profitero-skai-prime-day/#respond Tue, 22 Oct 2024 20:42:25 +0000 kiley.jecha@kenshoo.com https://skai.io/?post_type=case-studies&p=276993 The post Heinz UK leveraged Profitero’s Shelf Intelligent Media integration with Skai to increase ROAS and Share on Prime Day appeared first on Skai.

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by kiley.jecha@kenshoo.com
Case Studies / Kraft Heinz

Heinz UK leveraged Profitero’s Shelf Intelligent Media integration with Skai to increase ROAS and Share on Prime Day

Challenge

In an ever-changing eCommerce environment, connecting retail media to digital shelf trends is critical. Heinz UK wanted a solution to integrate competitor digital shelf signals into their retail media to win more on Prime Day.

Solution

Heinz UK used Profitero’s Shelf Intelligent Media integration with Skai to bring in critical digital shelf analytics directly into the platform. The simplified tech stack gave the team access to digital shelf insights and advanced bid optimization features in one place.

For the conquesting strategy, Heinz UK set up automations to increase bids based on whenever competitors were out of stock. This approach maximized share of voice (SOV) for top of Page 1 placements, increasing the chances of winning more sales.

Heinz also improved efficiency by using their own product availability to guide optimizations. They created automated actions to pause bids when their products were out of stock, helping them spend more efficiently and minimize the risk of losing consumers to a competitor due to unavailable products.

Result

The food & beverage brand improved performance with no change in spend during the key seasonal event:

  • 11% increase in impressions
  • 13% increase in paid share of Page 1
  • 6% increase in ROAS
  • 8% decrease in CPC

“Setup was straightforward and easy to maintain. Performance saw an improvement with a successful Prime Fall Days event.”

George Murray
Retail Media Manager | Dentsu

About Kraft Heinz

The Kraft Heinz Company is the third-largest food and beverage company in North America and the fifth-largest food and beverage company in the world, with eight $1 billion+ brands. A globally trusted producer of delicious foods, The Kraft Heinz Company provides high quality, great taste and nutrition for all eating occasions whether at home, in restaurants or on the go. Learn more www.kraftheinzcompany.com.

Solution Used

Find out what Skai can do for you:

Request a Demo

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Discounts and election fatigue: What to expect for the holidays https://skai.io/skai-in-the-news/discounts-and-election-fatigue-what-to-expect-for-the-holidays/ https://skai.io/skai-in-the-news/discounts-and-election-fatigue-what-to-expect-for-the-holidays/#respond Tue, 22 Oct 2024 20:01:52 +0000 Tanya Talbot-Butler https://skai.io/?post_type=kenshoo-in-the-news&p=277017 The post Discounts and election fatigue: What to expect for the holidays appeared first on Skai.

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by Tanya Talbot-Butler

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Support Your Omnichannel Microsoft Invest Campaigns in Skai https://skai.io/blog/microsoft-invest/ https://skai.io/blog/microsoft-invest/#respond Mon, 21 Oct 2024 18:52:37 +0000 Beth Clos https://skai.io/?post_type=blog&p=276979 Summary Skai now supports Microsoft Invest, a leading demand-side platform (DSP) that allows brands to reach over 200 million users across multiple channels. By integrating Microsoft Invest data into Skai’s omnichannel platform, marketers gain seamless access to insights across display, CTV, search, social, and app campaigns. This partnership enables streamlined reporting, real-time metrics tracking, and... Read More »

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by Chris "Coz" Costello

Support Your Omnichannel Microsoft Invest Campaigns in Skai

Summary

Skai now supports Microsoft Invest, a leading demand-side platform (DSP) that allows brands to reach over 200 million users across multiple channels. By integrating Microsoft Invest data into Skai’s omnichannel platform, marketers gain seamless access to insights across display, CTV, search, social, and app campaigns. This partnership enables streamlined reporting, real-time metrics tracking, and flexible performance measurement tools, enhancing overall marketing strategies.

Connect, ingest, analyze, and report, all in one place 

We’re excited to announce that Skai now supports Microsoft’s Invest, one of the world’s leading demand side platforms (DSP).  Microsoft Invest enables brands to extend their reach significantly, with the opportunity to engage over 200M users across all screens.  Its high-quality audience data helps advertisers reach their ideal target audiences at scale and position their brand in premium, high-impact environments. With over 1800+ publisher partnerships and 800+ CTV publishers, Invest provides an expansive footprint for maximum omnichannel coverage. 

Skai can seamlessly integrate your essential Microsoft Invest data alongside your other display and CTV publishers. Skai’s platform delivers omnichannel visibility which means you can also see your Microsoft Invest performance data next to your paid search, social, and app campaigns. This ensures maximum insight across your holistic performance marketing programs.

Unlock your brand’s potential with Skai and Microsoft Invest 

Our support for Microsoft’s DSP allows you to pull your display and CTV campaigns directly into the Skai platform for streamlined reporting, with the core features and capabilities Skai clients know and love:

  • Integrate your Microsoft Invest campaigns to Skai’s omnichannel platform with a few simple steps.
  • Monitor essential metrics such as impressions, ad spend, CPM, and more with Pacing Monitor, Dashboards, and Automated Alerts.
  • Measure performance with Custom Metrics, Experiments, and ultra-flexible Scheduled Reports.

Stay tuned for more updates, as Skai adds more features as part of this partnership. 


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Monthly Industry Snapshot – September 2024 https://skai.io/blog/monthly-industry-snapshot-september-2024/ https://skai.io/blog/monthly-industry-snapshot-september-2024/#respond Sat, 19 Oct 2024 20:12:58 +0000 Chris "Coz" Costello https://skai.io/?post_type=blog&p=277059 Breaking down monthly trends across digital channels by industry category This analysis builds on the Monthly Paid Media Snapshot to look at changes in spending and ad prices by industry category. As with any benchmark, your results may vary, but we hope this provides more context for you as a marketer as you navigate the... Read More »

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by Chris "Coz" Costello

Monthly Industry Snapshot – September 2024

Breaking down monthly trends across digital channels by industry category

This analysis builds on the Monthly Paid Media Snapshot to look at changes in spending and ad prices by industry category. As with any benchmark, your results may vary, but we hope this provides more context for you as a marketer as you navigate the ups and downs of your program’s performance.

How to read these charts

There are two charts for each channel. The first bubble chart shows month-over-month (MoM) changes in ad pricing–average cost per click (CPC) for paid search and retail media and average cost per thousand impressions (CPM) for paid social on the x-axis and MoM changes in ad spending on the y-axis. For example, a bubble in the upper right quadrant of the chart means both price and spending increased. The size of the bubble does not reflect anything except the overall channel having the larger bubble in each instance.

The diagonal line indicates spending changes that are completely described by the change in pricing. Bubbles above the diagonal mean that ad volume—clicks for retail media and paid search, impressions for paid social—grew faster than pricing, while bubbles below the diagonal mean that volume grew slower.

The second chart in each series shows actual CPC/CPM by category for the current month and the previous month. Bubble size, again, simply differentiates the overall channel value from the individual categories.

Retail Media 

Overall, retail media spending decreased 1% in September, while average CPC increased 3%

With overall spending moving so little, no individual industry category saw more than a 10% spending swing in either direction. Within those boundaries, Hobbies & Leisure saw the largest spending increase, while Health saw the biggest drop.

CPC was a bit of a different story, in that ad prices increased for every category except for Apparel. Not surprisingly, both Hobbies & Leisure and Home & Garden saw some of the largest price hikes, as both of these categories also had higher-than-average spending increases. Family & Community, Health, and Beauty & Personal Care have all staked out an average CPC of more than $1.50, the highest in the analysis.

Paid Search 

Overall paid search spending grew 3% in September, while average CPC dropped 2%.

Paid search saw more variation in performance by category than retail media. Computers & Consumer Electronics and Sports & Fitness grew the most, with the tech category topping out at a 25% increase over last month. Travel & Tourism and Jobs & Education were both down, although these two categories saw ad prices go in opposite directions. However, both fell under the diagonal reference line, which indicates that click volume also dropped from August levels.

Jobs & Education once again led the way in terms of actual CPC at $4.32 per click, and also boasted the biggest month-over-month increase. The trio of Travel & Tourism, Finance and Vehicles all had middle-of-the-pack prices clustered between $0.80 and $1.00, and all dropped around 15%

Social Advertising

Overall, paid social spending increased 9% in September, while average CPM grew 9%.

Clearly, the Apparel and Finance categories were big drivers of that growth, with spending in the former up 60% over August and the latter increasing by over 25%. Of the categories large enough to be named in our analysis, Jobs & Education was the only one where monthly spending retreated.

Also contributing to spending growth is the fact that all of our named categories saw CPM increase from September to October, led also by Apparel. This could herald a return to year-over-year increases in CPM after they came in lower for Q3.

