Brick-and-mortar retailers are facing difficult challenges since lockdowns started to take place around the world last month due to the coronavirus pandemic.
However, the decrease in online advertising spend has caused a drop in cost-per-impression. Facebook’s traffic has surged as impressions have gotten cheaper due to the lack of competition. This means companies still spending on digital ads can get a big payoff right now.
Based on this report by the board of innovation, the retail (non-food) industry won’t be as impacted as other categories by the lockdowns and the aftermath of the pandemic.
I see this as a great opportunity for brick-and-mortar retailers to build their online presence.
One of my clients tripled its online sales during March and April vs. the previous months, without increasing online ad spend. Sales skyrocketed in March and tripled during April 2020 (to date).
This client is definitely not on the “essentials” list. So, what are the reasons behind this growth?
#1- Long-term advertising strategies started to pay off
While it’s easy to lose sight of the long-term strategy in favor of quick income, especially during uncertain times, the truth is that long-term ad campaigns are more effective than the quick-fix ones that bring immediate results. While short-term sales are definitely needed to maintain healthy cash flows, long-term ad strategies have the potential to cultivate brand awareness, increasing existing customer conversions.
For this particular client, we managed to model a Lookalike segment with a similar Cost per Result than the retargeting audience, which is awesome for a prospecting audience.
#2- There’s a bigger audience at lower CPMs
As mentioned above, advertising got cheaper, there’s less competition, and there are more people online than ever.
For this particular client, we’ve developed successful strategies with a Cost per Add to Cart of €1.5 and €1.7. These tactics have helped bring the overall performance up and maintain a strong conversion rate.
#3- People are still buying online!
As the board of innovation report highlights: regular retail will not vaporize but evolve.
I put together an article with three paid advertising strategies for retailers navigating the pandemic and how to track performance, so you can quickly adapt and optimize campaigns during this time. To check the article, click here.
Any questions? Feel free to contact us.