Walmart adds video search ad content to Walmart Connect media platform
CPG brands participating in Walmart’s retail media network have a new way to reach customers via search results.
In an email to Chain Store Age, a Walmart spokesperson said the discounter’s Walmart Connect closed-loop media business is offering premium sponsored search placement via a new sponsored videos program to all advertisers that are brand-registered in the Walmart Brand Portal.
Walmart Connect offers advertisers the ability to serve personalized, time- and context-specific ads across customer touchpoints including media placements on in-store TV walls and self-checkout screens, Walmart digital properties, mobile devices, and corporate events. In a launch timed for the holiday shopping season, Walmart Connect is introducing its first onsite video ad solution.
Eligible advertisers can now launch and manage their own sponsored video campaigns via the Walmart Ad Center or by working with a member of the Walmart Connect Partner Network, which features creative services partners such such as VidMob, WhyteSpyder, Kaizen Ad, It’sRapid.ai, and The Mars Agency.
Closed-loop Walmart Connect measurement for sponsored video ads includes the network’s standard sponsored search metrics; as well as specific insights for video, such as view-through rate (VTR), viewable click-through-rate (vCTR) and view-based attributed sales metrics. Advertisers can use a direct and halo video attribution model to measure the impact on product sales after customers watch their sponsored video ads to completion.
'"Show, don’t tell’ is an old marketing adage that couldn’t be more true in today’s retail media landscape,” said Susanna Lee, senior director of product marketing for Walmart Connect, in an emailed statement. “Video ads in search results give you the ability to tell your brand or product’s story to break the barrier between upper-funnel campaign tactics and performance ad formats like Sponsored Search. Brands can create intrigue and interest right where they're convincing and converting customers.
“We've all resonated with video ad content at some point, whether it’s from watching a beauty product demo, spotting the perfect toy or experiencing an emotional connection with a holiday ad,” Lee said in the statement. “So imagine the power of video storytelling in one of our most influential destinations for customer discovery – search results.”
Walmart says customers seek products via search
Walmart also released some data on its customers’ search and shopping habits:
- More than half (51%) of surveyed Walmart customers said they discover new products about once a month in their search results on Walmart.com and the Walmart app.
- 93% of the top 100 searched key words are non-branded words or phrases, which the retailer says means customers are looking for suggestions.2
- 75% of surveyed Walmart customer say they have a shopping list but will buy products that aren't on the list.3
- 53% say they are open to switching brands to get the best value.4