3 Ways Ad Tracking Can Boost Your Share of Voice on Third Party e-Retailers

When you want to get your beauty brand noticed in Boots, an in-store activation has long been the way to go. Even something as simple as a punchy POS display can help to get more eyes on your new product and boost revenue. However, in this pandemic era, when footfall figures are plummeting for most retailers, you might be wondering what other tactics you can turn to in order to boost visibility.

That’s where ads on third-party eCommerce sites come in. The digital equivalent of an in-store display, co-op ads put your brand front and centre on your chosen retailer’s website. They reach beauty lovers who are in a buying mindset and entice them to your landing page, making them a powerful tool in the eTail space.

However, when buying these co-op ads, you shouldn’t be looking at them in isolation, but rather assessing the impact they might have on your brand’s share of voice (SOV).

Here, we explore what share of voice is, why it’s so important for revenue, and the three ways ad tracking can help you drive your SOV up…

What is Share of Voice?

Think of share of voice as your level of presence in a retailer and across the landscape. Put simply, it’s a measure of the visibility your brand owns compared to your competitors. SOV is an important metric for retailer ads because it directly impacts your revenue; the more your brand is seen and its voice is heard, the higher your chance of boosting sales.

Monitoring retailer co-op advertising SOV allows you to see the bigger picture when it comes to your ads, so you’re not just focusing on your standalone banner, but understanding its wider impact. The best way to benchmark your advertising SOV is to understand if it is at least in line with your brand value share.

How Do You Measure Share of Voice on Retailer Sites?

Calculating share of voice on a retailer site requires one simple formula:

Your ads / total market ads x 100 = SOV

Tracking retailer ad spend SOV has been a challenge until now, with the only option requiring significant painstaking manual effort. Even if you did identify an issue with your ad placement, it was very difficult to provide the evidence and check the carousel as often as is required – particularly outside of office hours. adCHECK is an automated tool from MMI that leverages technology,  and enables you to monitor eTailer compliance and SOV. Its ad tracking feature is unique and helps you understand whether agreed ads have been delivered to brief. In addition, it will identify your share of voice against competitors on a retailer site.

How Ad Tracking Boosts SOV

1. Helping You Negotiate Ad Space

When purchasing ad space on a retailer site, you don’t want to go into negotiations blind. Otherwise, you might end up with a space just because it’s available, rather than because it delivers results. Using ad tracking will help you understand the best positions to request, so you can optimise your ad spend, ensuring it’s working hard to increase your share of voice.

Plus, once these co-op ads are in place, MMI will track their hourly performance on the retailer site; another feature that’s unique to AdView. Retailers who know you’re monitoring ads will be conscious of delivering a flawless campaign. And, when it comes to the next product launch, they’ll be aware that your finger is firmly on the SOV buzzer.

2. Checking Campaign Compliance

Did you know? 22% of online fragrance ad placements with third-party retailers aren’t executed in line with the brief. It might be that your new fragrance ad directs to the wrong landing page or – worse – it doesn’t appear on the site at all. Either way, retailer ad tracking can help prevent such mishaps from happening, maximising sales from each campaign.

With hourly monitoring, you can ensure your co-op ads are appearing as they should, meaning your SOV will be at the level that you planned (and paid for). If they’re not compliant, you’re entitled to a rebate or, more commonly, a free placement. So, not only does monitoring campaigns enhance your share of voice, but it makes your ad spend work more effectively, too.

3. Monitoring Competitor Strategies

Ad tracking also lets you see how your competitors are using their ad spend, looking at Key Consumption Periods to understand what positions they’re choosing and when. Look at the beauty powerhouses; the brands with big enough budgets to experiment with ad placement. If they’re continually choosing the same spot, it’s a sign that they’ve found a winning strategy.

Having this insight can, again, make retailer negotiations much easier, allowing you to plan ahead – and snap up that larger slice of the share of voice pie.

How We Can Help

We are specialists in media and eCommerce data analytics for the beauty industry. Learn more about how we can help you with your digital disruption by clicking below.