How Commerce Data is Changing Advertising for Performance Marketers

In an era defined by the digital revolution and a global marketplace characterized by high dynamism and competitiveness, commerce data emerges as a critical player in advertising. This information provides the compass that guides businesses in their quest to connect with potential customers, understand their needs, and deliver meaningful experiences.

Commerce data comprises all the information businesses gather from transactions, customers, and product interactions. It's a goldmine, fueling smarter advertising decisions and enhancing engagement with consumers. Its critical role in advertising lies in its ability to demystify consumer behavior and bridge the gap between businesses and their prospective customers. 

The reliance on commerce data has become increasingly prevalent, especially among performance marketers, who stand on the frontlines of customer acquisition and conversion.

Commerce Data vs. Cookies

Performance marketers are continually seeking accurate, real-time data to make the most informed decisions possible about their campaigns. With increasing privacy concerns and restrictions on third-party cookies, many are turning to commerce data as a more reliable and insightful alternative. Here are a few advantages that commerce data offers to performance marketers.

1. Commerce data offers direct insights into consumer behavior. 

To date, marketers have used third-party cookies to track behavioral data across the internet to infer users’ interests and preferences. But commerce data reflects actual purchases made by consumers. This type of data provides marketers with a concrete record of consumers' buying habits, preferences, and brand loyalty. It tells a more accurate story of consumers' actual behavior rather than just their online browsing habits, and this can inform more effective marketing strategies.

2. Commerce data is resilient to changes in privacy regulations. 

With the privacy landscape rapidly evolving, third-party cookies are becoming less reliable as a data source. For instance, regulations like GDPR and CCPA require more explicit consent from users for data collection, and browsers like Safari and Firefox are blocking third-party cookies by default. Meanwhile, Google announced its latest plans to phase out support for third-party cookies in Chrome. Commerce data, however, is largely unaffected by these changes, making it a more sustainable source of consumer insights.While privacy regulations impose certain constraints, commerce data is often less impacted because it typically involves anonymized, aggregated information about transactions, trends, and customer behaviors rather than personally identifiable information (PII). Further, businesses often collect and utilize this data with user consent, adhering to the rules laid out by privacy laws, thus ensuring their commercial operations are compliant and minimally affected.

3. Commerce data can help marketers to better attribute sales to their marketing efforts. 

By tracking a customer's journey from the first point of interaction with a marketing campaign to the final purchase, marketers can better understand the effectiveness of their campaigns. This is often challenging with third-party cookies due to issues like cookie deletion, cross-device tracking difficulties, and the aforementioned privacy regulations. In contrast, commerce data, particularly when integrated with first-party data, provides a clearer and more accurate picture of the marketing attribution.

Performance Marketers and Their Need for Detailed Insights

Performance marketers are judged on their results. The more detailed their insights, the better they can tailor their strategies. Hence, commerce data is their ticket to robust, result-driven advertising.

Commerce data provides the fuel to power their innovative marketing engines, offering insights that can shape successful and impactful campaigns.

Harnessing the Power of Commerce Data

Digging deep into commerce data can unlock the hidden potential of your marketing campaigns. From website clicks to in-store purchases, every bit of information can contribute to a fuller understanding of your customers.

For instance, analyzing purchase patterns can reveal that shoppers prefer to buy online rather than in-store and which stores they prefer to buy at, while studying consumer panels can offer deep insights into what methods of advertising are effective. 

Taking it a step further, commerce data rooted in business outcomes can give real-world insights instead of inferences from traditional marketing signals. It also enables real-time adjustments and data-driven decision-making, allowing for campaigns to be responsive and adaptable.

Unprecedented Levels of Performance

Commerce data provides performance marketers with the tools to measure and optimize key performance indicators (KPIs) like conversion rate, return on ad spend (ROAS), return on investment (ROI), and other conversion signals. 

Numerous case studies exemplify the exceptional results achieved through commerce data, such as increased click-through rates and higher conversion rates.

Using Attain’s real-time and opted-in commerce data, a leading quick service restaurant (QSR) brand was able to identify potential customers based on users that frequently ordered takeout with competing brands. By targeting these groups, the brand was able to increase conversion rates by 2.3% with a staggering ROAS of over $14.

In the cutthroat arena of digital advertising, commerce data offers a competitive edge. The agility and adaptability it provides in response to changing consumer behavior can be the difference between thriving and merely surviving.

The transformative impact of commerce data on advertising is unequivocal. It propels a paradigm shift from generic to personalized, from intuition-based to data-driven, and from static to dynamic advertising strategies. The future promises an even greater reliance on data-driven strategies as technology advances and consumer behavior evolves. Performance marketers are, therefore, urged to harness the power of commerce data for exceptional results, forging the way for more nuanced and effective advertising campaigns.

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