Check out more resources from Skai

Come back next month for the most up-to-date data. Until then, you can dive into more of our research via our Skai Research Center or Quarterly Trends Reports hub.

And please visit the Skai blog and Whitepaper Library for ongoing insights, analysis, and interviews on all things related to digital advertising.

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The Skai Holiday Gift Box: Final Adjustments for Social Advertising Holiday Success https://skai.io/blog/social-advertising-holiday-success/ https://skai.io/blog/social-advertising-holiday-success/#respond Fri, 18 Oct 2024 19:20:09 +0000 Joshua Dreller https://skai.io/?post_type=blog&p=276947 Summary Regardless of the well-laid plans made months ago, marketers must be flexible and adapt to the season for social advertising holiday success. With 58% of shoppers starting early, focus on hyper-targeted audience lists and dynamic ads to stay competitive. Utilize Skai’s tools to personalize content, optimize performance in real time, and streamline creative processes... Read More »

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by Chris "Coz" Costello

The Skai Holiday Gift Box: Final Adjustments for Social Advertising Holiday Success

Summary

Regardless of the well-laid plans made months ago, marketers must be flexible and adapt to the season for social advertising holiday success. With 58% of shoppers starting early, focus on hyper-targeted audience lists and dynamic ads to stay competitive. Utilize Skai’s tools to personalize content, optimize performance in real time, and streamline creative processes with AI. Fine-tune your strategy now to capture holiday sales before the rush.

It’s mid-October, and that means the holiday marketing season is in full swing. While you’ve spent the past months planning, the next few weeks are when things really start to pick up, and social advertising will be at the center of it all. With shoppers already in the holiday spirit, it’s important to focus on social advertising to drive results quickly and efficiently. These last-minute tips aren’t for your long-term strategy—they’re what you need to think about right now to stay ahead of the holiday rush.

Consumers are out there searching for gifts, with 58% of them having started by November 1st. That’s why a swift and strategic focus on paid social advertising is critical. Here’s how to leverage your social media campaigns in the coming weeks to ensure you hit your holiday targets before things get too chaotic.

Get your audience ready with hyper-targeted lists

In the fast-moving holiday season, nailing your audience strategy can make or break your paid social campaigns. Tools like Skai’s Smart Tags help you sift through mountains of data to focus on the most relevant audiences, ensuring you reach those ready to buy. With shoppers feeling the pressure, 60% of consumers have already experienced out-of-stock items during the holiday season. By hyper-targeting, you can avoid promoting unavailable products and focus on what matters most: delivering the right message to the right person at the right time.

Take advantage of these next few weeks by optimizing your audience segmentation. Social advertising gives you the flexibility to adjust on the fly, so make sure your lists are dialed in and that you’re monitoring how your campaigns are performing. As shoppers narrow down their choices, your audience targeting will be the key to capturing conversions.

Make your holiday offers irresistible with dynamic ads

In these final weeks before the peak shopping frenzy, Skai’s Dynamic Commerce Ads can help ensure your products stay top-of-mind for holiday shoppers. With 66% of consumers budgeting carefully due to economic concerns, it’s crucial to offer relevant, real-time deals that cater to their needs. Dynamic ads that automatically update with the latest offers and inventory levels help keep your brand competitive as shoppers finalize their purchase decisions.

The next few weeks are when social advertising really shines. Dynamic ads allow you to deliver up-to-the-minute product information, giving you the ability to react to shifts in pricing, availability, or trends without having to overhaul your campaign strategy. This agility is what will keep you in the game as competition heats up.

Personalization at scale: tailor creative for different shopper segments for social advertising holiday success

Paid social marketing is all about personalization, and that’s even more important as the holidays approach. With Skai’s Segment Asset Customization (SAC), you can tailor your creative assets to different shopper segments without spending hours on individual campaigns. Consumers respond best to messaging that feels relevant, whether it’s a last-minute holiday deal or a regional offer that speaks to local traditions.

As the holiday season picks up pace, the ability to quickly personalize ads at scale is essential. You’re not just catering to one audience—you’re speaking to multiple segments, all of whom are at different points in their buying journey. For social advertising holiday success you must deliver the right message to each segment, maximizing your reach without sacrificing relevance.

Optimize in real-time based on ad performance sentiment

The holiday season is a time of constant adjustment, and that’s especially true for paid social marketers. Skai’s Creative Sentiment allows you to track the emotional temperature of your ads and make quick tweaks to optimize performance. With 59% of consumers reporting that they notice holiday promotions starting too early, sentiment data can guide your decisions on when to push certain messaging or pull back to avoid overwhelming shoppers.

This level of real-time optimization is crucial as the season progresses. As you ramp up your holiday campaigns, keeping a close eye on how your ads are performing will help you make data-driven decisions that resonate with your audience and keep them engaged throughout the holiday season.

Creative AI: saving time while optimizing social advertising holiday success

Time is your most valuable asset as the holiday rush nears. With Skai’s Creative AI, you can automatically optimize creative elements across multiple platforms, from Facebook to TikTok, without the need for constant manual adjustments. With shoppers beginning their holiday purchases earlier and earlier, November becomes a critical window for optimizing creative and locking in conversions.

AI-driven creative optimization allows you to run efficient campaigns that adapt to performance insights in real-time, giving you more freedom to focus on strategy while ensuring your paid social campaigns are continuously improving. The ability to automate these processes will give you an edge in the crowded holiday marketplace.

Conclusion: Your last-minute play for social advertising holiday success

The holiday season will only get more chaotic from here. The pressure is on, and the key to navigating this busy period is to fine-tune your paid social strategy right now. These next few weeks are critical. The shoppers are already browsing, so make sure your ads are targeted, relevant, and optimized for performance. There’s no time to waste. Activate automated processes, monitor your creative, and personalize at scale to ensure you capture every possible sale this holiday season.

Your call to action? Go into your Skai dashboard, set up automated alerts, and check your audience targeting settings to make sure everything is primed and ready to go. Don’t wait for Black Friday to make adjustments—start now and fine-tune throughout November to finish the holiday season strong.


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Central Garden boosts ROAS by 66% working with Skai Expert Services https://skai.io/case-studies/central-garden-boosts-roas-with-skai-expert-services/ https://skai.io/case-studies/central-garden-boosts-roas-with-skai-expert-services/#respond Fri, 18 Oct 2024 17:18:33 +0000 kiley.jecha@kenshoo.com https://skai.io/?post_type=case-studies&p=276822 The post Central Garden boosts ROAS by 66% working with Skai Expert Services appeared first on Skai.

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by kiley.jecha@kenshoo.com
Case Studies / Central Garden & Pet

Central Garden boosts ROAS by 66% working with Skai Expert Services

Challenge

Central Garden & Pet, a market leader in the lawn and garden industry, experienced growth through acquisitions, expansion into new categories, and a significant retail media presence across Amazon and other channels to meet customer needs. The Central team partnered with Skai’s Expert Services for strategic guidance and transitional managed execution of retail media campaigns. A key area of focus was profitability on Amazon for grass seed, a highly seasonal product line. They knew quick wins could be found by optimizing placement modifiers. To overcome the challenge of manually and arbitrarily determining bid adjustments, they tested Skai’s AI Placement Modifiers on Amazon.

Solution

Looking to understand and analyze the impact quickly, a pre/post test was designed around the bid modifiers across Sponsored Products Ads. By setting up Portfolio for the experiment, team combined 26 campaigns common ROAS goal to test cost allocation and revenue lift for all placements over four weeks.

Beyond looking at historical placement data to make adjustments, the latest proprietary features from Skai’s AI Placement Modifiers give marketers AI-powered recommendations for where to increase or decrease modifiers. The tool can also estimate daily cost increase or revenue lift to make confident, strategic decisions.

Using this approach, Central and the Skai team reviewed the performance and AI recommendations weekly to understand and activate the optimal balance between ad spend and campaign revenue more efficiently and effectively.

Result

By continually optimizing and reviewing the recommendations, Central balanced campaign performance and unlocked a 27% increase in ROAS across all placements. They also saw the Rest of Search position result in a 66% boost to ROAS during the test for grass seed. This success created a blueprint to expand using AI Placement Modifiers for other product lines.

About Central Garden & Pet

Central Garden & Pet, based in Walnut Creek, California, is home to a leading portfolio of more than 65 high-quality brands. Central understands that home is central to life and has proudly nurtured happy and healthy homes for over 40 years. Learn more at www.central.com.

About Skai’s Expert Services

Partnering with both brands and agencies, Skai’s Expert Services team provides full-service transitional campaign management and additional strategic consulting. Gain a unique level of services tailored for your every need whether you are transitioning a program in-house, staffing up a new team, or just need some additional guidance and extra hands. Learn more at skai.io/expert-services.

