The State of Lower Funnel Media + 4 Tactics to Minimize Leakage with Ross Walker - Episode 384

Welcome to The Ecommerce Braintrust podcast, brought to you by Julie Spear, Head of Retail Marketplace Services, and Jordan Ripley, Director of Retail Operations.

Today, we're catching up with Ross Walker, Director of Retail Media, to discuss his recent workshop at the Commerce Media Brand Summit in Atlanta.

Ross led an in-depth session on all things bottom-of-the-funnel—what's evolving, why it matters, and how brands can maximize this critical stage.

Tune in to find out more!

 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

In this episode, Julie, Jordan, and Ross discuss:

Defining the Bottom of the Funnel (BOF)

• BOF focuses on conversion—turning interest into purchases or fostering brand loyalty.

• Includes retargeting customers who have engaged with your product or brand.

• Targets high-intent audiences like past visitors, brand searchers, and prior buyers.

Shift in Budget Allocation

• Brands are moving budgets away from branded search and loyalty-based retargeting.

• More investment is going toward non-branded bottom-of-funnel keywords and audiences.

• Capturing new customers efficiently is now a bigger priority over maximizing ROAS.

4 Tactics for BOF Success

Day Parting:

• Optimizing spend by adjusting bids based on high-conversion hours and days.

• Late-day bidding can be effective when competitors run out of budget.

Paid & Organic Interdependency:

• Product listings must align with high-intent keywords to maximize visibility.

• Strong keyword optimization remains essential for organic rankings and paid efficiency

Video Ads for BOF:

• Vertical video performs better for high-intent searchers.

• Feature-driven videos convert better than broad brand storytelling at BOF.

AI & Automation in Bidding:

• AI is effective for optimizing bulk campaigns but still requires human oversight.

• Best use: Let AI handle 80% of the catalog while manually fine-tuning the top performers.