Part of the SheSpeaks team was in Chicago recently at the Retail Media Summit. It was a week filled with incredible conversations and insights on innovations and trends in retail media from some of the biggest brands in the business. 

Read on for a few takeaways that stood out as big opportunities for marketers exploring the path to purchase.

Contextual Commerce is the Sweet Spot

There are a lot of challenges facing marketers right now. Tightening data privacy laws. Closed ecosystems of retail media. A flood of ad placement options. So where should marketers be spending their dollars? And where can they find consumers who are primed to purchase? Enter Contextual Commerce – the sweet spot in the middle of retail media and programmatic where we can catch shoppers’ attention where they already are. In a keynote at Retail Media Summit, Julia Miller of Mars United Commerce noted “we need to catch people in their daily lives,” and that’s exactly what contextual commerce does.

Influencers are great at creating content that meets the moment. Families looking for summer grilling recipes? How about some content about artfully crafting burgers? Moms searching for tips on getting over a cold? How about serving her some content from another mom who swears by this remedy? We can create content that can (and should) be used across your media ecosystem. 

We’ll have another post coming soon about why contextual commerce matters, so stay tuned. 

Sales Funnel Vortex

Sales funnel? More like a sales vortex. The traditional model of a neatly packaged sales funnel is not quite so neat anymore. Shoppers’ lives aren’t linear, so neither is how we appeal to them. With such a fragmented media landscape, it takes more tactics than ever to drive sales. That means brands need to put shoppers in a literal vortex of media to get them to take action. 

This is where influencer content can do big things for a brand. Smart brands let a partner like SheSpeaks spin creator posts into hardworking content that can be used across the entire campaign. We’re talking CTV ads, programmatic and retail media, retailer and brand social platforms, eCommerce pages, and more! Consistent imagery and messaging across channels bring brand recognition and sales.  

Attention Spans are Still Shrinking

One stat shared was that Gen Z now has an attention span of 1.3 seconds when viewing an ad. Shoppers have more being thrown at them than ever before, so content has to catch their attention (immediately) by entertaining them or helping them solve a problem.

One of the biggest turn-ons for an ad viewer? Don’t make it look like an ad. There’s both an art and a science to creating content that feels authentic and drives action, and influencers understand both. It isn’t the only thing Gen Z cares about in advertising, but it’s definitely a big one. 

The path to purchase isn’t as simple as it once was. We’re here to help you navigate it with the help of influencers. Send us a message if you’d like to find out more.