Commerce media strategies: Selecting the right ad format

Commerce media has transformed digital advertising by directly linking media investments to measurable consumer actions. As more brands and retailers embrace commerce media strategies, selecting the right ad formats becomes crucial for maximizing engagement, conversions, and incremental revenue.

Each stage of the customer journey—awareness, consideration, and conversion—requires a tailored ad format to effectively guide potential buyers toward a purchase. By aligning ad formats with consumer intent, advertisers can create seamless experiences that drive action. In this article, we’ll explore how different ad formats align with each stage of the customer journey and provide actionable strategies for optimizing commerce media campaigns.

For even more in-depth insights about commerce media strategies, check out Koddi Academy, Koddi’s free online training and certification program. In the full “Commerce Media Architecture Essentials” certification course, we offer strategies for how to architect campaigns to support your high-level business goals, ensuring that you make the most of your inventory to maximize your revenue potential.

Understanding the customer journey in commerce media

Successful commerce media campaigns are built on a deep understanding of the customer journey. Consumers move through three primary stages:

1. Awareness stage

In this first stage, the goal is to build brand recognition and capture consumer attention. Consumers are likely discovering brands and products for the first time, so ads should prioritize reach, visibility, and storytelling in their copy and visuals. 

2. Consideration stage

Once customers are aware of the product or company, the next step is to drive engagement, product exploration, and intent. Within the consideration stage, consumers are actively researching and comparing products, so ads should use more persuasive messaging.

3. Conversion stage

Finally, after customers are aware of and engaged with your products, the goal is to influence purchase decisions and drive transactions. Even though consumers are ready to buy, they may need an extra push. In this stage, ads should focus on messaging urgency or promoting product visibility.

It’s critical for commerce media networks and advertisers to align their ad types, channels, copy, and visuals for each stage of the customer journey. What works for one stage may not work for another. 

Let’s take an example. A woman in her 30s sees a candle ad on TV—it’s aspirational and eye-catching, but she doesn’t act since she’s never heard of the brand before. Later, she encounters the brand again through a carousel ad on Instagram and clicks on the website link, showing engagement. The brand then retargets her with a sponsored product ad when she reaches the website, and, using limited-time 25% off sale ad that creates urgency, she makes the purchase.

Imagine if the ad strategies for the unique stages were misaligned: the 25% off sale would mean nothing to a woman who’s never heard of the brand in the first place. That’s why it’s critical for ad strategies to match the customer journey. 

Aligning ad formats with each stage of the customer journey

It’s not just about copy and visuals– brands also need to understand how ad formats and channels align with the customer journey to empower customers to make a buying decision. In this section, we’ll unpack which ad formats fit best within each stage of the customer journey, which channels each ad should run in based on their unique goals, and examples for maximum impact.

Awareness stage: Building brand visibility

At this stage, ad formats should focus on mass reach and storytelling to introduce brands and products to potential customers. Advertisers should aim to attract customers to their brand in interesting and inviting ways. Leverage ad types such as:

Consideration stage: Driving engagement and exploration

At this stage, ad formats should encourage consumers to go deeper, providing the ability to interaction with and learn about the products themselves. Advertisers should look to launch ads such as:

Conversion stage: Influencing purchase decisions

Finally, conversion ads should remove friction and create a clear path to purchase. Here, advertisers should launch ads such as:

Best practices for a seamless ad experience

To maximize the effectiveness of commerce media campaigns, consider these best practices:

1. Ad sequencing: Guide consumers through the journey with a structured ad flow (e.g., Awareness → Consideration → Conversion). This requires thoughtful tracking to ensure each ad reaches the right customer at the right time based on their intent.
2. Omnichannel strategy: Maintain a consistent presence across multiple touchpoints, from social media to e-commerce search. While advertisers should leverage strategies such as frequency capping to ensure users are not bombarded by ads, it’s important that you stay top-of-mind for customers.
3. Personalized messaging: Use dynamic creatives and AI-driven recommendations to tailor ads to individual consumers. This maximizes efficiency for campaign creation while ensuring customers are receiving relevant and personalized ads.

Additional strategies for propelling users along the customer journey

Choosing the right ad format at each stage of the customer journey is critical for commerce media success. By aligning ad types with consumer intent, advertisers can create seamless experiences that drive awareness, engagement, and conversions.

However, selecting the right ad format is just the first step—optimizing performance requires data-driven decision-making. 

Koddi Academy’s Commerce Media Architecture Essentials certification course provides in-depth training on optimizing ad formats and leveraging data-driven strategies for commerce media campaigns. Enroll today to enhance your expertise and stay ahead in the evolving digital advertising landscape.

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