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Share on XBy Jen Schwam
Retail marketers are no strangers to seasonal pressure. But when preparing for upcoming tentpole commerce events, it’s crucial to run efficient campaigns that drive outcomes.
Due to high demand and heavy traffic, major retail events compress everything: timelines, attention spans, and margin for error. Brands are often expected to deliver stronger results faster, cheaper, and without compromise, and marketers need precision and tools that turn every impression into a measurable opportunity — not a question mark.
This is where IAS becomes a partner in performance, helping brands navigate challenges that come with major commerce events with clarity, control, and measurable outcomes. By delivering real-time measurement, IAS empowers marketers to optimize in-flight, rather than retroactively analyzing missed performance. That means bids can be adjusted, budgets reallocated, and underperforming channels course-corrected while campaigns are still live.
Achieving offsite programmatic success during major commerce events
During tentpole commerce events, it’s tempting to focus entirely on lower-funnel tactics like retargeting and last-click conversions. But top-performing marketers know that sustainable performance doesn’t come from chasing clicks — it comes from building connections.
The most effective retail strategies bridge the gap between brand-building and conversion. When upper-funnel campaigns are aligned with performance investments, marketers can drive product discovery, attract new-to-brand customers, and set the stage for repeat purchases — all while hitting their immediate goals.
IAS helps brands strike that balance. Our programmatic solutions deliver results at scale — without compromising control, quality, or transparency.
Here’s how:
1. Smarter pre-bid targeting
Ensure ads appear in high-quality, relevant environments using tools like:
- Context Control to target trusted content adjacencies
- Custom contextual segments tailored to your campaign themes
- Ad fraud prevention that blocks invalid traffic before the bid
- Made-For-Advertising (MFA) pre-bid avoidance to increase ROI
2. Transparent post-bid measurement
Understand what’s actually working with:
- Viewability and attention metrics to gauge engagement
- Brand safety and suitability verification to confirm your ads are served in safe environments
- Fraud detection and reporting to continuously improve performance
- MFA and Ad Clutter detection to reduce media waste
3. Privacy-safe audience expansion
Combine contextual intelligence with audience signals to reach high-value users — without third-party cookies. It’s ideal for capturing new-to-brand shoppers during peak sales periods.
In short, IAS equips marketers with full-funnel tools that connect the dots between exposure and outcomes. Because at peak retail moments, it’s not just about buying more media — it’s about making the right media work harder.
Staying protected when fraud spikes
When traffic spikes during high-volume retail events, so does the risk of fraud. Surges in demand attract not only real shoppers, but also bad actors looking to exploit the moment through bots, invalid impressions, and spoofed inventory. And without the right safeguards in place, a significant share of media spend can quietly slip through the cracks.
Marketers can’t afford that kind of waste. Not when every impression is more expensive, and every dollar is under scrutiny.
According to the 20th edition of IAS’s Media Quality Report, fraud rates in non-optimized campaigns reached a four-year high of 10.9% by the end of 2024. IAS-protected campaigns maintained a fraud rate of just 0.7%, which is a staggering 15x difference. That gap isn’t just eye-opening — it’s budget-saving. When every CPM is inflated by seasonal demand, eliminating even a fraction of invalid impressions has an outsized impact on return.
IAS’s fraud protection tools are engineered to go beyond detection. They’re built to stop threats before they drain your budget.
During tentpole commerce events, when attention is fragmented, competition is fierce, and conversion windows are narrow, these capabilities help brands turn every impression into better outcomes.
Expanding beyond your digital storefront
Offsite media is becoming a key part of the retail performance mix. Channels like CTV, programmatic display, and affiliate placements give marketers more ways to reach high-intent shoppers in the moments that matter.
But with that opportunity comes greater complexity — especially during tentpole commerce events.
Offsite environments are less controlled than traditional retail media. They’re more fragmented, harder to monitor, and often carry higher risk. Brand safety, viewability, and performance can vary significantly across placements. And with budgets under pressure, marketers need visibility into exactly where their ads are running — and if those impressions are delivering real value.
IAS tools are designed to bring structure and control to offsite campaigns. Wherever you’re activating your campaigns, IAS gives you the confidence to scale with clear safeguards in place.
Proof that performance pays off
In today’s market, marketers aren’t just asked to optimize — they’re expected to justify every decision. Media investments come under scrutiny, outcomes are tracked more closely than ever, and the expectation isn’t simply performance — it’s proof.
IAS helps brands meet that demand with tangible, measurable results that go beyond surface-level metrics. Across digital campaigns, partnering with IAS has helped marketers:
- Increase conversion rates by 183% by leveraging pre-bid optimization
- Reduce invalid traffic by up to 88%, preserving budget and eliminating waste using pre-bid optimization
- Lower cost-per-click by 73% using Context Control for targeting*
The real power of IAS lies in what those results unlock. When your team isn’t chasing down ad fraud or questioning brand suitability, you gain time, clarity, and confidence. You can scale what’s working, cut what isn’t, and know exactly why you’re making those moves.
Performance isn’t just a number on a dashboard. It’s a foundation for better decisions, stronger campaigns, and sustainable growth.
Turn every impression into better outcomes
Tentpole commerce events offer massive opportunity, but they also come with pressure. IAS makes it easier than ever to make your brand stand out during these high-traffic retail moments. With a full suite of measurement and optimization solutions, IAS empowers brands to:
- Reach the right audiences in the right environments
- Maximize ROI by eliminating fraud and low-quality inventory
- Turn media transparency into a strategic advantage across offsite and social channels
Make every impression do more for your business. Whether you’re planning for the next big commerce surge or looking to stabilize ad spend during uncertain times, IAS brings the tools, insights, and protection to move forward with confidence.
Want to see how it works for your campaigns?
Talk to an IAS representative to get started today.
