Retail media networks do not all report the same way. When the IAB and the Media Rating Council released draft retail media measurement guidelines in 2023, the IAB named the problem: "a lack of consistent measurement across different RMNs." The final guidelines followed in January 2024.
For an agency, that makes one question worth asking before any campus buy: what will I be able to show my client when it ends? Here is what Follett Media Network (FMN) reports for each channel, and how to agree the measures before launch.
Email: engagement and sales in one report
FMN's email reporting covers click-through rate, units sold, total sales revenue and brand sales revenue. That puts engagement and sales side by side for the same send, so email can be judged on sales, not just clicks.
Open rates come back as well. A national business publication ran monthly email campaigns across 50+ schools, with content tied to a free student subscription offer reaching over 300K students each semester. Those emails averaged a 35% open rate.
When you plan email, decide up front whether the client will be judged on clicks or on sales, and build the offer so the report can show it.
Online marketing: revenue, click-through and conversion
For online marketing, FMN reports revenue, click-through rate and conversion. Revenue and conversion connect the campaign to what students bought, not just what they saw.
If the client's product also sells outside the campus store, plan the link before creative is made. A dedicated landing page or an offer code gives the client a way to count results on its own side.
In-store: photos of execution
For in-store work, FMN provides photos of execution:
Sign placement.
Inserts at the register and in web orders.
Samples at the register and in web orders.
Photos answer the basic question about physical media: did it run where and how it was planned? They do not measure sales on their own. To show the effect, pair in-store work with a channel that reports sales, such as email, or with a trackable offer printed on the insert or sample.
Onsite ads: impressions, clicks and click-through rate
Direct onsite ads on campus store websites report impressions, clicks and click-through rate. For planning, the media kit gives monthly views by placement: 1.6 to 5.1 million for the home page banner, 2.3 to 7.7 million for My Offers tiles, which appear on every page, and 0.5 to 5.6 million for the textbooks page.
These numbers suit an awareness or traffic goal. For a sales goal, read them alongside online revenue and conversion.
Brand goals: awareness research
Some campaigns are meant to change what students think of a brand, not what they buy that week. For those, FMN offers pre and post audience awareness research as a special request.
Ask for it when you set the plan. A pre-campaign reading has to be taken before anything runs, so it cannot be added once the campaign is live.
Match the measure to the goal
Put together, FMN's reporting lines up with three objectives:
Awareness: impressions, clicks and click-through rate on direct onsite ads, plus pre and post audience awareness research on request.
Trial: photos of execution for signs, inserts and samples. If the client needs a count of samples or inserts handed out, ask FMN to include it in the report.
Sales: email units sold, total sales revenue and brand sales revenue, and online revenue and conversion.
Campaigns with more than one objective need a measure for each, with one named as the result that decides success.
Agree the measures before launch
FMN states that it "utilizes extensive measurement tools to track and report ROAS and ROI," using audience research and closed-loop measurement. The media kit also lists real-time campaign performance tracking and customized reports. To get the most from them, settle these points with FMN and the client before the brief is final:
The one result the client will judge: awareness, trial or sales.
The metric each channel will report against that result, from the lists above.
The comparison: the same period last year, or a pre-campaign awareness reading.
How offers are tracked: codes, links or a sweepstakes entry.
When you see results: in-flight checks during the campaign and a wrap report at the end.
Who receives the report, and in what form the client needs it.
Writing these into the brief means the wrap report answers the question the client asked at the start.
A readout your client can use
A campus campaign can return more than a delivery report. Email can show units sold and revenue, online marketing shows conversion, in-store photos prove the work ran, and awareness research covers brand goals. Choose the measures that fit the objective, and agree them early.
Set the measurement plan
Get the FMN media kit for channels, reporting and case results, or book a short call with Vinny to set the measurement plan for a client.
Get the media kit | Book a call with Vinny
Sources
IAB, "More than Half of Retail Media Networks Advertisers Are Reallocating Budgets To RMNs, According to New IAB Study," press release, Sept. 13, 2023.
IAB, "Final IAB/MRC Retail Media Measurement Guidelines Available for Download," Feb. 28, 2024.
Follett Media Network media kit and website.