What is shoppable media and why businesses are interested in it

Shoppable media: another term to add to our vocabulary, as we know is common in marketing. However, as you will see throughout the article, it is not just filler: shoppable media aims quite high.

What does it have to do with? Well, essentially, it is related to multichannel marketing and transforming what is not originally conceived as sales platforms into such: content in any format and medium.

Let's give you some straightforward examples, as it can be a bit abstract.

Imagine a TV commercial during prime time. By itself, it will generate visibility and may communicate a specific offer or launch. However, if we make the potential customer go through many steps before making a purchase, such as remembering the brand, the product, going to a store, or searching online, it can be a cumbersome process.

It´s very top of the funnel.

But if we include a QR code in that same ad, directly pointing to a landing page or the product page within our eCommerce, we are shortening the conversion process and reinforcing the effectiveness of that campaign.

We have given you the most basic example, but any content can incorporate a link. It could be a movie, a video game, a streaming session, Instagram stories, using a virtual assistant, or even in connected cars. Everything can help us sell more and make the effort invested in content creation more profitable.

In the golden age of mass media advertising, a famous American magnate said, "I know that half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is, I don't know which half."

Although not as radical, a similar issue can happen with content marketing. However, by using shoppable media, we can measure the investment very accurately, or at least, we can determine which of our channels and content are most effective for direct conversions.

Stories add context, nuances, and experiences to the purchasing process. It is well demonstrated that storytelling sells from an emotional standpoint.

If we are capable of building stories that move people about our brand and products, shoppable media can be the ideal tool to transition from the emotional to the transactional plane, or in other words, now that we have warmed up the sale, let's close it.

We cannot help but mention another one: shoppable media is phygital (the combination of physical and digital).

It is phygital because we can use media such as billboards or printed catalogs to direct, through scanning, to an online store. With the pace at which artificial intelligence such as Google Lens is advancing, scanning a physical product we see on the street or in a store to buy it online is already a reality.