Self-Service Advertising for Retailers and Grocers

Aysu Altuntaş
GoWit
Published in
5 min readSep 8, 2023

Maximize your revenue potential while responding swiftly to the market dynamics, provide the level of transparency and control that today’s sellers and brands need.

Advanced and innovative digital advertising strategies have become an essence for success in the ever-evolving landscape of retail and grocery. As retailers and grocers continue to adapt to the changes of this era, the choice between managed and self-service advertising platforms looms large. The shift towards self-service advertising is undeniable, driven by the need for transparency and control for sure, and the impending demise of cookies. Traditionally, Retail Media platforms were used to be preferred as managed services, where providers handle every single thing from campaign setup to reporting and optimization. However, the times are changing, and the winds of change are blowing, which lead to advertisers starting to demand more control over the ad campaign they create and look for transparency.

And, those retailers with huge traffic and high-performing Retail Media platforms that recognized the demand for transparency and control are investing in more and more self-serve features or at least planning to do so in the future. Because they know that for those building their own media infrastructure, incorporating self-serve functionality is vital to remain competitive.

Empowering Brands and Advertisers

Self-serve advertising platforms offer brands and advertisers a multitude of advantages, starting with reduced campaign implementation time and providing a cost-effective means to reach a broader customer base. These platforms often eliminate the need for expensive advertising agencies, and reduce overall advertising costs. Using self-service advertising, brands can allocate their budgets more efficiently, adjusting spending based on campaign performance and ROI. On top of that, brands can run A/B tests, conduct split testing, and experiment with different ad formats and strategies to find what works best for their specific target audiences. Eventually, continuous optimization can lead to higher conversion rates and better return on investment for them.

On the other side, by making real-time adjustments to their ad campaigns, brands can quickly adapt to changing market conditions and consumer preferences. They can tweak ad creatives, target audiences (as mentioned above), bidding strategies, and more without waiting for agency approvals or lengthy processes, allowing brands to take full control of their advertising campaigns.

Brands can create, manage, and optimize their ad campaigns independently, without relying on third-party agencies or intermediaries which enables them to align their advertising strategies with their specific goals and objectives.

Cost Management and Data-Driven Insights

Having a self-service advertising platform offers numerous opportunities to gather data analytics, providing valuable insights into the customer journey. And if we think about it from the perspective of corporate marketers, they can track local campaigns to gain a deeper understanding of geographic performance, allowing for more informed decision-making. This level of control helps in managing costs effectively, ensuring that marketing expenses align with business objectives.When it comes to grocery store owners, self-service advertising allows them to set their advertising budgets and adjust them as needed. Furthermore, with targeted marketing that self-service platforms enable, grocers can tailor their advertisements to reach specific demographics, locations, or customer segments, resulting in more effective and relevant marketing efforts.

Self-service ad platforms allow grocery stores to precisely target ads to specific regions, ensuring that promotional messages reach the right audience.

Besides grocers, many brands increasingly demand and use self-service advertising in their marketing strategies. It allows them to control costs by segmenting local audiences and running targeted campaigns at a lower price with a better return on investment. And the best part is these cost-effective models can be deployed through various channels, including social media and local websites. Brands can create customized ad content and messages to align with their brand identity and marketing goals, ensuring that the advertising campaigns they create resonate with their target audience.

Self-service platforms provide valuable agility for responding to changing market conditions, launching timely promotions, and capitalizing on emerging trends.

Transparency and Control

By allowing clients to determine audience segmentation, manage ad placement frequency, access real-time sales data, and gain price transparency, grocers operating Retail Media platforms with self-service capabilities & features stand to benefit significantly. Firstly, they can tap into the budgets of advertisers seeking more transparency and control. Self-service platforms provide retailers, marketplaces and grocery stores with greater visibility into the advertising campaigns published on their channels. They can monitor campaign performance of each of their advertisers, track spending, and assess results in real-time, fostering transparency in their advertising efforts.

Improve the relevance of advertisements with localization and create region-specific campaigns.

For grocers with numerous branches, self-service advertising proves to be a game-changer. It enables swift campaign deployment tailored to specific seasons, local events, or emerging trends. This local adaptation allows grocery stores to cater to the unique preferences and tastes of different regions and neighborhoods. Because what sells well in one area may not be as popular in another and self-service ad platforms enable retailers to create and target region-specific campaigns that showcase products or promotions aligning with different local preferences.

Whether it’s a flash sale, a holiday promotion, or a localized marketing push, self-service platforms allow businesses to seize opportunities swiftly.

And it’s important to remember that different regions experience varying seasons and holidays. Adapting to local needs allows grocery stores to promote seasonal products and events effectively. Self-service advertising basically offers the agility to quickly launch seasonal campaigns, optimizing ad content and messaging for specific regions and their seasonal demands. Grocery stores can use self-service ad platforms to promote products that are in demand locally, reducing waste and improving inventory turnover rates.

Self-service platforms help grocers in managing inventory to meet specific demands of a variety of targets. And, whatever the concept is, self-service platforms are at the forefront of the revolution digital advertising faces. By embracing self-service ad platforms, retailers and grocers empower themselves to respond swiftly to market dynamics, maximize revenue potential, and meet the growing demands of advertisers and brands for the trending topic of our era, that is transparency and full control over ad campaigns.

Sources:

McClatchy. (2027, January 27). 7 Ways Small Businesses Can Benefit from Self-Service Advertising. Www.winwith mcclatchy.com. https://www.winwithmcclatchy.com/blog/how-small-businesses-benefit-from-self-service-advertising

Raaj, Y. (2022, November 22). Self-service Returns As Trend For Advertisers, Marketers. CXMToday. https://cxmtoday.com/technology/self-service-returns-as-trend-for-advertisers-marketers/

Ustaris, S. (n.d.). Self-Serve Options are a “Must” for Retail Media Networks | Inmar Inc. Www.inmar.com. Retrieved September 8, 2023, from https://www.inmar.com/blog/thought-leadership/self-serve-options-are-must-retail-media-networks

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