How performance based marketing for a technology products company, by combining marketing & analytics, led to low CPC & overall greater ROI

The Context

A technology company focused on selling to micro & small businesses (SMBs) was trying to increase adoption of a new product, which could convert Facebook pages into full-fledged business websites.

The  brand  had  worked  with  two of  the  largest  and  reputed  ad-agencies but was not  make  the business model work, primarily due to the low number of conversions & very high cost/sign-ups.

Needed a digital marketing company which could draw consumer insights, translate those into the ad-creatives, landing pages and targeting parameters and use analytics to create a viable business model around the new product.

A performance based marketing plan involving a combination of marketing an analytics was proposed. The sign-up cost was brought down from $3 to $2 by the 15th day. Spends could be scaled up to 3x per month, without adversely affecting the cost/sign-up.

The Brand

The brand is a startup that enables small and medium sized businesses bring their business online in a meaningful and beneficial way. The product is actually a solution which comprises of (a) Boost business website, (b) Boost website management app and web portal, (c) automatic search engine optimization (SEO) of the website. Which means, the business simply updates the website and the brand’s technology ensures the website becomes discoverable.

Objectives

1. Build a viable sales funnel, driving down the cost/sign-up from about $12 to about $3
2. Show ability to scale spends up to 3x per month, without adversely affecting the cost/sign-up

Our Approach

3 deep dives to understand the business, insights so far and frame hypothesis

Deep dive with the brand team to understand the business: Who is the customer? What is our proposition? Why would they buy? Alternatives (competition) for the consumer?

Deep dive into the data and insights so far. What worked, what did not and why?

Deep dive to create our own hypothesis: Who is the right audience? What is the proposition to each of the segments? How best to present the same?

Structured Approach

Understand TG, do relevant creatives which uses their language, seamless experience from ads to landing page to product.

Learn From The Past

$12/sign up pre-campaign very high: Understanding the drivers helped understand remedies

1.  Why did the communication not work? Error in style? Content? Or both?
2.  Re-live the consumer experience? What would the consumer see in the ad, the landing page and finally the product? Identify pitfalls & gaps.
3. What role do geography and gender play? How does the communication above change for different regions within the country and for different gender?

Ad-creation & Set-up

• Multiple ads, landing pages against each of the hypothesis [12 ads to A/B test].
• Consumer understanding helped develop different consumer segments, our unique proposition for each of these segments.
• Try vernacular, or usage of the local lingo, a direct learning from existing data were some ads which had vernacular language did better in certain regions where the language is spoken
• Being an online product, allocate larger budget % on Tier II/III cities based on earlier insights
• Monitor the ad-portfolio on a daily budget. Reallocate ad budgets every day, moving from non-performing to the ‘star performing’ ads.

Ad-communication

Different creatives for different target groups.

Interventions

• The premise: Communication should hold the attention of the consumer (should not be a ‘typical’ ad-creative), deliver the message and should have a clear call to action.
• Holding power (the first moment of truth).
• Yet, straightforward, so that our TG (primarily SMB owners in Tier II, III towns) ‘gets it in 2 seconds’.

Ad Communication Themes

Ad-creatives
Higher order benefit

Ad-creatives
Local Flavor (& Targeting)

 

Ad-creatives
Specific interests

Ad-creatives
Lower Order Benefit Communication
Ad-creatives
Humour Based

Ad-creatives
For A Seamless Experience

Outcome

• Brought cost/sign-up down to $3 on Day 1 and to $2 by Day 15

• Daily ad-portfolio review and budget re-allocation helped

• Showed ability to ramp spends to 3x, thereby achieving the stated objectives