How Digital Media Changes Shopper Marketing ROI

Online, mobile and social media come with a broad array of promises, but as we heard in our virtual roundtable discussion on the iShopper Marketing sell-in process (see the previous Tip in this series), proponents of digital media still face substantial hurdles.

"Not only must they persuade a retail prospect that their shopper marketing message is right for the retailer and its target customers," said James Tenser, principal, VSN Strategies, in the RetailWire discussion, "they may also need to educate some retailers about the suitability of the new media or channels used to deliver the message. Suitability is code for 'what’s in it for me?' and the answer had better include the words 'more profitable sales' or 'greater share of wallet' -- or failing that, 'cash up front.'"

Undoubtedly, a mutually-successful partnership, meaning good ROI all around, is much preferred by the manufacturer to buying the right to run its shopper marketing program. ROI measurement, however, has always been a big challenge for shopper marketers. With the inclusion of digital media in the marketing mix, will retailers come to new projects with greater expectations of accountability?

For Joel Warady, chief marketing officer, Enjoy Life Foods, it begins by creating new definitions for accountability. "For example," he said, "If a brand is able to show how the campaign has resulted in an increase in social media contacts, the retailer will question how the brand knows that increased 'likes' will result in increased sales. The fact is, the inclusion of mobile and social media is so new, no one knows exactly what they want to see; they just know that they want to see something meaningful."

"Same accountability -- drive sales/share/trips etc.," offered Richard Butwinick, president of MarketingLab, "but now retailers are looking for marketing elements that drive sales along the path to purchase. There are surely tactics retailers are more likely to adopt than others. It will depend on the sophistication of the retailer. Retailers that have successfully integrated digital and social marketing into their mix are going to not only be more likely to adopt these tactics but will expect them to be included."

James Tenser sounded guardedly optimistic about the advantages digital media will bring to the gathering of ROI performance metrics. "Within their operating sphere, digital media message delivery will be more track-able than legacy analog media. Individually targeted offers and redemptions should allow for near-perfect data capture and analysis, but they will by definition only reveal behaviors from select target groups.

"Where the retailer is fully engaged in collating POS transaction and frequent shopper data with digital media, a good deal of causality will become known, maybe even useful ROI metrics."

"I believe that digital measurement is in its infancy, so everyone -- on both sides of the retail table -- will need to go to school and stay there," suggested Carol Spieckerman, president of newmarketbuilders. "With so many solutions and points of view, the spoils will go to those who can pull together insights from multiple sources -- digital and non-digital -- and craft unbiased and actionable plans that will drive loyalty and sales."

There's much more to learn! Read the complete virtual roundtable discussion on iShopper Marketing sell-in and ROI...

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