Gamification: How to win at retail media by leveraging playable marketing
The digital advertising landscape is rapidly evolving, and retail media is emerging as a powerful channel for marketers to connect with their target audiences
As retail marketers navigate this dynamic landscape, it is essential to understand the significance of retail media and explore innovative solutions to address its inherent challenges. Enter gamification. With platforms such as Playable, gamification offers a unique approach to optimize retail media campaigns and overcome pain points commonly associated with this advertising channel.
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What is retail media?
Retail media refers to the advertising opportunities provided by retailers through their digital channels, such as websites and apps, allowing third-party brands to reach their target audiences effectively. By leveraging the vast reach and customer insights offered by retail media networks, brands can strategically position their ads at critical touch points during the consumer's purchasing journey, capturing their attention and driving conversions. It is essentially a "digital shelf" where brands can stand out and engage with shoppers in a relevant and impactful manner.
“The reason retail media works so well is that shoppers are more receptive to ads when shopping than when they’re carrying out other non-shopping related activities,” says Neil Patel.
Why is retail media important in 2023?
In today's digital age, retail media has become increasingly important for marketers for several reasons. Firstly, the exponential growth of e-commerce has shifted consumer behavior, making online shopping a preferred method for many. As consumers spend more time on retail platforms, advertising on retail media networks allows brands to reach customers when they are already engaged and ready to make a purchase. This targeted approach improves the chances of conversions and enhances overall marketing effectiveness.
Secondly, retail media networks provide brands with invaluable first-party data and audience insights. By leveraging these data-driven insights, marketers can gain a deep understanding of their target audience's shopping patterns, preferences, and behaviors. However, retail media networks often have limitations when it comes to data sharing, hindering marketers' ability to access comprehensive consumer insights. This is where gamification (such as Playable's innovative gamification platform) comes into play.
Addressing retail media pain points with playable marketing
While we’re not suggesting that playable marketing can single-handedly solve all the pain points associated with retail media, it can however significantly alleviate three major challenges that marketers often face in this space. Let's delve into these pain points and explore how playable marketing can drive results.
Pain point 1: Standing out
One of the significant challenges in retail media is the need to differentiate from competitors and capture consumers' attention. In a crowded digital landscape, brands must find innovative ways to stand out and make a lasting impression. This is where playable marketing shines - by incorporating gamification elements into ad campaigns, brands can follow McKinsey & Company’s key advice for marketers interested in retail media and capitalize on uniqueness using playable experiences.
Gamification creates immersive and memorable brand interactions, fostering brand loyalty, and increasing the chances of conversion. By leveraging game mechanics such as the need to compete, have fun, challenge yourself, mirror others, and be rewarded, brands can create a deeper connection with their audience, ensuring their retail media advertisements are memorable and engaging.
With Playable specifically, marketers can create captivating playable experiences, such as personality tests, wheels of fortune, product recommenders, and drop games, that not only entertain but also deliver their brand message effectively.
Pain point 2: Limited data sharing
Marketers often face limitations when it comes to accessing comprehensive consumer insights and data from retail media networks. Playable marketing offers a solution by providing a direct line of two-way communication with consumers through interactive experiences. Using gamification, marketers can lead their audience from their retail media ads to playable experiences, succeeding in collecting valuable zero-party data directly from consumers.
Zero-party data refers to information that consumers willingly and proactively share with brands. This empowers marketers with a deeper understanding of their audience, enabling more personalized and targeted marketing campaigns. Over time, as brands accumulate their own data from playable marketing, they become less reliant on retail media networks for consumer insights. By building their own database of zero-party data, marketers can gain a competitive advantage and develop highly targeted campaigns tailored to their audience's preferences and behaviors on retail media.
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Pain point 2: Cost and pricing
Cost and pricing are critical considerations for marketers, and retail media networks often pose challenges in this regard. According to McKinsey & Company, 27% of advertisers believe that cost and pricing are pain points of retail media. As marketers, we have limited control over the pricing decisions made by retail media networks, and with the increasing popularity of retail media, prices are unlikely to decrease. What we can control is our ROI potential, and playable marketing offers a proven solution to maximize return on investment (ROI).
By focusing on creating engaging and interactive experiences, marketers can ensure that their ad spend delivers tangible results. Captivating playable campaigns attract and retain consumers' attention, leading to higher engagement, conversions, and ultimately, a more favorable return on investment. With Playable, marketers can optimize their ad campaigns to make the most of their budget by providing interactive content that resonates with their audience and drives meaningful interactions.
Retail media and Playable: the dream team
As retail media continues to transform the advertising landscape, marketers must embrace innovative strategies to overcome its pain points. Playable marketing provides a powerful solution by leveraging gamification techniques to captivate audiences, collect valuable consumer insights, and maximize ROI.
By incorporating Playable's gamification platform into their retail media toolbox, marketers can create outstanding games and other types of interactive experiences in no time. Sounds interesting?