Reaching real buyers: How to optimize marketing campaigns with actual purchase behavior

In the battle for consumer attention, precision is everything. Marketing teams are under more pressure than ever to deliver relevant, timely messages that drive conversion. Yet despite advances in digital targeting, a surprising 37% of ad spend is still wasted¹ – often because campaigns are built on the wrong foundations: outdated segments, interest-based proxies, or claimed behaviors that do not reflect how people actually shop.

Most marketers rely on demographic or self-reported data to define audiences. But what people say they do doesn't always match what they actually do. This gap between intent and behavior has significant consequences for campaign performance – particularly in FMCG categories where purchases often happen offline and out of sight.

Why purchase behavior matters more than intent

Audience targeting becomes exponentially more effective when it's based on real, observed behavior – especially actual purchase data. That's where many data sources fall short: they can tell you who someone is or what they like online, but not what they put in their shopping basket.

For fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) in particular – products bought regularly in supermarkets, discount chains, or drugstores – understanding what people really buy is key to unlocking relevant, high-performing campaigns. Whether you're promoting bottled water, skincare, frozen meals, or pet food, the best indicator of future behavior is past behavior.

So how can marketers reach real category buyers, not just presumed ones?

The smarter way to activate audiences

Using purchase-based audience targeting, FMCG brands can now engage actual buyers – across any category – through digital campaigns, even when those purchases occur offline. No more relying on assumptions or lookalikes based purely on demographics. Instead, you're targeting people with a proven purchase history in your category, brand, or even your competitors'.

This approach opens the door to a range of strategies aligned to your business goals:

• Increase market penetration by targeting category buyers who haven't yet bought your brand.
• Boost market share by focusing on buyers of competitor products or private labels.
• Build loyalty with tailored messaging to low- or medium-frequency buyers.
• This isn't guesswork. It's real-world behavior, turned into actionable digital audiences.

The power of shopper data

What makes this possible? The foundation is our consumer panel – one of the largest continuous purchase behavior tracking panels in the industry. For decades, we've monitored shopping habits across nationally representative samples in key European markets. Built on trust and transparency, this privacy-safe data provides a deep view into actual shopper behavior.

The result is a direct line between what people buy and who you target – with no need for ad hoc questionnaires or assumptions.

Example Use Case: Identify consumers regularly purchasing energy drinks or premium skincare products and activate these audiences online with high precision.

From shopping baskets to digital banners: how it works

Here's how the process turns real-world shopping data into campaign-ready digital audiences:

1. Define your target audience
   Choose your segment based on product categories, brands, spend level, frequency, or even retail channel – combined with media habits and attitudes if needed.
2. Seed audience creation
   Shopper panel data is used to build the initial "seed" audience of real buyers.
3. Look-alike modeling
   Our ID partner expands this seed group to a scalable audience using look-alike modeling techniques.
4. Distribution to media platforms
   The enriched target audience is made available on relevant Data Management Platforms (DMPs) and Supply-Side Platforms (SSPs) for activation across programmatic channels.

Activating audiences based on verified purchase behavior gives FMCG marketers a smarter, more strategic way to engage consumers. Whether you're driving market penetration, switching, or loyalty, this method helps ensure your message reaches the people who are most likely to act – because they've already shown intent where it counts: at the shelf.

Benefits for FMCG marketers

• Precision: Reach actual buyers – not just interest-based proxies
• Efficiency: Reduce wastage by avoiding non-relevant audiences
• Relevance: Deliver tailored creative based on shopper behavior
• Scalability: Activate audiences across your entre category

These benefits become even more powerful when integrated into your media buying strategy. By feeding shopper data into programmatic advertising platforms, brands can identify the right audiences and deliver messages at the right time, in the right context. You gain impact and efficiency at scale:

• Automated, cost-efficient bidding
• Smarter targeting via machine learning
• Real-time optimization based on performance data

Shopper media solutions

This powerful capability is Shopper Audience Activation – and it's powered by YouGov's unique purchase behavior insights. For marketers looking to align media spend with actual consumer behavior, this approach finally bridges the gap between exposure and outcome.

¹ Forrester Research (2024)