3.10.2023
Planning an eTail ad campaign is no small task. As beauty’s online sales soar, these co-op promotions are ever more prominent in marketing strategies. And it’s easy to see why; with your banners taking pride of place on a retailer’s website, you’re reaching an audience that’s come to the page in a browsing and buying mindset. However, mistakes can happen, and sometimes your co-op ads may not go to plan. Like all marketing activities, they need to be monitored to ensure retailer ad compliance. With an eTail campaign, this means checking on placement, assets, uptime and more. Here are the five key components to track when your next campaign goes live…
1. Length of Uptime
One of the most fundamental components of an ad agreement is the length of uptime. You pay for every minute your banner is on show, so it’s important you get your money’s worth. And yet, 43% of ads do not appear for the agreed timespan, or they may be showing up in the wrong space – not the priority placement you negotiated.
Not only does this bring down your share of voice – the visibility your brand owns compared to your competitors – but it also has a direct impact on the number of beauty-loving shoppers your ad can reach.
2. Banner Creative
It’s not just ad space that’s costly. Knowing that only 4% of online ads are viewed by users, beauty brands invest in thumb-stopping creative to boost their chances of driving high conversion rates. These banners and videos are designed with a meticulous eye on the details, ensuring they’re eye-catching enough to get noticed, while helping to retain brand equity.
However, this artwork isn’t always used by the retailer, meaning the time and money spent on assets goes to waste – and that compelling creative isn’t seen. If you’re a brand with a strong visual identity, the monitoring of assets is a must-check. Otherwise, generic, off-brand visuals may be used that don’t entice your audience in quite the same way.
3. Campaign Messaging
As important as the banner creative is the campaign messaging. 33% of ads appear with the incorrect key message, leading to a confusing customer experience. For example, an otherwise-lucrative Black Friday or Christmas offer might get missed, or the retailer may fail to communicate a gift with purchase. This can compromise expected spikes in revenue.
4. 404 Error Pages
The dreaded 404 error is all the more jarring when it’s linked to your ad campaign. So, here’s a frightening statistic: 4% of co-op ads link through to broken product pages. The hope would be that consumers might head to the search bar when faced with a 404. However, research reveals that 73% of people who reach an error page will click away from the website entirely.
5. Click-Through Content
Worse, still, than directing to a 404 page is if your ad links to a competitor. This can happen, and it means they get free advertising and a boost in revenue that your brand has paid for. Similarly, in 13% of cases, the click-out page doesn’t show the products that are being marketed, making it that much harder for shoppers to find your latest launch.
How to Check Every Component
Each of these non-compliance components has a direct impact on the success of your campaigns, but checking them daily is a time-consuming, resource-intensive process. By using a co-op ad tracking tool, like Ad View, the monitoring is done for you, so you have instant access to data on ad performance from beginning to end of a campaign.
The right tracking tool will also give you access to hourly screenshots of your ads. In doing so, it provides proof of non-compliance to fast-track fixes and helps you get compensation from the eTailer. In most cases, you will be entitled to a rebate or a credit to use against future activity. What’s more; your co-op ads will be working harder than ever before.