Solution Used

Find out what Skai can do for you:

Request a Demo

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Holidays 2024 Installment 1: Megan Harbold Predicts the Spending Future https://skai.io/skai-in-the-news/holidays-2024-installment-1-megan-harbold-predicts-the-spending-future/ https://skai.io/skai-in-the-news/holidays-2024-installment-1-megan-harbold-predicts-the-spending-future/#respond Fri, 18 Oct 2024 14:00:19 +0000 Tanya Talbot-Butler https://skai.io/?post_type=kenshoo-in-the-news&p=276912 The post Holidays 2024 Installment 1: Megan Harbold Predicts the Spending Future appeared first on Skai.

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by Tanya Talbot-Butler

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The Skai Holiday Gift Box: Final Adjustments for Paid Search Holiday Success https://skai.io/blog/paid-search-holiday-success/ https://skai.io/blog/paid-search-holiday-success/#respond Thu, 17 Oct 2024 21:14:19 +0000 Joshua Dreller https://skai.io/?post_type=blog&p=276766 Summary As the holiday season approaches, optimizing your paid search campaigns is critical for driving conversions. Skai’s tools, such as Budget Navigator and Search Term Analysis, can help marketers manage budgets, refine keywords, and enhance visibility. This guide provides actionable steps to ensure your SEM strategy is fine-tuned for paid search holiday success. Don’t wait... Read More »

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by Chris "Coz" Costello

The Skai Holiday Gift Box: Final Adjustments for Paid Search Holiday Success

Summary

As the holiday season approaches, optimizing your paid search campaigns is critical for driving conversions. Skai’s tools, such as Budget Navigator and Search Term Analysis, can help marketers manage budgets, refine keywords, and enhance visibility. This guide provides actionable steps to ensure your SEM strategy is fine-tuned for paid search holiday success. Don’t wait to make these key adjustments—set yourself to capture high-intent shoppers in the coming weeks.

It’s mid-October, and the holiday marketing season is upon us. If your paid search holiday campaigns have been running for a few weeks, now’s the time to evaluate and make key adjustments before the real chaos begins in November. This isn’t about laying out long-term strategies but ensuring your search engine marketing efforts are dialed in for the next few critical months.

Search engine marketing (SEM) is still one of the most reliable ways to capture high-intent shoppers during the holiday rush. 54% of consumers use search engines to research holiday purchases, and paid search ads put you right in front of those actively looking for products. As we approach peak shopping days, optimizing your SEM campaigns is more important than ever to stay ahead of competitors.

Now is the perfect time to dig into your paid search metrics and make quick adjustments to improve performance. Whether you need to refine your keywords or adjust your ad spend, these last-minute changes can make a significant impact on your holiday campaign success. The next few months will be crucial to ensure your SEM campaigns are in top shape, which is the key to a strong holiday finish.

Managing budget chaos during peak season

In 2024, 30% of holiday shoppers expect to spend more than they did last year, which means your campaigns need to be fully prepared to capture this increased spending. The window to adjust budgets is closing, so now is the time to ensure your campaigns are running efficiently.

Budget management during the holiday season can make or break your campaigns, especially when consumer behavior is unpredictable, and shopping patterns can change daily. Overspending early on high-traffic days like Black Friday can exhaust your budget too quickly, leaving you with limited resources for the rest of the season. On the other hand, under-spending could mean missing out on key opportunities when traffic is at its peak, and competitors are ramping up their efforts. The challenge lies in pacing your ad spend to capture conversions at the right moments without blowing through your budget too soon or holding back too much and missing high-intent shoppers.

While your SEM strategy has likely been set, Skai’s Budget Navigator helps ensure your campaigns stay on track by automating budget pacing. This tool allows you to balance spend across multiple search engines and platforms, making sure your dollars stretch further throughout the holiday season. It safeguards against the common pitfalls of overspending on underperforming keywords or ads and helps optimize spend where it truly matters, giving you control and visibility over your campaign’s financial health in a fast-moving marketplace.

By using automation to handle budget pacing, Skai’s tool ensures that you get the most out of your advertising dollars, adapting to real-time data and consumer demand without needing constant manual adjustments. This means you can focus on refining other elements of your campaign while being confident that your budget is being used efficiently, ultimately driving better ROI and ensuring your paid search campaigns deliver when it counts the most.

Untangling underperforming keywords can deliver you the present of paid search holiday success

As the holiday season progresses, chaos inevitably builds. Consumer search behavior shifts rapidly, driven by deals, last-minute shopping, and changing inventory levels. Paid search marketers must be nimble to keep up with these fluctuations. The sheer volume of searches, coupled with increased competition, makes it more difficult to stay on top of trends and ensure your campaigns are optimized for maximum efficiency. Managing keywords and budgets during this frenzied period can feel like an overwhelming task, especially with so much at stake during the holidays.

Search Term Analysis is a tool that uses advanced AI and machine learning to identify the search queries that trigger your ads, providing detailed insights into how these terms perform. In minutes, it highlights which search terms are wasting your budget with irrelevant matches and shows opportunities to optimize. What would typically take hours of manual work for a trained SEM analyst, Skai’s tool accomplishes in minutes, allowing search marketers to quickly identify underperforming terms, add negative keywords, and redirect budgets toward high-performing queries.

With 64% of consumers researching products on retailer websites, aligning your SEM efforts with trending search behaviors is crucial. Search Term Analysis efficiently ensures your campaigns stay optimized during the peak holiday season. 

Struggling to craft effective ad copy for paid search holiday success

Holiday ad copy needs to shine more than ever during this hectic season. In paid search, your headlines and descriptions are often the first touchpoints with consumers, so they must quickly grab attention and inspire action. This is where Skai’s Generative AI Headlines tool steps in, helping you automate the creation of high-performing ad copy tailored to your holiday campaigns.

Creative testing becomes even more important during this time. As paid search marketers, you need to test variations in ad messages to see what resonates most with holiday shoppers. 58% of shoppers report that special discounts and promotions are key decision drivers during the holidays. Your copy should reflect the deals and promotions that will drive conversions, especially in competitive categories.

The holiday season brings stiff competition, and standing out in search engine marketing is no easy task. With SEM, visibility is everything, and Skai’s Signal Enhancement tool helps boost the effectiveness of your paid search campaigns by focusing on custom-weighted conversions. This ensures your campaigns are driving the outcomes that matter, not just proxy conversions.

Visibility is crucial as 60% of consumers cite out-of-stock items as a top frustration, meaning your ads need to be optimized for both relevance and availability. Skai’s Signal Enhancement tool helps you incorporate real-time data, including stock levels, so you can avoid promoting products that are unavailable.

Moreover, 35% of holiday shoppers expect to shop both online and in-store, meaning your campaigns need to target a mix of search behaviors. Make sure your messaging reflects this cross-channel approach to maximize your paid search holiday success.

Testing campaigns at scale under pressure

The holiday season is a pressure cooker for search engine marketers, with multiple campaigns running simultaneously. Testing ad variations at scale can be the difference between paid search holiday success and a season that misses the mark. Skai’s Experiments feature allows you to test ad copy, bidding strategies, and audience targeting without the guesswork.

Running tests on SEM campaigns is critical as 70% of consumers still consider Cyber Monday a major shopping event. By running pre/post-tests on your paid search ads, you can identify what works best and double down on the successful elements as we head into the busiest shopping weeks.

In this fast-paced environment, 42% of consumers plan to start their shopping earlier than usual this year, meaning the testing window is shrinking. Implement last-minute tests to make sure your campaigns are fully optimized before shoppers are in full holiday buying mode.

Mirroring successful campaigns across platforms

You’ve likely built successful campaigns already, but there’s always room to take them further. Skai’s campaign mirroring technology allows you to mirror paid search campaigns across multiple platforms, like Microsoft Advertising, which can give you a broader reach during the holiday season. This is especially important as consumers continue to shop across different channels and devices.

To further optimize your SEM strategy, use intent-driven messaging to align your ads with high-intent search terms. This tactic helps ensure your campaigns remain relevant and drive conversions as shoppers actively look for deals in the last few weeks before Christmas to help ensure paid search holiday success.

Additionally, 33% of shoppers plan to spend more time searching for better deals across multiple sites this year, so extending your campaigns to additional platforms could make the difference in capturing those cost-conscious shoppers.

Staying on top of ad performance before it’s too late

With the holiday rush accelerating, staying on top of performance changes in your SEM campaigns is essential. Skai’s Decision Pro Spotlight feature helps monitor ad performance, flagging unusual activity and potential opportunities. As a paid search marketer, these real-time alerts give you the agility needed to pivot quickly when things change unexpectedly.

Setting up AI-powered alerts ensures that your campaigns won’t slip through the cracks. When traffic spikes, so do the risks of overspending or underperforming, and keeping close tabs on your ads can prevent these issues. If a campaign suddenly underdelivers, Skai will alert you in time to make necessary adjustments.

