In today’s competitive CPG landscape, promotional calendars are packed, trade budgets are tight, and sales teams are expected to deliver both volume and profit. Yet many brands are still relying on gut instinct, legacy calendars, or last year’s playbook to plan their promotions. The result? Missed opportunities, wasted trade spend, and an unclear picture of what’s really working.
But that’s starting to change — and it’s all thanks to data.
Why Trade Promotions Need a Rethink
Most teams measure promotional success based on sales lift alone. Did we move more volume during the event? Great. But volume doesn’t always mean value — and revenue doesn’t always mean profit.
Without a clear view of what a promotion costs versus what it generates, brands can easily fall into the trap of running expensive events that don’t pay off. Even worse, they might be scaling underperforming strategies simply because they look successful on the surface.
Check out this blog post for 10 key metrics every brand should monitor to measure event performance, maximize ROI, and make smarter trade spend decisions.
A Real-World Shift: From Guesswork to ROI
Consider a brand that recently decided to reevaluate its trade promotions using item- and event-level data. They looked back at five promotional events with a major retailer and were surprised to discover that only one of them delivered a positive ROI.
Even more revealing: one of the events with the deepest discount — a BOGO — didn’t generate meaningful lift. It underperformed both in units sold and profitability.
With clear data in hand, the team made three critical changes:
- Reduced spend on future events by $1/unit without sacrificing lift
- Reallocated savings toward top-performing accounts
- Prioritized the promotional tactic that drove real, measurable ROI
The result? Improved margin, stronger velocity, and better alignment between strategy and spend.
