The Situation
Our client, a custom tweed suit maker, needed to make up for a low year in sales and knew the BFCM weekend would be key in their success. In 2020, analysts reported that the Covid-19 pandemic had accelerated the shift to e-commerce by five years, making BFCM 2020 the most crowded in e-commerce history.
With ad costs rising by as much as 25% during BFCM and ad spending becoming a hyper-competitive market, our client knew they needed to choose the right partner to guide them in their PPC strategy for this important weekend.
Our client was used to spending an average of $11k per month on Facebook Ads, and they were conservative with their ad spend. Their cost per acquisition was approximately $70, and their average order value about $270. Additionally, our client was apprehensive about using Google Ads since they were a relatively new brand in the custom-suit niche.
The Solution
We decided to work with the client 45 days before the critical weekend and our client gave us a set budget and full autonomy for their ad strategy. From the beginning, we set clear expectations and were transparent about the results they could expect.
Our Facebook strategy for the client used a combination of delayed attribution, lookalike audiences, and remarketing. We also decided to use most of the Facebook Ads budget on Middle of the Funnel (MOF) and Bottom of the Funnel (BOF) audiences, hoping to capitalize on warmer audiences where marketing costs wouldn't be as high as they normally are during BFCM.
We also leveraged audience-building campaigns from the previous six months on Facebook to circumvent increased paid ad marketing costs over BFCM. A total of 15 creatives were designed, along with four versions of the ad copy. We deployed 2-lane tests to ensure that every possible dollar was maximized.
Additionally, we offered a simple Google Ads strategy knowing the client would need to capture the increased number of searches their brand would receive during BFCM, and retarget warmer audiences through this platform as well.
The Google Ads strategy included the setup and optimization of Search campaigns with branded keywords, setup, and optimization of campaigns with remarketing components such as Smart Shopping, Remarketing List for Search Ads, and Smart Display campaigns. We wanted to make sure our client’s ads would use all possible Google search real estate, which highlighted the client’s offers.
The Results
The results vastly exceeded everyone’s expectations. Not only was our client able to set record numbers of suits sold during any previous BFCM year, but they were also able to achieve a 7.51x ROAS for their Facebook spend.
The Facebook campaign resulted in a net profit of approximately $105,000 USD in purchases directly attributed to Facebook Ads. Although we focused most of the budget on MOF and BOF audiences, Top of the Funnel audiences were still able to perform at 6.88x ROAS, which allowed us to scale those ad sets without worrying about audience size limitations.
Final metrics from BFCM for Facebook Ads:
- Ad Spend: $14,105.
- Total Purchases: 368.
- Conversion Value: $105,895.
- 7.51x ROAS.
For Google, our idea was to focus on “low hanging fruit” for the weekend. When someone searches for your brand, it means that they are already familiar with your brand and we assume they are a potential buyer.
The added element of remarketing and increased traffic during BFCM meant the Google Ads served as the perfect backup for our client’s social media campaigns at a fraction of the cost.
Final metrics from BFCM for Google Ads:
- Ad Spend: $315.
- Total Purchases: 51.
- Conversion Value: $13,960.
- 40.8x ROAS.
The Future
Working together with a solid ad strategy combined with plenty of lead time (45 days) produced terrific results, turning a down-year into a growth year for our client’s business.
Having a close eye on 2-lane testing and ad spend gave our client a competitive advantage knowing they wouldn’t be bidding on highly competitive keywords or on audiences that would result too expensive.
Ultimately the trust to deliver extraordinary results for our client was built, and plans are already in place for the next BFCM.
About Centrico Digital
At Centrico Digital, we provide a wide range of marketing services for a diverse set of clients. If you would like to improve your use of Marketing Automation platforms, your email marketing strategy, or your digital marketing efforts as a whole, then reach out today. Schedule a free discovery call. We will uncover the concrete steps you can take to find, tap, and magnify the potential for growth hiding in your company.
