Retail Media Platforms vs. Traditional Advertising Channels: Which Is Better?

In today’s ever-changing digital landscape, brand owners and companies are torn between allocating budgets for their ads—specifically, between retail media platforms and traditional advertising channels. Even though both avenues offer unique benefits, there’s no denying that the effectiveness and results of the ads greatly vary due to certain factors. For today’s article, we’ll highlight the advantages of both courses of action so you can make an informed decision on which choice works better for you.

What are the advantages of using retail media platforms?

Given the modernity of our times, many brands prefer using retail media platforms because of the following:

They provide quantifiable results. Retail media platforms are data-driven and utilize exceptional analytics and reporting. These allow advertisers to track key metrics like conversion rates and click-through rates (CTR) with impressive accuracy. Because of this approach, they’re able to optimize and maximize their campaign efficiently, bearing great results.

They have unparalleled audience targeting. Another advantage of using retail media platforms is that they have unmatched targeting capabilities. Using first-party data collection directly from the consumers, they can detail specific customer aspects based on consumer behavior, purchase history, browsing behavior, and even demographics. Because of this, wasted ad spends are significantly lower because they usually reach their target and relevant audiences.

They offer performance-based pricing. When it comes to your finances in business, it’s as good as water—it’s liquid and necessary. To ensure that you’ll attain impressionable results no matter what, they offer performance-based pricing like cost-per-sale (CPS) and cost-per-click (CPC), which also makes sure that the interests of the retailer and advertiser are the same.

What are the advantages of using traditional advertising?

Its counterpart may be a better option for our digital age, but traditional advertising continues to reach its target audiences and achieve conversions. It comes with many advantages, such as:

They have a wide reach. The internet may be omnipotent, but you can also count on traditional media channels like TV, magazines, and the radio to reach a wide audience. With that said, it allows brands to expand their target audience, encompassing diverse demographics.

They have a stronger emotional connection. In this day and age, where everyone’s mostly on their phones, you can’t deny that a large portion of consumers are still attached to certain media channels, like the television, because of how they can create memorable experiences and evoke strong emotions. After all, didn’t we all grow up watching TV at more than one point in our lives?

They raise brand awareness. If you’re looking to raise your brand awareness, then it’s best to blast your products on the television because it’s a proven way to create a strong brand image.

So, which of the two works better?

Choosing a “better” option between the two is reliant on several campaign objectives and other factors. For one, if you’re looking at direct sales and immediate conversions, then you can opt for retail media platforms since they outperform their counterparts due to their ability to precisely reach their target market and their direct-to-customer reach. On the other hand, traditional channels are better when it comes to boosting brand awareness because of their extensive reach. At the end of the day, it all boils down to the results you want to achieve, and you can also opt for a hybrid approach between the two.