Our team at Muslim Ad Network continually endeavors to bring you insights into the latest marketing and advertising trends that you can use to target Muslim consumers.
Last time around we looked at whether Muslim brands should be active on the metaverse.
Today, we look at whether Muslim brands should advertise on retail media networks.
What is Retail Media Marketing?
A retail media network allows retailers to set up an advertising platform on their website, app, or other digital platforms within their network. Stores, their partners, and other brands advertise to customers on these platforms. Think of it as in-store advertising in a digital format.
Here is an example of an ad on Walgreens, one of the biggest retail media networks:
Ads on retail media networks can be displayed on:
- the home page,
- category page,
- product detail page,
- search result page, and
- other pages.
Subsequently, this enables your Muslim brand to advertise your product at different phases of the buyer journey.
The Rise of Retail Media Networks
Over the years, the retail giants have shown the smaller retailers what’s possible in terms of revenue. Amazon, for example, reaped tens of billions in retail media network revenue, and Walmart, Target, and Kroger have seen similar gains.
There’s an excellent opportunity for retailers to get on board—but in a different way than their larger counterparts—and unlock their first-party data and generate profit through retail media networks
This also spells opportunities for brands to advertise their products on these networks on which users are readily looking for products to buy.
Reasons for both retail giants and advertisers to prioritize retail media networks are getting longer by the minute. The year 2020 created a major shift in user behavior making the opportunity all the more attractive:
We are talking about the permanent shift to eCommerce brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic that has encouraged more consumers to go online, in more places, and more often. In fact, some sources claim that global digital sales increased by 45%.
… the rise in online shopping, the desire for retailers to create additional revenue streams, and the need for advertisers to track customers ahead of the end of the cookie have all caused that growth to blow past industry expectations… 81% of consumer packaged goods brands plan to grow their investments in retail media networks within the next 12 months… Forrester estimates retail media will be a $50 billion advertising business globally next year (2022).
Source: AdAge
Pros of Advertising on Retail Media Networks for Your Muslim Brand
First-Party Data
Advertising on retail media networks gives you access to first-party data.
First-party data is collected and owned by the website, and in this case, that’s the retailer’s website. It’s cleaner and more reliable than third-party data.
First-party data is collected right at the point of sale, giving you better insight into buyer behavior.
This is important because personalization plays a vital role in creating ad campaigns that convert well thanks to accurate data.
First-party data will become even more valuable because of the impending death of cookies.
Have a look at Advertising to Muslims Online in 2022 After Third Party Cookies Disappear.
Tracking Ad Spend
When you advertise on retail media networks you will be able to tie ad spend to sales easily.
This is due to the fact that sales happen closer to the ads and therefore it’s easier to attribute a sale to a specific ad and action. This helps your strategic decision-making like allocating resources for example.
It goes without saying that these ads increase visibility and that helps drive sales.
Although still relatively new, retail media has already become a powerful form of advertising with experts claiming that it could become core in future online shopping experiences.
Cons of Advertising on Retail Media Networks for Your Muslim Brand
Just like all advertising strategies and platforms, there are also disadvantages to using retail media networks.
However, these are crucial disadvantages.
The biggest and most known disadvantage of using retail media networks is that it amplifies the power of brands that are already big and creates disadvantages for smaller brands. It is an uneven playing field and smaller brands that don’t have the traffic, budget, and infrastructure to set up retail media networks of their own can’t compete.
There aren’t many ‘big’ Muslim brands and chances are, you who are reading this blog, are a small to medium-size business. If by chance you ARE a ‘big’ Muslim brand, then you should inquire as to if taking advantage of an uneven playing field is ethical.
Another disadvantage of retail media is that it’s still new and requires infrastructure that most retailers don’t have. Because of that, it’s a learning curve for all the parties involved and we do not know for sure where it will end up.
The alternative is to use an advertising platform, such as the platform we’ve built at Muslim Ad Network, dedicated to Muslim publishers, advertisers, brands, and any entity wanting to target a Muslim audience.
You can learn here all about advertising to Muslim consumers with MAN.
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