With 29% of shoppers planning to take advantage of last-minute deals, your paid search campaigns must be agile enough to adjust quickly. If a campaign is underperforming, you need to know about it immediately to make real-time tweaks. Keep monitoring those performance changes so you don’t miss out on this crucial part of the shopping season.

Ready for paid search holiday success?

The holidays are upon us, and the stakes are higher than ever for search engine marketers. With just weeks left until the busiest shopping days, now is the time to ensure your paid search campaigns are fully optimized and performing at their best. Use these last-minute tips and the tools available in Skai’s playbook to make critical adjustments and monitor performance in real time. The next few weeks could make all the difference in ensuring your holiday season is a success.

Don’t wait—review your campaigns, adjust as needed, and set yourself up for a fantastic end to the year with high-performing SEM strategies.

Make sure your paid search campaigns are ready for the holiday rush! Schedule a brief demo with the Skai team today to see how our tools can drive success for your brand.


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Skai Named a ‘Major Player’ in the 2024 IDC MarketScape for Worldwide Retail Media Network Service Providers https://skai.io/press-releases/skai-named-a-major-player-in-the-2024-idc-marketscape-for-worldwide-retail-media-network-service-providers/ https://skai.io/press-releases/skai-named-a-major-player-in-the-2024-idc-marketscape-for-worldwide-retail-media-network-service-providers/#respond Thu, 17 Oct 2024 13:00:36 +0000 kiley.jecha@kenshoo.com https://skai.io/?post_type=press-releases&p=276832 SAN FRANCISCO – October 17, 2024 – Skai, the leading omnichannel advertising platform specializing in walled garden media, has been positioned as a ‘Major Player’ in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Retail Media Network Service Providers 2024 Vendor Assessment.[1] This report by IDC, a premier global market intelligence firm, is the first of its kind to... Read More »

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by kiley.jecha@kenshoo.com

SAN FRANCISCO – October 17, 2024 – Skai, the leading omnichannel advertising platform specializing in walled garden media, has been positioned as a ‘Major Player’ in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Retail Media Network Service Providers 2024 Vendor Assessment.[1] This report by IDC, a premier global market intelligence firm, is the first of its kind to focus on the underlying services that support retailers in building and operating retail media networks (RMNs).

While the IDC MarketScape highlights supply-side technologies supporting the setup and operation of RMNs, Skai’s inclusion as a demand-side platform for full-funnel, omnichannel retail media activation reinforces the growing importance of capturing and scaling demand in retail media. Skai empowers advertisers to leverage advanced data-driven strategies that maximize advertiser performance across multiple RMNs, walled gardens and commerce media channels.

“In order to capitalize on retail media network investments and unlock scaled and diversified ad demand, there is a greater need than ever before among retailers, brands, and agencies for innovative data-driven solutions and advanced tools,” said Gil Sadeh, President of Skai.

“We are pleased to be recognized by the IDC MarketScape, and we look forward to continuing to be a major player in driving growth for our customers and partners.”

About Skai

Skai is an omnichannel advertising platform, uniquely enabling brands and agencies to run data-driven programs across walled garden media. It empowers both media leaders and activation teams to drive impactful results from their advertising program with AI-powered decisioning, activation and optimization solutions. Its partners include Google, Amazon Ads, Microsoft, Walmart Connect, Apple Search Ads, Instacart, Criteo, TikTok, Snap, Pinterest, Meta and more.

For over a decade, Skai has earned trust from notable brands such as HP, DoorDash, Sony, Philips, and L’Oreal. Renowned for innovation and a values-driven culture, Skai is headquartered in San Francisco and has eight international locations.

Visit skai.io for more information.

About IDC MarketScape

IDC MarketScape vendor assessment model is designed to provide an overview of the competitive fitness of technology and service suppliers in a given market. The research methodology utilizes a rigorous scoring methodology based on both qualitative and quantitative criteria that results in a single graphical illustration of each vendor’s position within a given market. IDC MarketScape provides a clear framework in which the product and service offerings, capabilities and strategies, and current and future market success factors of IT and telecommunications vendors can be meaningfully compared. The framework also provides technology buyers with a 360-degree assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of current and prospective vendors.

 

[1] IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Retail Media Network Service Providers 2024 Vendor Assessment, Ananda Chakravarty, September 2024, IDC #US52574122

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Digital Shelf Analytics: The Key to Optimizing Your Retail Media Strategy https://skai.io/blog/digital-shelf-analytics/ https://skai.io/blog/digital-shelf-analytics/#respond Wed, 16 Oct 2024 19:08:53 +0000 Ana Alicia Santella https://skai.io/?post_type=blog&p=276853 Summary Digital shelf analytics unlock new levels of insight for retail media marketers, offering a 360-degree view of real-time data like product availability, buy box status, and competitive positioning. By integrating these metrics into your retail media strategy, you can optimize ads, capture more customers, and stay ahead of the competition. Learn how digital shelf... Read More »

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by Chris "Coz" Costello

Digital Shelf Analytics: The Key to Optimizing Your Retail Media Strategy

Summary

Digital shelf analytics unlock new levels of insight for retail media marketers, offering a 360-degree view of real-time data like product availability, buy box status, and competitive positioning. By integrating these metrics into your retail media strategy, you can optimize ads, capture more customers, and stay ahead of the competition. Learn how digital shelf analytics drive smarter decisions and better outcomes for your campaigns.

“Without data, you’re just another person with an opinion”

W. Edwards Deming

For marketers, a single actionable data point can uncover new opportunities, drive smarter decisions, or refine a campaign that wasn’t reaching its full potential.

Those insights are critical for success in an increasingly competitive retail media environment. Understanding not just what’s happening but why it’s happening enables marketers to optimize campaigns in ways that yield stronger results.

For example, as a retail media marketer, what if you knew your product was frequently out of stock or losing the buy box to a competitor? You could instantly pinpoint why your ads aren’t converting as expected and adjust your strategy accordingly. Or, what if you had real-time insights into your competitors’ stock levels? You could take advantage of market gaps when they run out of stock, ramping up your ads to capture their customers. 

Standard media metrics like ROI and CPC are no longer enough. Non-media insights are game-changing for any retail media team because they allow you to optimize your advertising efforts based on real-world conditions.

By addressing key factors like product availability and competitive dynamics, you can fine-tune your programs to ensure they perform at their peak.

Introducing digital shelf analytics

Marketing campaigns have traditionally depended on core performance metrics like return on ad spend (ROAS), cost per acquisition (CPA), and click-through rate (CTR) to drive optimization. These media metrics are essential for measuring ad performance, whether they reach the right audiences, and the campaign’s overall effectiveness. 

However, retail media is unique in that it blends the worlds of both media and retail. To build an effective retail media strategy, marketers must look beyond standard advertising metrics and consider the slew of critical retail factors influencing a campaign’s success.

This is where digital shelf analytics become indispensable. These metrics help marketers track key insights such as product availability, buy box status, and competitor activities. With these retail-focused insights, marketers can better understand the real-world factors influencing their ad performance and respond more effectively to changes in the market. Digital shelf analytics are like having your own team of robot monitors always on, tracking these crucial data points for you, and flagging exactly where and when you need to step in. 

Even more actionable, digital shelf analytics can seamlessly integrate into retail media management platforms like Skai. By incorporating digital shelf analytics alongside traditional media metrics, brands can gain a complete, 360-degree view of their campaigns. 

Digital shelf analytics for GreenElle Solutions

The best way to illustrate how digital shelf analytics work is by using real-world examples. 

To do this, we’ve created a fake brand, GreenElle Solutions, which specializes in eco-friendly cleaning products. The brand has just activated its digital shelf analytics integration within its retail media management platform. 

Let’s explore how GreenElle Solutions is now using these insights to fine-tune its approach and drive better outcomes.

Product signals

In retail media advertising, it is critical to ensure that your products are ready for sale when customers are searching. Key factors like product availability, visibility, and fulfillment directly impact the success of your ads. Even the best-targeted ads can fall short if your product isn’t in stock or properly displayed. By focusing on these retail fundamentals, you can ensure that your ads reach the right audience and are positioned to drive conversions.

Product Availability tracks whether your products are in stock and ready to be fulfilled. Ensuring product availability prevents missed sales and builds customer satisfaction.
GreenElle Solutions realized their all-purpose cleaner was low in stock in the late morning. With digital shelf analytics, they can automate the pausing of ad campaigns until inventory bounces back..

Buy Box Status tracks whether your product is the default “add to cart” option. Winning the buy box increases the likelihood of conversion, as your product becomes the most convenient choice for shoppers.
GreenElle Solutions noticed that their eco-friendly dish soap frequently lost the buy box to a competitor offering a lower price. By leveraging digital shelf insights, they implemented a targeted strategy to monitor buy box promotions, quickly identifying wins and losses. This proactive approach helped them regain the buy box, significantly boosting conversions.

