In a digital age, where consumers are subject to thousands of ads each week, it’s increasingly difficult for marketers to understand the critical moments of impact.

Alongside the sheer number of ads, shoppers’ recall of specific ads has diminished, making the window for advertisers to translate impressions into purchases challenging.

Over 40% of respondents to a recent survey only recalled 1-10% of ads they saw within a 24 hour period. (Since the average consumer is exposed to upwards of 10,000 ads per week, it can be inferred that the relevant lifespan of these ads is diminishing exponentially.) In fact, eMarketer found that Gen Z loses active attention for ads after just 1.3 seconds.

Why is this information critical for marketers?

The industry has spent decades optimizing the ‘who’ and ‘what’ from a personalization perspective. While those variables are essential, they’re no longer enough to move the needle on their own.

The crux of personalization as we approach 2024 is real-time relevance which goes beyond the “who” and “what,” and digs into purchase behaviors and motives to understand why a consumer shops and “where” and “when” to best reach them in the purchase process.

This approach not only creates a better user experience for consumers but drives market leading engagement and results—generating rates on average 6x higher than traditional digital marketing tactics.

Ready to give it a try? Here are the key ingredients of success to help ensure your products go from the shelf to the cart:

Understanding Pivotal Moments to be the Brand They Remember

While there is a chance a shopper may remember a commercial they watched while binging The Bear or the billboard they saw while commuting to work—their purchase decisions are driven increasingly by the ads they engage with throughout the purchase journey and while in-store.

In order to effectively stand out and meet shoppers in these critical decision-making moments, alongside great creatives, you’ll need to understand not only ‘who’ your key customers are, but ‘where,’ ‘when’ and ‘why’ they’re making each purchase decision.

Effective strategies should reflect your target audiences’ shopping habits, purchases and patterns in order to offer convenient solutions during the hustle of their everyday lives. From there, you can assess the strategy that would be the most effective in driving return on ad spend.

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Harness the Advantages of In-Store Shopping Experiences

Never underestimate the thrills of the in-store shopping experience that elicit different emotions—and thus purchase behaviors.

When buying groceries, most Americans are omnichannel shoppers. A study earlier this year found 75% of shoppers planned to purchase their groceries in-store rather than placing online pick-up or delivery orders. On that note, 84.51 also discovered that selection and personalized experience were among the top three reasons for omnichannel shoppers visiting stores instead of shopping online.

Seeing a fun snack partnership, like Old Bay Goldfish, or an ad for the launch of a new energy drink flavor might pique a shopper’s interest at home, that same ad in-store will not only keep it top of mind, but place it in their cart.

Whether it’s checking their shopping list, texting their spouse urgent questions about swapping sold-out items or quickly scrolling through TikTok, shoppers are on their phones, which creates pivotal opportunities for marketers. Creating a personalized ad experience that engages consumers while they’re navigating a sea of products enables brands to establish a meaningful connection that transcends a digital ad at a self-checkout kiosk or snack display.

Be Data Driven & Go Beyond Individual Retailers to Win the Market

Individual retailers can provide great access for brands to reach target customers, but reaching consumers wherever your product is sold and they shop helps ensure your brand stays top of mind.

A recent InMarket Lapsed/Lost analysis for a major mass merchant found the largest percentage of lost customers for groceries went to a discount retailer. In the hunt for value, consumers may be shifting their preferred retailers. Therefore, analyzing visitation and purchases to understand “where” and “when” your customers shop, but also uncover the “why” is essential to success.

A retail agnostic strategy does just that.

Incorporate Measurement & Optimization Into Your Strategy

We live in a real-time world and a multitude of factors can impact an outcome. Turning to measurement solutions that allow A/B testing in real-time across a multitude of variables, including offer, creative and media inflight, reduces advertising waste and drives performance and ROAS to new levels.

A recent study, done in conjunction with the CMO council, found marketers who leverage always-on attribution and real-time inflight optimization drive up to 11x greater media efficiency. Actionable insights within these solutions can also help assure future success generated from new learnings or retargeting efforts around the tactics that worked best.

Heading into 2024, it’s more important than ever to understand the pivotal moments to connect with your consumers to ensure you are the brand they remember.

In addition, beyond embracing in-store advertising, transform it to make it an experience shoppers will never forget. Be data driven and flexible—we live in a real-time world and adjusting campaign targeting and tactics in-flight enables marketers to meet consumers at their precise moment of need.

Driven by incredible media efficiency to achieve desired outcomes and build lasting customer relationships, real-time, always-on attribution has never been more profitable.

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