Top challenges facing CPG marketers in 2022

Omnichannel marketing in CPG

Of course, customers don’t just shop online OR in-store. And they don’t get their ideas and inspiration from a single source either. The buyers’ journey is increasingly complex for CPG.

Consumers might see a social media post from a CPG brand in their feed, remember the product thanks to an ambient media advert on their way to the supermarket, and purchase the product due to a special offer advertised on shelf. Or they might read an advertorial featuring a particular product in a magazine, check prices at several online retailers, then set up a subscription via Amazon.

CPG marketers can’t afford to choose this channel or that one. They need to be present wherever a customer is ready to make a purchase decision.

Data, personalization, and the post-cookie world

Another challenge for CPG marketers is the changing availability of data.

Marketers have become used to using third-party data from cookies to craft effective campaigns. And personalization is lauded as a critical growth driver for online sales. But Google has sounded the death knell for cookies on their Chrome browser from 2023.

This means marketers are looking for new ways to collect meaningful data about consumer behavior. And - importantly - securing consent. Some predict manufacturers will need to secure more ‘zero-party’ data - information volunteered by consumers themselves - and first-party data - from direct consumer transactions.

All of which creates another frontier for winning customers’ hearts and minds for busy CPG marketers.

Loyalty and competition in CPG

Research from IRI shows that online shoppers are more likely to stick to familiar brands than in-store shoppers. This isn’t about brand loyalty so much as convenience.

Online retailers offer the chance to simply re-select past purchases for a speedier shop. And online shoppers are less distracted by busy physical shelves. This is both an opportunity and challenge for CPG marketers - whether seeking to increase sale value or steal share-of-basket from competitors.

Not only that, but where competition in bricks-and-mortar stores is limited by physical space and who gets stocked, there’s no limit in the digital world. CPG marketers aren’t just competing against the products they sit beside on store shelves, they’re competing with every product online too.

Creativity will be increasingly crucial in raising brand awareness and delivering customer-centric campaigns.

Localization and distribution for CPG

Of course, B2B marketing is only one part of the picture. CPG marketing and creative teams also need to provide collateral to retailers and distributors, to help them sell their products. These could range from signage and printed POS, to video and audio via digital displays.

Managing these can be extremely complex. For example, producing materials in local languages and observing different cultural norms, distributing these to a - sometimes - global sales network, and encouraging the rollout of new brand materials.

This makes it ever-more important for CPG marketers to have tight control of their digital assets - in terms of creation, curation, and distribution.