How to Drive In-Store Sales With Digital Advertising

CPG brands operate in a highly competitive industry which requires marketing efforts across various media channels to ultimately drive in-store sales. While in-store activations are important in driving purchases, digital touchpoints ahead of store visits are critical in the customer journey. In the article, you’ll learn how to use digital advertising to directly impact sales revenue by answering three key questions:

1. How can CPG brands use digital advertising to stand out?
2. How can brands prime audiences to make in-store purchases? 
3. How can you measure the impact of digital media on in-store sales?

How Can CPG Brands Use Digital Advertising To Stand Out?

Consumers are inundated with ads every day. It’s important to be strategic with your creative messaging and media placements to ensure your ads are impactful and not disruptive. By carefully curating a strategy focused on the consumer experience, you have the ability to drive meaningful moments rather than creating noise.

• Be discovered. Get in front of potential customers early in the discovery phase. Use search and commerce channels to show up where consumers are actively looking for products.
• Be memorable. Create intriguing story lines of what the product or brand can do for users beyond basic utility.
• Be different. Showcase your unique value proposition to stand out among competitor products. 
• Be loyal. Re-engage your current customers and nurture them to, in turn, stay loyal to your brand. Use follow up offers, new product suggestions, and special promotions to show your appreciation and build up that relationship. 

How Can Brands Prime Audiences To Make In-Store Purchases?

To drive in-store sales, you need to establish awareness and consideration before that shopping trip. However, crossing the boundary from ad impression to ‘add to cart’ can be challenging. Use targeted messaging and effective frequency exposure across channels to make sure your product is included on the shopping list. 

• Reach users across various media touch points from social to display to CTV with an omnichannel strategy.
• Use loyalty card data to understand frequency and cadence of purchase to serve your ads in the right place at the right time. 
• Understand how many interactions are needed before a new customer will remember and purchase once in store. 
• Keep previous customers engaged with relevant messaging and offers to maintain brand loyalty. 

How Can You Measure The Impact Of Digital Media On In-Store Sales?

It can be complicated measuring online and offline channels and tying media spend back to brick and mortar purchases. Thankfully, there are measurement tactics and tools we can use to showcase ROI. 

Here’s how we approach measurement at Coegi:

• Use advanced measurement tactics to uncover sales lift from your media.
  • Measurement partners like Catalina, IRI or Ibotta help connect the dots of ad exposure to in-store sales.
• Look at success through the lens of incrementality. Test how product sales change year over year when an ad is in market versus out of market. 
• Consider external factors like seasonality to make decisions based on non-media data.

In essence, shift the conversation from vanity metrics and click through rates because those don’t equal sales. 

Want to learn more about how to create a best-in-class media strategy for your CPG brand?

We’ve got you covered. View the complete CPG Digital Marketing Playbook here.