Critical Content Issues track incomplete or incorrect product listings that may affect your visibility. Accurate and optimized product listings ensure customers get the information they need, improving search rankings and conversion rates.
GreenElle Solutions discovered that several listings lacked key details like usage instructions. Using digital shelf analytics, they quickly identified and corrected these content gaps, increasing completed purchases.

Competitive signals

Competition in retail media advertising is intense, with brands constantly battling for the same shoppers. To stay ahead, it’s essential to know how your brand compares to competitors in areas like pricing, stock levels, and product visibility. Monitoring competitive signals allows you to adjust your ad strategies quickly, seize opportunities, and stay agile in a rapidly shifting market.

Competitor Brands track competitors selling within the same category or using the same keywords. Understanding your competitors allows you to differentiate and position your brand effectively.
GreenElle Solutions identified a new competitor aggressively targeting their core eco-friendly keywords. With digital shelf analytics, they adjusted their bidding strategy to focus on long-tail keywords emphasizing their unique sustainability features, maintaining their market position.

Competitor Products track the number of competing products in your category or using similar keywords. Knowing how crowded your category is lets you differentiate and highlight your unique selling points.
GreenElle Solutions saw a sudden influx of new competitors in the eco-friendly cleaning space. With digital shelf analytics, they quickly updated their product listings and increased ad spending on top-performing keywords to stand out.

Competitor Availability tracks when and how often competing products are out of stock. Knowing when competitors run out of stock presents an opportunity to capture their potential customers.
GreenElle Solutions noticed that a top competitor frequently ran out of stock on their popular disinfectant. By ramping up promotions during these times, they were able to capture additional market share.

Brand signals

In retail media advertising, a strong brand presence is key to building customer trust and increasing visibility across channels. Brand signals offer critical insights into how your brand is perceived by both consumers and competitors. These metrics help you gauge brand health in the digital space, ensuring your brand remains competitive and stands out in an increasingly crowded marketplace.

Share of Voice (SOV) tracks how visible your brand is compared to competitors in a specific category. Higher visibility leads to more traffic and conversions.
GreenElle Solutions’ organic share of voice was trailing behind competitors. With digital shelf analytics, they improved their SEO and optimized their product pages, boosting their organic rankings and increasing overall visibility.

Average Position tracks how often your product appears in top search results. A higher ranking in search results increases click-through rates and conversions.
GreenElle Solutions noticed that their all-purpose cleaner was consistently ranked below competitors. By increasing their ad budget for top-performing keywords, they improved their search position and drove more traffic to their product page.

Share of Position tracks how your products rank compared to competitors for specific keywords. Monitoring share of position helps you refine your strategy to improve rankings and gain more visibility.
GreenElle Solutions saw its products consistently ranking lower for certain keywords. Using digital shelf analytics, it revamped its product descriptions and ran targeted ad campaigns, significantly improving its rankings.

Unify retail media management and digital shelf analytics in Skai

Integrating digital shelf analytics into Skai’s campaign management platform offers unparalleled efficiency for retail media marketers. With these insights built directly into the platform, you’re no longer burdened by pulling data from separate analytics tools or relying on another team to implement changes. This real-time visibility into key factors like stock levels, competitor activity, and product positioning ensures your campaigns stay agile and responsive.

By bringing these critical insights into the same space where your campaigns are managed, digital shelf analytics become part of the fabric of your daily workflow. This unified approach ensures your campaigns are operating at their full potential. With all your data in one place, you can fine-tune every aspect of your strategy without the typical delays caused by siloed tools or teams.

Ultimately, brands embracing this integration level will gain a competitive edge in retail media advertising. By combining Skai’s powerful platform with real-time insights from digital shelf analytics, marketers can make smarter, faster decisions and maximize the impact of every ad dollar spent. The result is a holistic, data-driven approach that drives both short-term conversions and long-term growth.

Skai clients can learn more about our digital shelf analytics integrations by reaching out to their client success team.

For others, please schedule a brief demo of Skai’s Retail Media solution to chat with our team about how digital shelf analytics can help your brand optimize campaigns, improve product visibility, and drive more impactful results across your retail media efforts.


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The Skai Holiday Gift Box: Final Adjustments for Retail Media Holiday Success https://skai.io/blog/retail-media-holiday-success/ https://skai.io/blog/retail-media-holiday-success/#respond Wed, 16 Oct 2024 18:34:58 +0000 Joshua Dreller https://skai.io/?post_type=blog&p=276842 Summary As the holiday shopping season quickly approaches, retail media marketers are in a race to make the final adjustments that will define their success. With 58% of consumers starting their holiday shopping by November, the opportunity to fine-tune campaigns is narrowing. These final weeks are critical for tightening up omnichannel strategies, refining category focus,... Read More »

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by Chris "Coz" Costello

The Skai Holiday Gift Box: Final Adjustments for Retail Media Holiday Success

Summary

As the holiday shopping season quickly approaches, retail media marketers are in a race to make the final adjustments that will define their success. With 58% of consumers starting their holiday shopping by November, the opportunity to fine-tune campaigns is narrowing. These final weeks are critical for tightening up omnichannel strategies, refining category focus, and making last-minute optimizations. For marketers, it’s the time to make those crucial adjustments that can turn a well-prepared campaign into a high-performing one during the busiest shopping period of the year.

It’s mid-October, and the holiday marketing season is officially upon us. For retail media marketers, time is of the essence, as shoppers are already starting to open their wallets. 15% of consumers have already started their holiday shopping, and by November 1st, 58% will have joined them. With that in mind, this isn’t the time for overarching seasonal advice. Instead, here are a handful of crucial, actionable tips to ensure your campaigns are optimized and ready before things really start to heat up in the coming weeks.

At Skai, we know how fast things move in retail media—especially during the holiday season. These strategies will help you make last-minute adjustments that will keep your campaigns performing at their best as we approach the busiest time of year for retailers.

Give (and receive) the gift of a seamless omnichannel experience

Holiday shoppers are notoriously stressed. They’re bouncing between online and offline channels, from browsing on their phones to buying in-store, and you need to be ready wherever they are. 64% of consumers use retailer websites for holiday research, making it crucial that your omnichannel strategy is fully aligned right now—not weeks from now. Retail media isn’t just another touchpoint; it’s often the anchor of the entire omnichannel experience. Integrating your retail media campaigns with CTV, programmatic display, and paid social ensures that wherever your customers are shopping, you’re ready to meet them.

For retail media marketers, this means looking at every platform and every ad format as an opportunity to drive engagement and conversion. Instead of waiting until Black Friday to make changes, use the next few weeks to fine-tune your approach, ensuring you’re capturing shoppers from all directions. The closer we get to November, the more fragmented the shopper’s journey becomes. By tightening your omnichannel efforts now, you’ll be prepared to convert distracted and busy consumers when the shopping rush kicks into high gear.

Make your retail media list (and check it twice)

With the holiday season in full swing, you can’t afford to waste time or resources on irrelevant categories. Top categories like fashion (90.7%) and toys (84.6%) are already leading the pack, and your retail media campaigns should reflect this. Now is the perfect time to reassess which product categories are driving the most consumer interest and focus your efforts on pushing these items across retail media platforms. Retail media is uniquely positioned to capture in-market shoppers at key decision moments, so make sure your ads are aligned with what’s top of mind for holiday buyers.

Use the weeks before Black Friday to conduct a quick review of which categories and products are underperforming and shift your focus to high-demand items. The beauty of retail media lies in its agility—you can course-correct quickly by reallocating spend to the highest-converting categories. Don’t wait until Cyber Monday to adjust your strategy. Doing this now ensures you’ll hit the ground running when the stakes are at their highest.

And check your keywords twice with Search Term Analysis (STA)

In retail media, search is everything—especially as the holidays approach. Shoppers are searching with specific intent, and setting up automated keyword harvesting 3-4 weeks before key events will ensure you capture those crucial searches that drive conversions. Skai’s Search Term Analysis (STA) allows you to make these refinements in real-time, cutting out any waste by removing underperforming keywords. Retail media marketers understand that search can make or break a campaign, and this last-minute keyword audit can give your holiday strategy a significant edge.

Retail media relies on precision targeting, and keyword strategy is at the core of that. With the holiday frenzy around the corner, STA helps you stay nimble, allowing you to adapt your campaigns as new trends emerge in the coming weeks. Rather than scrambling to catch up when the chaos begins, use this window to proactively refine your targeting. A well-optimized keyword strategy ensures that your retail media ads show up in the right places at the right time.

