What You Need to Know About Walmart Advertising
$3.9 billion. That's what Walmart has invested in advertising during the fiscal year ending January 2022.
As Walmart is working towards growing its eCommerce share, the retail giant is actively developing better advertising tools to help its sellers reach more people.
And its efforts are paying off. The platform pulled $2.1 billion in advertising revenue last year. This shows how sellers are actively opting for Walmart advertising to get in front of the right audience.
If you haven't considered going the Walmart advertising route, this is your sign. Think about it.
Walmart is growing significantly every year. And the platform is committed to offering the best possible advertising solutions to its sellers. Moreover, given the brand reputation and a huge + loyal customer base, Walmart is an unmissable platform for sellers looking to expand their business reach.
Don't know a thing about Walmart advertising? This blog is for you. Stick around till the end to get a quick overview of what Walmart advertising offers and why you should consider investing in it.
Ready? Let's go.
Walmart Advertising: Your Gateway to Breaking Into the Growing Platform
Walmart saw a 136% increase in its number of advertisers last year.
The platform offers excellent advertising tools and unwavering support. All of this makes Walmart Advertising a promising arena worth jumping into.
Walmart's advertising tools are similar in capability to those of Amazon. They are data-driven and designed to help sellers run effective full-funnel campaigns.
You have to be a registered Walmart seller in order to advertise on the platform. Walmart advertising tools can help drive exposure to your SKUs and help you jump-start your Walmart selling journey. We will talk more about why you should sell and advertise on Walmart. For now, let’s see what advertising options does the platform offer.
There are two core types of ads you can run on Walmart, including:
Sponsored Product Ads
Sponsored Product ads are native to the Walmart platform. They are served in prominent, high-traffic areas on Walmart-owned digital properties and help drive traffic to the promoted product's page.
Walmart gets almost 16 million searches every day. And these ads help you appear for them.
Sponsored product ads work on a cost-per-click or CPC model. You only pay when someone clicks on it. Walmart also helps sellers choose the right bid for CPC through their suggested bid feature You can drive automatic or manual campaigns when running sponsored product ads.
Automated campaigns help you adopt a more hands-off approach to advertising. All you have to do is enter product details, select a bid price, and run the campaign. No keyword research or management involved. So, automatic campaigns are easier to manage if you have no CPC experience.
According to Walmart, these campaigns offer maximum exposure.
Manual campaigns, on the other hand, are more hands-on. You have to choose the keywords yourself and monitor the campaign meticulously. These campaigns are more difficult to manage but offer maximum control.
There are four different types of Walmart Sponsored Product Ads that you can invest in, including:
Search In-grid Ads
These ads are keyword targeted and appear among the search results for relevant searches. Walmart search in-grid ads occupy the first four search results and then appear in two spots after every ten results. These listings have a tiny "sponsored" written below the product image so the buyers can differentiate them from an organic listing.
Buy Box
Buy box ads appear on the product detail page a customer is already looking at. By offering the buyer's a reasonable alternative to the product they are looking at, buy box ads help drive consideration for your brand.
Buy Box on a cat food Product detail page:
Product Carousel
Product carousel ads may appear within the search results, product category pages, and individual product detail pages to offer SKUs relevant to what the buyer is looking for.
The example below is from the PDP of an electric kettle. You can see how there is a sponsored product ad for an air fryer in between the product carousel that offers other similar products.
Brand Amplifier
Brand Amplifier ads promote your entire brand on the search results page. These ads appear with your brand logo and tagline and may include up to three of your SKUs.
Since many people search Walmart online and then go in-store to shop, brand amplifier ads may help you stay on top of your prospects' minds as they shop offline.
https://walmartconnect.com/a-beginner-s-guide-to-advertising-with-walmart-s-search-brand-am
Walmart Display Ads
Walmart display ads help you adopt a content-based advertising approach by serving creative display ads on and off Walmart.
These ads are targeted based on audience data. You can tap into Walmart's extensive browse, purchase, and search data to build an audience segment. Then you can target them with your creative ads.
Walmart's display ads appear onsite on the platform's own digital properties as well as off-site on other third-party platforms.
Using Walmart's proprietary Closed-loop Measurement, you can track your campaigns in-flight and measure the impact of your ads on sales onsite, in-app, and in-store.
Walmart onsite display ad:
https://www.walmartconnect.com/display-products
Walmart Off-site display ads:
https://www.linkedin.com/products/walmart-connect-walmart-offsite-display-advertising/
Why Should You Consider Advertising on Walmart?
Amazon is a behemoth in the Marketplace arena with a massive 39.5% share. On the other hand, Walmart only has a humble 7% of it.
If Walmart is not as powerful as the alternative – Amazon – should you even consider selling and advertising on this platform?
Yes.
Here's why:
Walmart has a Massive, Engaged, and Loyal Audience
150 million customers visit Walmart online or in-store every week. Advertising on Walmart allows you to interact with a vast audience.
Apart from being big in number, Walmart's audience is pretty loyal to the brand as well. In fact, the retail chain stood at the top in the customer loyalty index with the highest loyalty score. People who shop on Walmart usually stick to it. And those who check out its online store usually visit the brick-and-mortar store.
https://www.supermarketnews.com/retail-financial/walmart-h-e-b-stand-out-retail-customer-loyalty
Additionally, we cannot ignore the fact that Walmart is a well-reputed brand. It has worked on fostering trust with its audience. And through selling and advertising on the platform, you get to share some of this trust.
Walmart is Growing Fast
Yes, Walmart may be tiny when compared to Amazon. But the platform is growing fast.
The number of sellers on the platform jumped 66% from 2021 to 2022.
Walmart's loyal audience base and the platform's commitment to offer the best possible selling and advertising solution are reasons enough for progressive sellers to flock to the marketplace.
Low Marketplace Competition
Does this look contradictory? Well, it isn't.
Yes, Walmart is growing fast. But it still has a long way to go to become as crowded with sellers as Amazon.
Amazon recorded 1.1 million sellers back in 2019. And this is a pre-pandemic figure. Walmart, however, has only 150,000 sellers.
So, Walmart offers much lower competition compared to Amazon. And therefore, it might be easier to break into and build your presence with the right selling and advertising strategies.
Your Omnichannel Approach
Modern customers have multiple touch points. And so, it is vital for brands to have an omnichannel presence, lest they miss an interaction opportunity.
If you already have an established website or Amazon store, getting into Walmart will help diversify your customer acquisition channels. And opting for Walmart advertising will help kickstart your journey as you would be able to promote your products in high-visibility areas on and off the platform.
Conclusion
Walmart advertising is worth considering for brands looking to expand their reach and diversify their revenue streams.
You can develop and implement a full-funnel advertising strategy with Walmart ads and track your campaign performance through its proprietary tracking solution.
There's one thing, though. Walmart is very particular about its brand. Therefore, they have extensive checks before entry as a seller on the platform. But once you are in, you get to tap into the platform's massive, engaged audience, enjoy the first-mover advantage, and grow with Walmart.
Also, if you are yet to establish yourself on Amazon or other areas, it might be wise not to spread yourself too thin by jumping into Walmart as well. Pick one platform, establish yourself there and then move on.
Not sure how to proceed? Discuss your options with Accrue. Our marketplace experts will understand your brand and work out the best possible path for you. Talk to your marketplace consultant now.