Programmatic for ecommerce: Slashing CPA, boosting ROAS for Ollie & Nic
Family-run business Ollie & Nic had long focused on selling its fashionable products wholesale to other retailers. When COVID-19 hit, Ollie & Nic switched to an ecommerce model and began selling D2C. They prioritized digital advertising, which proved successful on Facebook but led to unpredictable costs. This realization led to Ollie & Nic seeking additional digital marketing options, and found Match2One. Our conversation with Josh Hill, Ollie & Nic’s director of ecommerce, explored the benefits of programmatic advertising and how it has helped Ollie & Nic achieve a x4.5 ROAS (return on ad spend) and an $11.6 CPA (cost per acquisition). Transforming from B2B wholesaler to D2C online retailer Before the world turned upside down in 2020, the family-run business had primarily focused on selling Ollie & Nic’s products wholesale to other retailers. But when COVID suddenly shuttered shop doors, Ollie & Nic quickly pivoted to an ecommerce model and began selling directly to consumers. The many challenges of adopting a new business model soon made it clear that Ollie & Nic needed to invest in digital advertising. The business had never used paid search or social media ads to sell directly to consumers (DTC or D2C), but Josh soon launched ad campaigns on Google and Facebook. The brand quickly saw results from paid social media advertising, especially on Facebook, the preferred social network for Ollie & Nic’s target demographic. However, advertising using Google Adwords was less fruitful, so Josh rerouted ad budget to Facebook. Ollie & Nic also strategically leveraged its first-party data to better target their campaigns. After initial success advertising on Facebook, Ollie & Nic hit a roadblock after the holiday shopping season. Just as Ollie & Nic was preparing to scale up digital promotions, their Facebook ad costs “essentially doubled,” says Josh. “Our Facebook CPMs doubled, so my ad spend doubled as well.” The shock of much-higher digital ad costs was an important learning experience for Ollie & Nic, which realized their reliance on Facebook left them exposed to unpredictable costs. This realization led Josh to seek alternative digital marketing options to diversify Ollie & Nic’s approach to paid media. Programmatic advertising comes to Shopify While considering different avenues of promoting Ollie & Nic online, Josh had a conversation with a friend who introduced the idea of programmatic advertising. Josh started looking into programmatic display ads and stumbled upon Match2One right as the platform’s new Shopify integration launched. Match2One, a part of Verve, was the first programmatic tool to build an app for ecommerce sellers to install directly from the Shopify app store. Josh launched Ollie & Nic’s first programmatic campaign less than a week after finding Match2One. According to Josh, “candidly, it actually was a very easy setup and I didn’t have to do much.” Since Ollie & Nic’s programmatic journey began, they’ve focused on using Match2One to run ROAS-based retargeting campaigns to drive conversions and sales. For Ollie & Nic, KPIs that matter most are return on ad spend (ROAS), click-through rate (CTR), and cost per acquisition (CPA). The analytics features within Match2One have made it easy for Josh to prioritize where to place resources – both time and budget. This creates efficiencies that make a big difference when running an ecommerce business with only two full-time employees. Set it and forget it While Facebook ads and email marketing remain important to Ollie & Nic’s overall digital marketing strategy, adding programmatic campaigns has proven to be easy and effective. Better still, Match2One’s machine learning optimizes campaigns so they become even more effective over time. According to Josh, running ROAS-based campaigns has become a seamless part of Ollie & Nic’s business: “It’s been quite nice just to set that ROAS campaign, let the AI do its work, and just leave it. Then I come and check in about every other week to see how it’s doing. This gives Match2One time to learn and then I can make changes if needed. I’ve been very happy with the results–so much so that I’ve just been letting it be. I update our creative in Match2One as and when I change our messaging. It’s been very hassle-free for me.” – Josh Hill, Director of Ecommerce at Ollie & Nic Key marketing tools for Shopify sellers While all businesses can benefit from programmatic advertising, ecommerce advertisers like Ollie & Nic rely on these Match2One features to run successful campaigns for their Shopify store: Programmatic advertising campaign results What do campaign metrics actually mean? Using industry-specific benchmarks for retail/ecommerce digital marketing, Ollie & Nic’s programmatic advertising campaigns cost up to 82% less per conversion. CPA/CPLProgrammatic CPA/CPLMeta & Google % difference $11.6Match2One $21.5Facebook 46% lower CPA $11.6Match2One $45.3Google Search 74% lower CPA $11.6Match2One $65.8Google Display Network 82% lower CPA Retail & Ecommerce Industry Advertising Benchmarking Sources: Emplify, Wordstream, Brafton Beyond the success of retargeting campaigns, programmatic advertising has also been a brand builder and prospecting tool for Ollie & Nic: “We’ve definitely seen success in having our adverts and our brand on websites outside the walled garden of Facebook. Really, it’s the Daily Mails of the world where we’ve really tapped into a customer that we previously might not have. So that’s been really good for us.” Marketing best practices for ecommerce shops Small and medium-sized businesses like Ollie & Nic know how to make the most of limited resources. Resource allocation – whether it’s time, budget, or inventory – comes down to prioritization. We asked Josh to share a few words of wisdom for fellow ecommerce businesses. Josh recommended identifying and committing to one or a few key products and scaling up on those products’ success. For example, Ollie & Nic has a top-selling handbag, so Josh makes sure they invest in plenty of inventory. His next digital campaign then promotes that same handbag – the investments in inventory and ads create synergies that drive sales. What’s next for Ollie & Nic Having weathered the pandemic and transition to DTC ecommerce, the future is bright for Ollie & Nic. With programmatic advertising now an important, high-ROAS…
Programmatic for ecommerce: Amplify and protect your brand
“It takes years to build a brand, and seconds to destroy one.” This old marketing adage is kind of terrifying, and the stakes are even higher in today’s age of digital marketing. For online sellers trying to build the best ecommerce marketing strategy, programmatic advertising can seem overwhelming and unwieldy. The idea of advertising on “the open internet” might even sound like the Wild West. However, it’s actually a smart way to spread the word about your ecommerce business while ensuring brand safety and brand suitability. What do ecommerce retailers need to know about brand safety vs. brand suitability? In this overview, we’ll cover: Programmatic isn’t just for big brands and high-powered agencies. Small- and medium-sized businesses can get in on the fun. This is a huge opportunity, especially for ecommerce. In late 2022, the Shopify app store started offering Match2One, a programmatic advertising platform, so ecommerce merchants can build and manage campaigns directly within Shopify. Match2One (now part of Verve) also offers extensive brand safety controls, so sellers can feel confident that their business is protected from negative associations while building positive awareness. Learn more about what programmatic advertising can do for ecommerce merchants over on the Match2One blog:
Wrapping up 2022 in ad tech
What a year! 2022 went by in a flash. Somehow it’s already time to take stock of everything that’s happened in the ad tech world this year. Whether you’re a publisher or an advertiser, we’ve got you covered with a wrap-up of three of this year’s biggest themes.
Programmatic for ecommerce: Diversify your ad portfolio
Advertising for ecommerce on social media and search engines has gotten more expensive and less effective. Programmatic advertising is key to diversifying your ad portfolio to get the most out of a digital marketing budget.
