8451 Knowledge Hub Image Assets 900 X 635 R 2 1

Ad Exchanger: DTC Data Isn’t Enough To Fully Inform Retail Advertising – That’s Where Loyalty Programs Come In

*Guest column by: Lauren Littlejohn, Director of Data Science, 84.51° *

“Data-Driven Thinking” is written by members of the media community and contains fresh ideas on the digital revolution in media.

As third-party data becomes scarce, established CPG brands are collecting first-party data through sweepstakes, sampling programs and direct-to-consumer (DTC) commerce. These experiments are fueling new concepts and customized products.

But these DTC programs are a long way from replacing the ways brands previously used third-party data in their digital marketing. They just don’t deliver enough scale to impact national metrics.

Instead of going all in on DTC commerce and first-party data collection, many brands, startups and well-known CPGs are missing the more effective retailer data sets at their disposal: loyalty programs.

DTC tactics and first-party data collection may miss the mark

Incremental sales are the lifeblood of CPG brand marketing. Marketers try to increase velocity in several different ways: Either get more units in a single shopping basket, drive more frequent purchases or, most importantly, add new households to the customer set.

But DTC tactics are most efficient at driving engagement with devoted fans – not new households.

And there’s another obstacle as well: Consumers are more sensitive to how data is collected and shared or used for marketing purposes. The ever-present cookie pop-up and app-tracking notification has increased awareness of where our data goes and who is using it. People need a strong reason to opt in to sharing personal information with a brand.

Brands in high-consideration categories may offer a compelling value exchange. But are consumers going to establish a direct, consent-based first-party relationship with every brand in their pantry or refrigerator? Probably not.

Click here to read the full Ad Exchanger article.

Visit our knowledge hub

See what you can learn from our latest posts.

We’re leading a data revolution in the retail business, and we’re looking for partners who are ready for a deeper, more personal approach to customer engagement.

Let’s connect