So you’re thinking about your Target digital strategy, right? It’s a great time to start the conversation – in 2020, Target saw a 235% increase in same-day services, and 95% of total Target sales were fulfilled by stores. Continuing into 2021, suppliers can expect a heavy focus on replenishment and digital at Target, specifically focusing on same-day services (Drive Up, Order Pickup, and Shipt). As a supplier, it is imperative that you continue to take an omnichannel approach at Target as the Digital aspect of your advertising strategy continues to impact your replenishment strategy.
In order to compete in the digital space at Target, ensure that your product content scores are at 80% or above (many buyers are now encouraging brands to get their items to 90%), your items are set up for same-day services, your best items are shelved in store, and your brand is relevant in search.
Once you have those needs met, you are ready to start discussing your Target digital advertising strategy to get your product in front of new or returning customers. In this blog post, we’ll discuss the top three tips for getting started with Target digital and reaching an online audience.
1. Ensure Your Best Items are Stocked In–Store
In order to be prepared for demand, brands must anticipate the impact of Target’s growth on their supply chain. Significant and sustained share gains require that suppliers shift more inventory to Target than ever before. If you’re not filling the shelves with product, your potential customers will never have the opportunity to shop with your brand. As Target Drive Up and Order Pickup continue to outgrow Target .com sales, brands must emphasize physical store in stocks and distribution to ensure more items are available in-store and ready to fulfill same-day service orders.
When working with Target Digital clients at Harvest Group, we use this step as a time to inform our clients of expanded distribution opportunities. If we see that there is a product gap in an online search that our client can fill, we make the recommendation and help build out a conversation to have with their buyer.
2. Understand Target’s Content Scorecard Requirements
You must have a content health score of at least 80% to avoid the possibility of costly fees. An initial audit failure can bring a charge of $5000, escalating to $10,000 with a fourth fail. It is important to note that each of your items must meet the content scorecard requirements. If you have 8 out of 10 items at a 100% content score and 2 at 70%, you can still fail your audit.
Target Content Scorecard Requirements:
- Answer all guest questions in under 48 hours
- 4-8 Feature Bullets
- At least 50 words in long copy
- 3 or more images
- 8 or more reviews
- 1 or more videos with closed captioning
- Label information – varies by category
Once you’ve met the base content scorecard requirements, it’s time to optimize your content so it can win on search.
3. Optimize Your Target Product Item Content for Search
While keeping those content requirements in mind, you also must consider relevancy. Your item product content is only impactful in Search if it’s relevant. In order to ensure relevancy, you’ll need to include the usage and benefits of your products in the Feature Bullets and Long Copy. Then, code your content across categories and usage occasions.
Once your items are in stock, your content is optimized and relevant, and you have a Content Score of 80 or above you’re ready to start implementing digital advertising at Target. Product listings 3, 6, 9, and 12 are the sponsored ad placements available. Remember, your ad placement is determined by relevancy, bids, and optimization to meet the Content Health Scorecard requirements.
Your brand should have a very thought-out Search strategy on and off the Target digital platform. You must actively manage Search terms for your products – “set it and forget it” will not work. This can be very time-consuming, so many brands choose to use a trusted partner, like Harvest Group, to help actively manage their Target digital advertising and content optimization on Target.com.
The Harvest Group Difference
At Harvest Group, our Digital Team is constantly advising on in-stocks, product fulfillment, distribution, and identifying opportunities for your products while optimizing content and digital advertising on Target.com. We don’t just create content or advice on ads, we want you to be aware of the full picture in order to make data-informed decisions.
If you’re ready to talk about your options for optimizing digital advertising at Target, our team is happy to help! Reach out to us at hello@harvestgroup.com or fill out our Contact Us form.
