Financial media networks’ transaction data across tens of millions of merchants and retailers gives advertisers a fresh angle when planning and measuring campaigns. This is a crucial value proposition made by PayPal Ads to advertisers looking to convert customers and compare allocations between various retail media networks.
PayPal added an identity layer on users accounts with last month’s debut of Ads ID, aiming to make it easier for advertisers to reach specific audiences.
“At the end of the day, advertisers want to reach a specific audience,” said Mark Grether, senior vice president and general manager for PayPal Ads. “And it’s less about where you see an audience, as long as you know this audience is in your target group and is likely to convert.”
This year, PayPal Ads opened its ad network to millions of small businesses through the PayPal Ads Manager. These merchants aren’t big enough to build ad networks on their own in the way that Walmart or Kroger has done. The advantage for PayPal Ads advertisers is that now there are more customers that can be reached and addressable audiences aren’t limited to large retailers who use PayPal as a payment solution.
“With 30 million merchants, it is a broad spectrum of really big retailers, midsize, and obviously also small and midsize businesses,” said Grether. “It gives you a good understanding of consumer behavior across almost all categories.”
Having transaction data from purchases, now combined with the identity layer from Ads ID, offers advertisers closed-loop measurement on campaigns for a broader set of potential audiences at SMBs, as well as at big retailers.
“We see the transaction data across all these retailers and commerce players, and hence we can use it for targeting,” Grether said. “But most importantly, from a measurement perspective, we see horizontally across all of these players.”
Last month, PayPal Ads introduced “Curated Ads,” a partnership with several CTV companies, including Warner Bros. Discovery and Tubi. Using PayPal’s transaction data, advertisers can link an exposure from a CTV ad on one of these providers with a purchase made through PayPal.
PayPal Ads transaction data allows advertisers and agencies insight into purchases resulting from campaigns that are executed in multiple, distinct retailer networks.
“Typically if you’re a standard merchant, you get the money and you show ROI from your vantage point,” Grether explained. “It’s hard for brands and agencies to understand how much money to put into which kind of outlet. [PayPal Ads has] this holistic view across all these different merchants, and user identity across these merchants, so we can basically have this ‘apples-to-apples’ comparison and hence help agencies and brands with a smarter allocation of funds.”
Using financial media networks like PayPal ads, which have transaction data and identity, opens up new avenues for advertisers using these networks, according to Grether. Traditionally, financial networks invited outside brands to promote products and services, offering customers a discount as an incentive to purchase. This model focused on customer acquisition. Grether said there are bigger goals advertisers can achieve by using the financial media network to measure campaigns and increase overall ROAS.
“The big advertising opportunity that is in front of us is where billions of dollars are actually being spent [by consumers], and how we can make that [data] work harder for the advertisers and agencies to have more information on consumers from a targeting perspective,” Grether said. “Also, [advertisers gain knowledge on] how to get a better measure of the results of the campaigns and the spend, and get insight into how to optimally allocate advertising dollars in the future.”
If PayPal Ads’ expanding network of merchants and identity tools are making it easier for advertisers to track ad allocations, features within the PayPal Ads experience also aim to make it easier for end users to make purchases in response to ads.
Last year, PayPal introduced “Storefront Ads,” which transforms digital ads on the open web into a personalized experience for PayPal users. Instead of just seeing an ad for a recommended product, the ad appears with a “Buy with PayPal” button, allowing a customer to make a purchase instantly.
This feature builds on customers’ trust in PayPal as a secure payment option, allowing those who see an ad to quickly act on it.
“Shipping address and payment details are already known, so the ad makes it as frictionless as possible,” said Grether. “By doing so, you’re collapsing the same funnel, and increasing the conversion rate.”
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