Automated Actions are Santa’s little helper

With Black Friday just weeks away, it’s not only what you do that matters, but what you automate. Skai’s Automated Actions gives retail media marketers the ability to streamline campaign management, even during the busiest shopping days. Automation through Skai’s tools ensures campaigns are managed seamlessly, even when your teams are out. This is a critical moment to automate repetitive tasks, like bid adjustments and budget shifts, so your campaigns remain agile even when you’re not monitoring them 24/7.

For retail media marketers, the next few weeks are make-or-break. By setting up automated rules and triggers now, you’ll avoid reactive decision-making during key shopping days. Automating your bidding, budgeting, and keyword management means your campaigns can continue to perform optimally without requiring constant oversight. This gives you more flexibility to focus on strategic adjustments rather than manual fixes when things inevitably get chaotic.

Add extra elf magic with Budget Navigator

The holiday season is a balancing act for your budget. 81% of advertisers said retail media spending is one of the most important channels for their brand, and managing that spend effectively is critical to your success. Skai’s Budget Navigator ensures you have full visibility and control over your ad spend across the most important retail days. Waiting to make adjustments can result in overspending or missing out on high-value opportunities, so now’s the time to dial in your pacing and budget allocation.

Retail media thrives on real-time budget flexibility, and Budget Navigator gives you the insights to adjust your spend as peak shopping days approach. You don’t want to leave money on the table by exhausting your budget too early. By using these last few weeks to map out your budget pacing strategy, you’ll have the flexibility to move dollars to the campaigns and channels that are delivering the best results when the stakes are highest.

Experiments help you give the gift of the perfect experience

The holidays are a time of experimentation, not just for consumers trying new products, but for retail media marketers refining their strategies—and experiments do not have to be months-long tests. Setting up experiments before key shopping days allows you to test multiple campaign elements and see what resonates with your audience. Whether you’re tweaking creative, testing different ad formats, or refining your targeting, experiments help you understand what’s driving performance as the holiday season heats up.

For retail media, experimentation is about more than just learning—it’s about acting quickly on the insights you gain. By running these experiments now, you can gather actionable data that allows you to optimize for Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and beyond. Don’t wait for the holiday rush to start testing new strategies. Use this window to experiment with different campaign setups, so you can roll out the most effective versions just as shopping intensity peaks.

Conclusion: It’s Time to Act Now

With the busiest shopping days fast approaching, the key to a successful holiday season in retail media is action—right now. These last-minute adjustments will ensure that your campaigns are set up for success before the rush truly begins. Use Skai’s tools to automate, optimize, and experiment over the next few weeks so that when Black Friday and Cyber Monday hit, you’re not just scrambling to keep up—you’re leading the charge. Take control of your budget, refine your keyword strategy, and perfect your omnichannel approach now. The window is short, but the rewards are huge. Let’s make this holiday season your best yet.

Skai’s retail media solution empowers brands to execute omnichannel advertising strategies that meet holiday shoppers at key decision points. By leveraging automation, data-driven insights, and integrated campaign management across 100+ retailers and platforms, you can drive meaningful engagement and conversions throughout the busy season. Check out Skai’s Retail Media Solution here ​for more information on how we can help.

Get ahead this holiday season by letting Skai streamline your retail media campaigns. If you’re ready to boost your performance, schedule a brief demo today!


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Unpacking Amazon Ad’s unBoxed 2024: An Interview with Skai’s EVP of Product Noa Reikhav https://skai.io/blog/unboxed-2024/ https://skai.io/blog/unboxed-2024/#respond Wed, 16 Oct 2024 13:00:00 +0000 Joshua Dreller https://skai.io/?post_type=blog&p=276464 Summary Amazon Ad’s unBoxed 2024 event highlighted innovations shaping retail media, with streaming TV/CTV at the forefront. Skai’s EVP of Product, Noa Reikhav, shared insights on leveraging AI and data to enhance CTV and display ad performance. Here, she discusses how brands can adopt full-funnel strategies and use Amazon’s platform to drive engagement and conversions.... Read More »

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by Chris "Coz" Costello

Unpacking Amazon Ad’s unBoxed 2024: An Interview with Skai’s EVP of Product Noa Reikhav

Summary

Amazon Ad’s unBoxed 2024 event highlighted innovations shaping retail media, with streaming TV/CTV at the forefront. Skai’s EVP of Product, Noa Reikhav, shared insights on leveraging AI and data to enhance CTV and display ad performance. Here, she discusses how brands can adopt full-funnel strategies and use Amazon’s platform to drive engagement and conversions. Noa’s session, which included learnings from industry leaders like Yamaha and Marketwake, provides actionable strategies for navigating the evolving retail media landscape.

Amazon Ad’s unBoxed event has become one of the most significant annual gatherings in the world of retail media advertising. As new innovations continue to transform the industry, one area generating significant buzz is streaming TV/CTV. With its ability to integrate seamlessly into the full-funnel approach, CTV is reshaping the way brands engage with consumers and connect advertising touchpoints.

As the industry’s largest player, Amazon is undeniably the driving force behind many of the innovations shaping this rapidly growing space. With its unparalleled scale and first-mover advantage, Amazon sets the pace for retail media networks (RMNs) globally. What it does, others follow, making unBoxed a critical event for brands, advertisers, and technology providers who want to stay ahead of the curve.

This year’s event in Austin, Texas, was bigger and more impactful than ever. With a packed agenda of product innovations, advertising best practices, and forward-looking discussions, attendees gained invaluable insights into the future of retail media. Skai was proud to be a gold event sponsor, underscoring our commitment to pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in retail media and programmatic advertising.

Skai’s EVP of Product, Noa Reikhav, represented the company in a highly anticipated unBoxed 2024 session about harnessing data and AI to elevate CTV and display advertising performance. With her extensive experience driving product innovation across multiple markets, Noa and leaders from Marketwake and Yamaha Motor Corporation, USA explored how advertisers can move beyond traditional media buying strategies and adopt more holistic, full-funnel approaches to maximize results across platforms like Amazon.

We chatted with Noa about unBoxed, the evolving landscape of retail media, the role of AI in driving smarter campaigns, and what brands can do to make the most of the upcoming holiday season. She also shared her thoughts on tailoring product strategies for different global markets and offers practical advice for brands looking to succeed in an increasingly competitive environment.

Retail media has evolved rapidly over the past few years. What are the most exciting opportunities for advertisers today, and how can they leverage platforms like Amazon Ads to stay ahead of the competition?

Noa: Retail media is experiencing tremendous growth, driven by shifts in consumer behavior and advancements in technology. Platforms like Amazon offer a powerful combination of data and scale, allowing brands to connect with shoppers at critical moments in their buying journey. Here at Skai, we’ve seen how leveraging these capabilities can give advertisers deep insights into customer behavior, enabling more personalized and effective campaigns.
To stay ahead, brands must fully embrace retail media’s data-rich environments.

My colleagues and I at Skai believe it’s not just about placing ads—it’s about shaping entire strategies around the insights gathered from these platforms. With tools that allow cross-channel campaign management, brands can create a seamless customer experience that drives engagement and conversions. Those who invest in understanding these platforms will build more integrated campaigns, standing out in an increasingly competitive space.

Noa: In my session, I explored the critical role of streaming TV/CTV and data-driven advertising strategies, and how brands can harness AI to elevate their campaign performance. Streaming TV, in particular, offers advertisers a unique chance to deliver highly personalized, impactful ads across a growing digital landscape. This session was a collaborative deep dive, spotlighting the strategic approach of Yamaha and Marketwake. By using our platform, this brand and agency have been able to fully unlock the potential of AI and data-driven insights to create holistic, full-funnel campaigns that shine in a competitive marketplace..

What’s especially exciting is the shift towards smarter, more dynamic campaigns. At Skai, we’ve developed advanced AI and machine learning tools that enable advertisers to optimize their campaigns in real time—an advantage particularly valuable during key retail moments like the holiday season. I’ll be sharing how brands can use these technologies not only to meet but exceed their goals. 

I was joined at our unBoxed 2024 session by David Manders from Yamaha Motor Corporation, USA, whose innovative approach to digital advertising has been a standout example of using data to drive campaign success. Anna Kate Newall from Marketwake also provided insights on leveraging Amazon’s robust advertising capabilities and how they work in harmony with Skai’s advanced AI solutions to create seamless customer experiences.

You’ve led teams across multiple global markets. How do you tailor your product strategy to meet the needs of different regions, and how does that influence your approach to retail media solutions?

Noa: One of the key challenges—and opportunities—when working across global markets is adapting strategies to local nuances while maintaining a cohesive global vision. At Skai, we’ve found that building flexible solutions tailored to each region is critical. This often involves working closely with local teams to understand customer behavior, competitive landscapes, and regulatory environments.

For retail media, it means developing campaigns and tools that are not only culturally relevant but also compliant with local data laws and consumer preferences. Retail media is evolving at different speeds globally, so we’ve ensured that our solutions can be scaled and customized. By embedding local dynamics into our global strategy, we empower brands to deliver meaningful, localized campaigns at scale.

