Don’t Be Spooked by Your Data: Why Reviewing Retail Media Metrics is Frightfully Important

In the spirit of Halloween, let’s talk about something that can haunt even the best marketers: ignoring your campaign data. 🎃

Retail media is a living, breathing ecosystem full of eerie fluctuations in performance, mysterious spikes in ROAS, & the occasional ghosted click-through rate. The trick (& the treat!) lies in facing those metrics head-on & learning from them, so your next campaign isn’t cursed to repeat the same mistakes.

🧛‍♀️ 1. Stake Out the Right Metrics

Just like you wouldn’t hunt vampires without garlic, you shouldn’t approach retail media without clear KPIs. Whether it’s ROAS, CTR, new-to-brand shoppers, or total sales lift, identifying your core performance metrics keeps you from chasing shadows.

Tip: Don’t let vanity metrics (like impressions) cast a spell on you. Focus on data that ties directly to your brand’s goals, not just what looks good on paper.

🕸️ 2. Unearth What’s Lurking Beneath the Surface

 Sometimes the scariest things are the ones you can’t see, like why one product ad devoured budget while another ghosted your shoppers. Dive deeper into the data tomb to uncover insights on targeting, creative, & placement performance.

Look for patterns across platforms & campaigns:

• Which keywords are rising from the dead (or fading into the afterlife)?

• Which audiences are truly enchanted by your brand?

• Which creative elements are casting the strongest spell on conversions?

🧪 3. Brew New Strategies from Your Learnings

Once you’ve gathered your insights, it’s time to stir them into your next campaign cauldron.

Maybe your Sponsored Products were bewitching at the top of search, or maybe your Sponsored Brands performed better when you added lifestyle imagery. Use those learnings to shape future optimizations & don’t be afraid to experiment again. Every great strategy starts as a little marketing magic.

Even Frankenstein’s monster came together through a few experiments.

👻 4. Avoid the “Zombie Campaign”

A campaign that keeps running without review is the scariest creature of all. It eats budget but delivers little in return. Regularly reviewing metrics helps you resurrect underperforming campaigns & bury the ones beyond saving.

Keeping your data fresh means you’re not stuck haunting the same old strategies quarter after quarter.

🕯️ 5. Light the Way for Future Campaigns

Each campaign’s data is a lantern in the dark, guiding your next move. Applying learnings over time helps your retail media efforts become more efficient, more targeted, & more effective. In other words, learn from your ghosts so you can build your future empire… not your own haunted house of mistakes.

🦇 Final Spell

When it comes to retail media, the magic isn’t in the moment your campaign goes live — it’s in what happens after. The post-mortem (pun intended) review is where the real insights rise from the grave.

So this Halloween, grab your metrics, sharpen your insights, & remember: data isn’t something to fear. It’s your most powerful potion.

-Malorie Ragsdale, MBA.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed on this website are solely my own and do not reflect the views or opinions of any affiliated organizations, employers, or other entities.