3 Tips for Successful Ad Campaigns in 2023

Privacy changes, a looming recession and eroding consumer spending power were just a few headlines that disrupted marketing strategies in the past year. As a result, you likely saw several industry shifts that impacted the way you reached shoppers in 2022.

Going into the new year with so many changes and likely more to come, CPG marketers must create plans to influence shoppers' journeys and purchasing decisions no matter the landscape. Doing so requires marketers to focus on lower purchase funnel tactics. These tactics must increase purchase intent and maximize sales even in a tough economy.

As a CPG marketer, you must also generate long-term customer lifetime value and loyalty. But how can you reach the ideal shopper with promoted products while making the most of your budget? Here are three tips for doing so:

1. Utilize consumer list-building data.

Shoppers are browsing the aisles with their smartphones in hand. In fact, 58 percent of Americans said they're comfortable using digital tools to assist their grocery shopping. Furthermore, more than six in 10 shoppers said they use at least one grocery retailer’s app.

With that in mind, it’s important that you find out what products consumers are putting on their digital shopping lists. This is a powerful measure of shopper intent. This data can then also be used as an indicator of real-time performance, helping marketers make quick evaluations and predictions on trends.

2. Enhance targeting to reach the right audiences.

According to McKinsey, over three-quarters (76 percent) of consumers said that receiving personalized communications was critical in prompting their brand consideration. Targeted messaging directly influences buying behavior and increases the likelihood that consumers are receptive and engage with the brand. That’s why marketers must get in front of the right shoppers at the right time with the right message. To do this well, you need to use intent-based targeting to know what messaging will resonate with which consumers. You cannot get this with traditional demographic targeting techniques.

To drive tailored campaigns, consider a couple of different methods of audience outreach:

• Building intent-based target audiences: Instead of thinking of your consumer based on their general demographic or psychographic attributes (e.g., female, 35-54, mother of two children, cares about feeding her family high-quality foods), think of them based on what they actually plan to purchase. Knowing that a consumer is actively planning to shop your category, a related category, or purchase a competitor's product allows you to be far more customized with your messaging and impactful in driving purchase intent.
• Retargeting ads: Once a user engages with your brand, marketers can retarget that consumer using this predetermined metric. For example, if a shopper searches for candy on a grocer’s website, the grocer can use targeted messaging to display the product again and nudge them along the purchase funnel.

3. Focus on the most impactful spend.

With signs of economic uncertainty continuing, marketers could face budget cuts. In response, it’s important to focus on where to best spend allocated budget and make valuable key performance indicators a top priority. This means continuing to maintain your advertising efforts by focusing on the best-performing channels and getting rid of any tactics that haven't generated the optimal return.

While the “best-performing channels” differ for every brand, lower funnel media tactics paired with contextual targeting and ad placement tend to provide the best bang for your buck without the need for price discounting. These tactics can include shopper media solutions like add-to-cart for e-commerce or add-to-list for in-store. Getting UX-enabled ads in front of the right consumers when they're thinking about their next shopping trip will yield efficient returns for most brands.

Recession-Proof Marketing Tactics

These three tips for recession-proof marketing tactics can guide brands into 2023, even with economic bumps on the horizon. By taking advantage of consumer-list building data, targeting the right audience, and making the most of marketing budgets, you can feel confident that your brand is prepared for whatever comes next in the new year.

Molly McFarland is co-founder and CRO of AdAdapted, an advertising technology solution that gets CPG brands onto shopping lists and into carts.