You’ve been instrumental in driving innovation in AI-powered advertising solutions at Skai. How will AI transform the retail media landscape in the next few years?

Noa: AI has already revolutionized how we think about advertising, and it’s only going to accelerate from here. We’ve seen firsthand at Skai how AI-powered solutions can drive efficiency and precision in campaigns. Whether automating bidding strategies, optimizing creative, or predicting consumer behavior, AI enables advertisers to be more agile and effective.

Looking ahead, AI will play an even more profound role in personalizing the customer journey, allowing brands to deliver hyper-targeted content at every stage of the funnel. The true power of AI lies in its ability to continuously learn and improve. As algorithms become more sophisticated, we’ll be able to offer advertisers insights faster, helping them react in real time and make smarter, more responsive decisions. We believe the brands that fully embrace these technologies will lead the charge in retail media.

With your extensive experience in programmatic advertising and social commerce, what advice would you give to brands looking to optimize their campaigns for peak shopping seasons like the holidays?

Noa: The key to success during peak shopping seasons is preparation and agility. Brands must start planning early, using historical data to predict trends and shape their strategy. Optimizing creative and messaging for the holiday season is essential, but just as important is the ability to pivot quickly. We’ve developed tools at Skai that help brands use automation and AI-driven optimizations, allowing them to capture high-intent audiences at the right moment.

I suggest leveraging automation wherever possible so brands can focus on broader strategies rather than manual tasks. At Skai, we’ve seen how real-time bidding and full-funnel approaches can create a more cohesive customer journey, particularly during high-traffic periods like the holidays. This approach ensures brands maximize their impact across every touchpoint, from awareness to conversion.

Unboxing unBoxed

Noa Reikhav’s insights underscore the transformative role that data and AI are playing in retail media, especially as brands look for more innovative ways to optimize their advertising efforts. Her session at unBoxed 2024 focused on full-funnel approaches and how leveraging real-time data can help advertisers drive better performance during critical shopping periods like the holidays. Noa’s strategies offer practical takeaways for any brand serious about staying competitive that can make a significant impact.

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Advancing iROAS With an Ensemble Approach for Retail Media Incrementality https://skai.io/blog/advancing-iroas/ https://skai.io/blog/advancing-iroas/#respond Tue, 15 Oct 2024 16:41:41 +0000 Joshua Dreller https://skai.io/?post_type=blog&p=276767 Summary ROAS has long been a key metric for evaluating ad performance, but the emergence of iROAS (incremental Return on Ad Spend) provides a more nuanced view by measuring the incremental value of ad campaigns. While iROAS offers deeper insights into how media spend drives new sales, it becomes even more powerful when combined with... Read More »

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by Chris "Coz" Costello

Advancing iROAS With an Ensemble Approach for Retail Media Incrementality

Summary

ROAS has long been a key metric for evaluating ad performance, but the emergence of iROAS (incremental Return on Ad Spend) provides a more nuanced view by measuring the incremental value of ad campaigns. While iROAS offers deeper insights into how media spend drives new sales, it becomes even more powerful when combined with other complementary metrics like incremental sales, customer lifetime value, and brand lift. This multi-metric, ensemble approach helps marketers capture both short-term and long-term impacts, offering a clearer understanding of campaign success.

ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) has long been a go-to metric for measuring advertising performance, particularly in retail media. It makes things simple: For every dollar you put in, you get X back. This gives marketers a straightforward way to gauge the effectiveness of their ad spend across different platforms, placements, and ad types. For instance, if your sponsored products campaign delivered $5 ROAS and your sponsored brand campaign delivered $4 ROAS, it’s fairly clear which one performed better.

As incrementality becomes a central focus in retail media measurement, iROAS (incremental ROAS) has emerged as a key metric. It provides a more detailed view of campaign success by measuring the incremental impact of advertising—going beyond traditional ROAS by accounting for what portion of sales truly resulted from ad impressions that wouldn’t have occurred otherwise. This makes it a powerful tool for understanding the real value of your media investments.

In today’s post, we’ll dive into how iROAS, already a highly effective and insightful metric on its own, becomes even more powerful when combined with other complementary metrics in an ensemble approach. By incorporating a broader set of measurements, marketers can capture both short-term and long-term impacts, maximizing the potential of their retail media strategies.

iROAS: A fundamental starting point for retail media measurement

Advertisers are facing increasing pressure to accurately measure the true impact of their retail media investments. A recent joint study by the Path to Purchase Institute and Skai found that 70% of advertisers struggle to measure the incremental performance of their retail media, underscoring the need for more accurate and adaptable measurement approaches. The complexity of retail media introduces unique measurement challenges compared to traditional digital channels. Marketers must balance media performance with logistics, inventory management, and joint business plans. For example, a beauty brand may focus on fostering long-term customer loyalty, while a consumer electronics brand might prioritize rapid inventory turnover during product launches.

iROAS (incremental ROAS) has been developed to fill this gap, offering valuable insights into the incremental value generated by advertising campaigns. By focusing on how each dollar spent contributes to new sales that wouldn’t have occurred otherwise, iROAS helps marketers better understand their media investments.

That said, iROAS is only one piece of the puzzle. As discussed on the Retail Media Therapy podcast, hosts Viv Craske and Colin Lewis noted that iROAS can serve “…as a guide and as a help to kind of light you on the way.” While iROAS provides direction, it’s most effective when combined with other metrics to capture a complete view of campaign performance. This ensures that marketers aren’t just chasing immediate returns but are optimizing for both short-term and long-term success across the customer journey.

That’s why marketers should consider incorporating additional metrics in conjunction with iROAS that encompass the entire customer journey, from acquisition to retention. This enables them to make data-driven decisions that foster sustained growth.

The need for an ensemble approach: incrementality indicators 

Marketers need more than just iROAS to fully optimize their efforts. Retail media marketers require a flexible, multi-metric approach that goes beyond immediate results and captures the entire customer journey. By using a mix of incrementality indicators, marketers can analyze both short-term and long-term effects, advancing the value of iROAS with an ensemble approach.

Here are some examples of incrementality indicators that can complement iROAS:

  • Incremental Sales/Revenue: Tracks additional sales or revenue generated by the campaign.
  • Incremental Customer Lifetime Value: Assesses the long-term value of new customers.
  • Incremental Brand Lift: Evaluates shifts in brand perception or awareness.
  • Incremental New-to-Brand: Measures how many first-time buyers the campaign attracts.
  • Incremental Market Share: Tracks how the campaign impacts brand or category share.

These indicators offer a deeper insight into how retail media campaigns drive long-term objectives. By utilizing a combination of these metrics, marketers can enhance the valuable insights provided by iROAS and gain a more complete understanding of overall campaign success.

Skai’s approach to incrementality: Flexibility and customization

At Skai, we believe that no two campaigns are the same, which is why customization and flexibility are at the heart of our approach to incrementality measurement. While iROAS is an essential part of the toolkit, it works best when complemented by metrics tailored to your unique business needs. That’s why we enable marketers to design their own measurement frameworks with our suite of incrementality solutions:

  • Custom Metric Building: Advertisers can blend traditional and incremental metrics allowing them to create tailored measurements that align closely with their specific campaign goals. This flexibility enhances the insights provided by iROAS, ensuring that marketers capture a more nuanced understanding of performance.
  • Incrementality Testing and Experiments: Marketers can conduct rigorous tests to uncover granular insights and validate campaign performance. By experimenting with different variables, they can understand how various factors influence iROAS, allowing for more informed decision-making and strategic adjustments.
  • Comprehensive Data Integration: Skai aggregates data from multiple sources, including inventory, sales, and media performance metrics. This comprehensive integration enriches the context in which iROAS operates, providing a clearer picture of how each campaign element contributes to overall success.
  • Automation and Optimization: Skai enables automated, near-real-time optimizations at the keyword level. This capability allows marketers to make quick adjustments based on performance data, ensuring that iROAS insights are applied effectively and efficiently to drive better results.

These solutions empower marketers to customize their measurement models, enabling them to analyze both immediate and long-term outcomes based on each campaign’s specific goals. By integrating these additional metrics with iROAS, marketers can achieve a more complete understanding of their retail media strategies.

Conclusion: Maximizing the potential of iROAS

In retail media, it’s essential to balance short-term performance with long-term value. While iROAS serves as a vital metric for measuring incremental lift, its true potential is unlocked when integrated into a broader, customizable framework that encompasses the full impact of retail media efforts. By leveraging a mix of incrementality indicators and custom metrics, marketers can gain a comprehensive understanding of their campaigns, ensuring they drive immediate returns while also building a foundation for sustained success.

