kiri masters

In this episode of The Ecommerce Braintrust, Kiri Masters, Head of Retail Marketplace Strategy at Acadia, dives deep into the nuances of navigating industry conferences and events with expert precision. Kiri delivers an insightful look into maximizing the value of attending conferences, based on personal experiences, fruitful strategies, and networking best practices. 

Make sure you tune in to find out more!

In today’s episode, Kiri talks about:

- Her growth trajectory as a manager and practitioner, and the importance of leveraging events for continuous learning.

- Strategies for connecting with professionals across various companies to expand perspectives and foster potential collaborations.

- Implementing event-learned knowledge into business practices to secure the ROI on travel and conference expenses.

- Tips on sharing insights on LinkedIn after events, including creating listicles, and the use of engaging visuals such as mind maps.

- Understanding the true essence of networking and the significance of stepping out of one’s comfort zone for long-term career advantages.

- Handling interactions with exhibitors, including learning from Richard Kestenbaum, asking pertinent questions, and extracting meaningful insights.

- Best practices for securing speaking opportunities and maximizing post-event follow-up routines.

- An overview of the value-packed conferences Kiri is set to participate in during the first half of 2024, such as Etail West and Retail Media Summit among others.

- Insights into devising a strategic approach to select and benefit from various industry events, especially when under budgetary constraints.

- Kiri’s six golden tips for effective networking and creating authentic relationships by avoiding trivial small talk using her innovative AVH conversation formula.

- Guidance on how to engage with fellow attendees and vendors pre-event, during, and post-conference for enhancing networking opportunities and building lasting connections.

- Navigating the exhibition floor with confidence, dispelling the awkwardness, and transforming it into a treasure trove of industry knowledge and trends.

Events at which Kiri is speaking this year: 

• Etail West

• ANA media conference

• DSI event

• Acadia - Retail Media Summit

In this podcast episode, Kiri speaks with Acadia's co-founder and CEO Jared Belsky. They discuss the various options available to brand-side marketers and sales leaders for retail marketplace management. They delve into the pros and cons of four options, including in-house investment, agency support, technology companies, and resellers, providing valuable insights for ecommerce professionals as they strategize for growth in 2024.

Make sure you tune in to find out more!

In today’s episode, Kiri and Jared discuss:

- Identifying the options available for brand-side marketers to seek help in achieving growth goals in the face of various challenges

- The need for clarity in understanding the differences between in-house investment, agency support, technology companies, and resellers

- Considerations for beefing up in-house investment, including justifying headcount and focusing on specialization

- The significance of understanding the economics and aligning with the business requirements when considering agency support

- Exploring the complexities and risks involved in engaging with resellers in the context of offloading operations and maintaining control over distribution, pricing, and inventory

- Evaluating scenarios when it may not be ideal to engage an agency, such as the need for specialized expertise, economic considerations, and the importance of effective client sponsorship

- The collaborative role of the client in nurturing a successful relationship with an agency and making informed decisions amidst the pressures of ecommerce growth goals for 2024

In this episode of The Ecommerce Braintrust, Kiri Masters, shares updates and reminders related to peak season dates, including Prime Day and Black Friday Cyber Monday. She also discusses a fascinating update about Amazon Marketing Cloud, focusing on three key points: Day Parting Settings, Geotargeting, and AMC Custom Audiences. These best practices offer insights for optimizing advertising strategies and maximizing performance on Amazon.

In today’s episode, Kiri talks about:

• Important Dates for Ecommerce Sellers

  • Reminder to send FBA and Multichannel Fulfillment Inventory to Amazon by October 26.
  • Importance of shipping inventory early due to potential carrier backlogs.
  • Example of inventory shortage in previous Q4 season.
  • Ensuring inventory arrives before cutoff dates to maximize advertising strategy.

• Updates on Amazon Marketing Cloud

  • Day Parting Settings: Report available in Amazon Marketing Cloud to view performance by hour. Testing showed slight increase in ROAS and Troas during non-midnight to 5 am hours.
  • Geotargeting: Focusing on specific areas of states or DMAs can lead to more visibility and better performance. Test combining geotargeting and day parting for optimal results.
  • AMC Custom Audiences: Creating an audience of customers who added products to cart but didn't make a purchase. Effective for reminding potential customers about the brand.

• Benefits of Amazon Marketing Cloud

  • Overview dashboard for analyzing customer journey and conversion paths.
  • Audience Insights for understanding shopper demographics, location data, and interests.
  • Using AMC Insights to segment targeting and optimize performance.
  • Success story of account's performance growth after incorporating AMC before Prime Day.

• Integration of DSP and PPC with AMC

  • AMC as an advanced reporting package suitable for Amazon DSP users.
  • Bringing together data from DSP and PPC to understand their impact on performance.

In this episode, Kiri shares 5 reasons why she’s bullish on brands scaling their Walmart.com business in 2023. 

1. Advertising capabilities: the move to 2nd price auction in 2022 has made Walmart ROAS much more attractive than in the past. Stratably research showing more brands plan to invest more in WM ads as a % of their WM sales in 2023.

2. “Feature sets” (Walmart’s answer to A+ product content)  are back.

3. Premium brands are interested in Walmart.com - recognizing that it’s likely a different demographic shopping online than in supercenters. We are seeing more premium/luxury brands at Acadia interested in launching on WM than ever before 

4. Less competition than on Amazon (Some caveats here)

5. Brands have figured out where Amazon goes, making the Walmart.com conversation slightly easier. (Lots of caveats here - but we’re moving in the right direction)

Learn more about Acadia’s managed services to support brands on Walmart.com. 

In this episode, Kiri and Damiano discuss their research, dive deep on two of these new metrics, and what brands can expect from the research launch on March 23. Register for the research here. 

Most brands are stuck using basic metrics like ROAS and impressions when it comes to their Amazon DSP campaigns, but these metrics provide a very narrow view of performance. Data within DSP is robust, and brands should be using more sophisticated metrics that are tailored to the stage of the customer purchase journey that they are trying to reach. This will provide a much deeper understanding of their DSP performance.

Kiri Masters, head of retail strategy at Acadia, and Damiano Ciarrocchi, retail media manager at Acadia, have spent the past 3 months researching the components of existing Amazon DSP metrics.