Walmart Connect Audience Targeting: How to Use DSS for Better Campaigns

In today’s competitive retail market, reaching the right shoppers at the right time is essential. Walmart Connect’s Display Self-Serve (DSS) platform gives advertisers practical tools to target audiences using Walmart’s first-party customer data.

This guide explains how audience targeting works in Walmart DSS, the types of targeting available, and how to improve campaign results through smarter segmentation.

1. Why Audience Targeting Matters

Audience targeting helps advertisers focus their messages on people who are most likely to respond. Walmart DSS uses Walmart’s first-party data, which includes shopping, browsing, and app activity.

This allows advertisers to reach real Walmart shoppers more accurately, reduce wasted ad spend, and deliver relevant ads both online and in stores.

Learn more about DSS features on Walmart Connect’s Display Advertising page.

2. What the Display Self-Serve Platform Does

The Display Self-Serve (DSS) platform is part of Walmart Connect. It allows advertisers to:

• Run display ad campaigns

• Choose audience segments based on Walmart data

• Set budgets and manage bids

• Measure sales impact with closed-loop reporting

DSS gives you control over campaign setup, targeting, and performance tracking.

3. Targeting Options Available in Walmart DSS

Walmart DSS offers several ways to reach specific shopper groups. You can use these targeting types separately or combine them for better accuracy.

Behavioral Targeting

Reaches shoppers based on browsing and purchase activity. For example, people who view pet products can see ads for dog food or accessories. This helps focus ads on customers already showing interest in your category.

Customer Attribute Targeting

Targets shoppers by demographics, lifestyle, and purchase patterns. Examples include families, frequent grocery buyers, or home improvement shoppers. It ensures that your ad message fits their needs and habits.

Shopper Journey Targeting

Matches ads to the stage of the customer journey.

• Awareness stage: Introduce your product or brand.

• Consideration stage: Show comparisons or features.

• Purchase stage: Offer promotions or reminders to buy.

Delivering the right message at the right stage helps increase conversions.

Advanced Targeting

Combines multiple data points to create more specific audiences. For example, you might target “parents who recently purchased school supplies” or “shoppers browsing electronics in the last week.”

This feature uses Walmart’s first-party data to build high-quality audiences.

4. Advanced Targeting Tactics

Keyword Targeting

Combine DSS campaigns with keyword targeting to reach in-market shoppers. Use branded keywords for loyal customers or non-branded keywords for new audiences. You can also exclude keywords that do not match your goals.

Behavioral Segments

Focus on audiences that have shown clear intent to buy. Examples include:

• Brand and Category Predictive: Customers likely to buy based on past activity.

• Lapsed Customers: Shoppers who have not purchased recently.

• Brand Affinity: People who prefer your brand.

• Lookalike Audiences: New shoppers with similar habits to your best customers.

• Custom Audiences: Segments you create based on your CRM or sales data.

Contextual Targeting

Places ads within relevant content or product categories. For example, you can show cookware ads in recipe sections or gaming accessories in the electronics category.

Rule-Based Audiences

Create custom groups using inclusion and exclusion rules. You can include “frequent grocery buyers” and exclude “discount-only shoppers.”

Note: Audiences usually take five to ten days to activate after setup because Walmart applies targeting rules at the audience level.

5. How to Improve Campaign Results

To make targeting more effective:

1. Start broad and narrow down once you have performance data.

2. Track impressions, click-through rate, conversion rate, and return on ad spend.

3. Replace low-performing creatives regularly.

4. Exclude segments that do not perform well.

5. Test different combinations of targeting types and messages.

For official optimization tips, visit Walmart Connect Insights.

6. Combining Targeting Types

Using a mix of targeting methods helps improve both reach and precision.
For example:

• Combine contextual targeting with behavioral data to reach active shoppers.

• Add lookalike audiences to scale to new customers.

• Layer customer attributes for a more defined audience.

This balanced approach keeps campaigns efficient and reduces wasted spend.