Now is the perfect time to evolve your measurement strategy. Embracing a more flexible and ensemble approach to metrics allows marketers to adapt to the complexities of retail media. By incorporating various performance indicators, you can gain deeper insights into customer behavior and campaign effectiveness, ultimately enhancing your decision-making process.

With Skai’s incrementality solutions, you can create a tailored measurement framework that aligns with your specific business goals. Moving beyond reliance on single metrics enables you to capture a complete picture of campaign performance, maximizing the full potential of your retail media investments and driving growth in both the short and long term.

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Exclusive retail media KPIs to help marketers more effectively measure campaigns https://skai.io/skai-in-the-news/exclusive-retail-media-kpis-to-help-marketers-more-effectively-measure-campaignsretail-media-ad-growth-outpaces-search-and-social-ad-spending-in-q2-despite-rising-costs-2/ https://skai.io/skai-in-the-news/exclusive-retail-media-kpis-to-help-marketers-more-effectively-measure-campaignsretail-media-ad-growth-outpaces-search-and-social-ad-spending-in-q2-despite-rising-costs-2/#respond Mon, 14 Oct 2024 14:00:05 +0000 Tanya Talbot-Butler https://skai.io/?post_type=kenshoo-in-the-news&p=276756 The post Exclusive retail media KPIs to help marketers more effectively measure campaigns appeared first on Skai.

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by Tanya Talbot-Butler

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Amazon Prime Big Deal Days 2024 Wrap-up https://skai.io/blog/amazon-prime-big-deal-days-2024-advertising-recap/ https://skai.io/blog/amazon-prime-big-deal-days-2024-advertising-recap/#respond Fri, 11 Oct 2024 20:35:51 +0000 Chris "Coz" Costello https://skai.io/?post_type=blog&p=275745 Summary Amazon Prime Big Deal Days 2024 continues to grow as a significant sales event, showing a 250% increase in ad spending compared to the previous 30 days. Advertiser revenue increased by 258%, with the Home & Garden and Computers & Consumer Electronics categories being standout performers, with spending lifts of over 400%. While Big Deal Days has yet... Read More »

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by Chris "Coz" Costello

Amazon Prime Big Deal Days 2024 Wrap-up

Summary

Amazon Prime Big Deal Days 2024 continues to grow as a significant sales event, showing a 250% increase in ad spending compared to the previous 30 days. Advertiser revenue increased by 258%, with the Home & Garden and Computers & Consumer Electronics categories being standout performers, with spending lifts of over 400%. While Big Deal Days has yet to match the scale of Prime Day or Black Friday, it remains a growing event with its own unique value.

Over the last three years, Amazon’s fall sales event has established a consistent pattern as a sort of younger sibling to the more established Amazon Prime Day in early summer as well as the unofficial start to the holiday shopping season. Originally called the Prime Early Access Sale, this October event has been known as Amazon Prime Big Deal Days since last year, and we have analyzed advertiser performance around the 2024 edition to better understand just how big of a deal it is.

Methodology: The following analysis is based on Amazon ad spending hosted on the Skai platform across both Amazon Sponsored Ads and Amazon DSP. For comparative analysis across time periods, only named Skai accounts with spending across both periods in the comparison are included. All other analysis includes all accounts.

Prime Big Deal Days 2024 insights

The first way we look at performance for big sales events is by looking at the event days versus the average for the previous 30 days. Through that lens, average daily spending grew +250%, or 3.5x. This was slightly higher than last October, which posted a spending lift of +212%.

This was the result of increases to click volume (+152%) and average cost-per-click (+35%), which both saw greater lift than the same event last year.

Getting ads in-market is one thing. Generating sales is another. From that perspective, Big Deal Days saw a +165% increase in conversions and +258% increase in ad-attributed advertiser revenue, or conversion value. That lift in advertiser revenue was ~20 points less than last year, which is attributable to last year having a larger average order value (AOV). This, in turn, may come down to a different mix of categories and products that emphasize different price points.

Looking at the lift generated by Big Deal Days versus the previous 30 days for this year and last year is one way to compare performance over time. Another way is to directly measure metrics for the subset of Skai accounts that were active in both years. Here, as well, we can see how the lower average order value brought total advertiser revenue and ROAS down from last year’s event.

When we break down Amazon’s performance by category, Home & Garden and Computers & Consumer Electronics are the clear standouts, with spending increasing by +527% and +417%, respectively. In both cases, advertiser sales revenue mostly kept pace, with the tech category seeing a bigger spike in sales that point to an increase in ROAS for the event. A big deal, indeed.

Finally, we have to consider how Big Deal Days stacks up against the summer Prime Day event. The answer is fairly consistent in that the impact on both spending and sales revenue is about half that of the July Prime Day, and both have seen increases in spending over the last three years. Sales revenue lift was mostly unchanged over the last two years for Prime Day and slightly down for Big Deal Days, as shown previously in this analysis. Again, this may be due to a shift in product mix over time, but it also could point to an unusually strong macroeconomic environment last year, in that economic news repeatedly outperformed expectations.

So, on the one hand, the Big Deal Days event has a definite impact on aggregate advertiser and shopper behavior, and that impact is growing over time for most metrics. On the other hand, sandwiched between Prime Day and Black Friday, it is unlikely to close the gap in the performance of those two events in the near future, but one can argue that Big Deal Days is not in competition with those other events, and is, in fact, a big deal on its own merits.

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Skai Partnership Raises Stakes To Measure Incrementality In Retail Media https://skai.io/skai-in-the-news/skai-partnership-raises-stakes-to-measure-incrementality-in-retail-media/ https://skai.io/skai-in-the-news/skai-partnership-raises-stakes-to-measure-incrementality-in-retail-media/#respond Fri, 11 Oct 2024 08:00:22 +0000 Tanya Talbot-Butler https://skai.io/?post_type=kenshoo-in-the-news&p=276732 The post Skai Partnership Raises Stakes To Measure Incrementality In Retail Media appeared first on Skai.

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by Tanya Talbot-Butler

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Boost Your ROAS with Support for Microsoft Cost Per Sale Bid Strategy in Skai https://skai.io/blog/microsoft-cost-per-sale/ https://skai.io/blog/microsoft-cost-per-sale/#respond Thu, 10 Oct 2024 21:04:03 +0000 Leah Na'aman https://skai.io/?post_type=blog&p=276691 Summary Maximize your return on ad spend (ROAS) with Skai’s new support for Microsoft’s cost per sale (CPS) bid strategy. This powerful feature allows you to pay only for clicks that lead to sales, making your shopping campaigns more cost-effective. With seamless integration into Skai’s platform, you gain access to performance tracking, time-series analysis, and... Read More »

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by Chris "Coz" Costello

Boost Your ROAS with Support for Microsoft Cost Per Sale Bid Strategy in Skai

Summary

Maximize your return on ad spend (ROAS) with Skai’s new support for Microsoft’s cost per sale (CPS) bid strategy. This powerful feature allows you to pay only for clicks that lead to sales, making your shopping campaigns more cost-effective. With seamless integration into Skai’s platform, you gain access to performance tracking, time-series analysis, and Skai’s core optimization tools, ensuring your campaigns are optimized for success.

We’re excited to announce that we now support Microsoft’s powerful cost per sale (CPS) bid strategy on Skai. This feature is a game-changer for shopping campaigns, giving you the ability to only pay for clicks that actually result in a sale. No more paying for mere traffic—you’re now investing directly in results.

Power of Skai and Microsoft Cost Per Sale

  • Only Pay for Sales: With CPS, you can select your desired cost per sale, and only pay when a click leads to a sale within 24 hours, ensuring that your budget is spent effectively.
  • Crystal Clear Metrics: Sales from CPS shopping campaigns are tracked in a dedicated ‘Sales’ column, giving you clear insights into your campaign performance. 
  • Trend Performance Over Time: Time series infrastructure is also supported for CPS performance, allowing you to calculate your Average Cost Per Sale (Avg. CPS) over time with custom metrics. This means you can continuously optimize your strategy for the best results.

Learn more about Microsoft Advertising’s budget and bid strategies.

Seamless Integration with Microsoft Cost Per Sale and Core Skai Features

Our support for Microsoft’s CPS bid strategy allows you to pull your Microsoft Shopping campaigns directly into the Skai platform for streamlined management, with the core features and capabilities Skai clients know and love:

  • Dashboards
  • Scheduled reports
  • Rule-based optimization
  • Bulksheet editing
  • Audits with preset templates

Ready to Maximize Your Sales?

Skai’s new support for Microsoft CPS is designed to give you the upper hand in managing your shopping campaigns. Now, pay for performance, not just clicks. Take advantage of this exclusive Microsoft feature and start optimizing your campaigns for better sales and higher ROI today.

Stay tuned for more updates, and as always, happy optimizing!

The post Boost Your ROAS with Support for Microsoft Cost Per Sale Bid Strategy in Skai appeared first on Skai.

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