Retail-first strategy for emerging brands
Plus, USDA grants are back for farmers
One quick piece of news and then we are on to today’s topic.
I can’t believe the USDA is still doing these but OK. Deadlines to apply are coming up fast on June 27. If you need a great writer, get in touch with Wooten Grants.
Shopper marketing and retail media
The retail media landscape has evolved over the last few years and will continue to evolve. Here’s the latest ⤵️
Before investing in shopper marketing or retail media, you know what I’m going to say — make sure your self placement, facings, SKU assortment, pricing and tags are correct and diligently monitored. If you don’t have a merchandising team, hire one immediately. Merchandisers are your eyes and hands in-store—they fix issues, ensure compliance, and report in real-time.
Retail Media is Powerful—But Only When Managed Well
Retail media (think Sponsored Search and Shoppable Display) has become a core part of shopper marketing —but it needs know-how and management. If you're unfamiliar with terms like attribution windows, or don’t know how to optimize bids or analyze performance, get expert help.
The biggest obstacle I see in Shopper Marketing is budgeted silos. I’ve been in BigFood where digital advertising sits with marketing and shopper marketing sits with sales. Forget that structure. For emerging brands, shopper marketing and digital should work hand-in-hand—one coordinated strategy across both physical and digital shelves.
Thanks to Hayden Consultancy for these tips and advice — get in touch with Eleanor Hayden if you are just starting out, or are an emerging brand needing an audit. And subscribe to her super informative newsletter here
Here’s what Eleanor Hayden has to say about building a smart retail media strategy:
🛒 Start with revenue forecasts by retailer
Who are your top retailers, and what are their retail media offerings? For example, you should know that Wegmans offers no retail media programs, conversely Walmart and Target have robust but tightly regulated programs.
🛒 Prioritize High-Impact Tactics — Focus your budget and energy on tactics that move the needle:
Sponsored Search – Delivers the biggest ROI
Hands-on-Keys (HOK) campaign management – Manual optimization trumps automated bidding
Shoppable Display Ads and Sponsored Brands
On-site Display Ads – Lower priority unless tied to a broader campaign
🛒 Allocate Budget Based on Retailer Revenue — Shopper marketing (in-store + media) should be 2–4% of projected revenues per retailer. Remember to align the online with the in-store efforts – therefore shopper marketing and retail media go hand-in-hand.
🛒 Platforms matter — How you manage each platform will be different. For example Instacart doesn’t allow strict keyword bidding; it auto-adds keywords to campaigns. (So don’t expect to manage it like Amazon). And retailers with first -price vs second price campaigns will be structured and optimized differently. You must be on top of how retailers are set up — and hot tip — Target recently moved to second-price bidding. Instacart is the most established and a strong bet for brands wanting scalable media across banners. DoorDash is a fast follower, but even Uber Eats has shifted its ad platform to Instacart.
🛒 Watch-outs & Best Practices
Monitor monthly growth: If your brand is growing, so should your digital media performance. Plateaus often signal poor optimization.
Focus on "New to Brand": Emerging brands often see >100% ROAS in the first month due to low household penetration.
Avoid “Set It and Forget It”: White-glove service should mean hands-on-keyboards, not automated bidding. Manual adjustments often outperform “optimized” strategies.
Understand each platform’s rules: What works on Walmart Connect won’t apply on Instacart. Adjust accordingly.
I hope this helps!
I’m on vacation the next two weeks - see you in mid June! 🏖️
All my best,
Jennifer