The basics of performance marketing & how it can boost your CPG brand
Learn how performance marketing helps CPG brands drive growth. Understand your consumer, target new and lookalike audiences, and optimize campaigns with exclusive insights.
Do you know exactly which of your marketing dollars are driving sales and which are being wasted? For marketers in the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry, especially those relying on brick-and-mortar retailers, this question has often been impossible to answer. But not anymore.
Enter performance marketing, a data-driven strategy that empowers brands to track, measure, and optimize their ad campaigns in measurable ways. This pay-for-performance approach ensures you only spend your budget on what’s working. Forget guesswork—performance marketing is all about accountability and results. Being able to easily track performance down to every single click is every marketer’s dream!
This strategy, known as performance marketing, gives power to the advertiser. When the results of an ad campaign are visible there’s more opportunity to optimize. Explore how omnichannel CPG brands can leverage performance marketing to become more efficient, diversify revenue streams, and engage audiences they never thought they could reach.
At its core, performance marketing flips the traditional advertising model on its head. Instead of paying for broad exposure or impressions most campaigns offer, this strategy centers around measurable metrics like clicks, leads, and sales.
Think of it as marketing with crystal-clear transparency. You get immediate insights into what’s working (and why) and what’s not worth your dollars anymore. Core components include key performance indicators such as cost-per-click (CPC) and cost-per-lead (CPL), so brands are paying for actual results, not broad estimates.
The 3 key benefits to implementing performance marketing strategies:
For direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands, tools for tracking performance metrics are often built-in. But for CPG brands navigating omnichannel tactics—online and offline—performance marketing offers clarity in spaces where it has traditionally been unavailable. Measuring sales driven by campaigns becomes attainable, whether you're launching in digital marketplaces or selling through traditional retail partners.
With platforms like Pear Commerce, CPG brands can now gain full-funnel ecommerce sales data, letting them make data-driven decisions with precision and confidence.
1. Real-time, measurable results
Arguably the most useful tool in a performance marketing strategy is the data that’s captured to tell the story of what ads are performing well and why. When products fly off store shelves, how do you know which ad deserves the credit? This has long been a pain point for CPG marketers, but performance marketing solves it beautifully.
Performance tools track every click, impression, and lead along the consumer’s path, providing clarity from start to finish. Through this channel, marketers are usually thinking in terms of ‘cost per click’ (CPC) or ‘cost per lead’ (CPL) when planning and tracking campaign budgets and goals. You can measure ad success in real-time, adjust budgets dynamically, and even halt underperforming campaigns before they drain more resources.
Gaining a measurable understanding of what ads are performing well and why allows marketers to make results-based decisions that optimize for success and inform future targeting, creative, and budgetary decisions.
Example: If your Meta ads are outperforming Google PPC campaigns, you can reallocate your spend immediately to maximize returns.
Pro tip: Leverage platforms like Pear Commerce to eliminate gaps in visibility, even in cases where retail-based products are the primary focus.
2. Revenue diversification across channels
Performance marketing enables brands to diversify their advertising across multiple revenue channels and formats. This versatility is particularly critical when one channel underperforms—quickly pivoting to another can unlock better ROI.
Popular advertising channels & use cases:
Example: A beverage brand could use Instagram to target Gen Z, while simultaneously running Google Ads to capture search terms like “best energy drink for work.”
An omnichannel strategy ensures you’re not just targeting the masses but actually converting them into buyers.
3. Engaging new or hard-to-reach audiences
Some shoppers are simply unreachable through traditional media—whether due to niche interests or location. Performance marketing shines here, allowing brands to use precision targeting to engage these segments.
Using tools like lookalike audiences, based on data from successful campaigns, brands can extend their reach into untapped markets. With this data-driven targeting, you can optimize placements in channels already converting, enhance ad creative for niche segments, and identify fresh opportunities for growth. The goal? To reach the consumers that are most likely to engage or purchase.
Example: A cleaning product brand might discover that sustainably-minded consumers interact most with eco-friendly messaging. Building on this insight, they can tailor campaigns to expand reach within this highly-engaged audience.
4. Improved return on ad spend (ROAS)
Performance marketing isn’t just about tracking—it's about doing something with the results. By continuously using data to guide campaign strategies, brands can push ROI higher with every iteration.
Real-time adjustments mean you're no longer throwing good money after poor campaign performance. Instead, each dollar shifts toward the formats, messaging, and audiences delivering engagement, awareness, or sales.
Start small and scale as you learn. Test various platforms—like social media, search PPC campaigns, or native ads—and gather data on what resonates most with your audience.
For example:
Retail-first brands haven’t always had the luxury of tracking their performance marketing impact directly—until now. Platforms like Pear Commerce bridge this gap by offering real-time, click-level sales data.
Traditional brand marketing might seem flashy, but it doesn't hold brands accountable like performance-driven strategies do. For CPG brands, performance marketing offers clarity, accountability, and flexibility to optimize resources and drive growth. However, many CPGs selling into retail have struggled with limited access to ecommerce sales data—until now.
By harnessing the right tools and platforms, brands can unlock their full potential, expanding reach, increasing sales, and driving innovation in how they operate across digital and retail spaces.
Looking to bring data-based decision-making to your marketing strategy? Pear Commerce gives CPG brands the tools they need to access real-time, actionable insights that let you market smarter.
Help your brand go further with performance marketing. Get your demo now →
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