A dramatic transformation in the sales of a store specializing in Turkish desserts in the food and restaurant industry, from monthly sales not exceeding 3,600 KWD to surpassing the 360,000 KWD mark in just five months, with a ROAS (Return on Ad spend) rate of 4.5 times.
Major Challenge
Initially, the client’s strategy relied on the assumption that the sales from ad campaigns were limited to the store’s sales only, without considering other sales outlets such as branch sales, Talabat app, and Cari app. Additionally, there was a separation between the store’s sales and the branches’ sales, with the marketing cost charged only to the store. Also, there was insufficient investment in content creation with influencers and celebrities, especially in the food industry.
The condition Before Transformation:
- Initially, the site was on a platform that was not suitable for the client, nor was it appropriate for the nature of the business, as it was a restaurant and not a typical online store.
- Regarding the Products, we started with a study of the products to identify the best-sellers since the project’s inception to focus on them in the ad campaigns.
Sales Plan and Objectives:
Before launching the Ads:
– We clarified to the client the impact of ad campaigns on all sales outlets, not just the store directly, which led to a focus on other sales outlets such as branches, tele-sales, Talabat, and Cari apps, in addition to the store.
– The platform of the store was changed and moved to Zyda platform, which was more suitable for the customer ordering process in the restaurant sector.
– We achieved a preliminary understanding of the winning products for the start of the ads.
– An integrated tracking system was built by directly linking the pixels using Google Tag Manager, where we linked the tracking of purchase processes fully across all platforms.
After studying the store’s situation and its sales from the beginning and scrutinizing everything related to the best-selling products, we set our plan and sales goal from the start.
The initial sales goal = achieving sales exceeding 65,000 KWD per month with a budget not exceeding 16,000 KWD, aiming for a return on ad spend of over 4x.
Although the store, with all its sales outlets, had never achieved these figures before since its establishment, after studying the store’s condition and considering all sales outlets, we recognized the size of the opportunity. Based on this, we set ambitious sales goals.
Launching Ads: From Testing to Budget Expansion
Testing and Launch Phase:
- Firstly: Ad Content:
- We began by leveraging the product’s strengths to create compelling ad content.
- A content production plan was implemented focusing on a substantial amount of content in both images and videos.
- Collaborations were established with content creators in related fields such as restaurants and food, as well as with celebrities trusted by customers for their opinions on products.
- The primary focus of the videos was on enjoying the taste of Turkish desserts, the quality of their original Turkish ingredients, and their preparation by Turkish chefs.
- The diversity in ad content was the main driver of the campaigns from the beginning and throughout the 5 months, as our ability to create engaging content was key to reaching a pivotal turning point in the store’s sales history.
Secondly: Ad Campaigns:
- During the testing period, we launched on all platforms (Meta, Snapchat, TikTok, Google).
- We can say that we tested everything possible on all the mentioned ad platforms to achieve the best possible form of campaigns in preparation for expanding the budget.
- Audience Testing: We tested campaigns without specific interests, others with various and diverse interests, and also retargeting campaigns for Instagram account interactors and store visitors.
- Audience Testing: We tested all possible age groups and audience types, men and women, to identify the best possible target demographic.
- Product Testing: We tested direct links on products and also tested placing the entire store’s link to identify the best-selling products through the ad campaigns.
Testing Phase:
Firstly: Meta:
– Campaigns with specific interests alongside non-targeted campaigns were launched with the aim of acquiring new customers and determining the cost per customer for each type of campaign.
– We relied on direct conversion campaigns on the store aimed at purchases and conversion campaigns on WhatsApp and Instagram messages.
Secondly: TikTok:
– Campaigns with interests alongside non-targeted campaigns were launched with the aim of acquiring new customers and determining the cost per customer for each type of campaign.
– We relied solely on direct conversion campaigns on the store + lead generation campaigns.
Thirdly: Snapchat:
– Non-targeted campaigns without any specific interests were launched, where only the age was specified; over 18 years, with the goal of acquiring new customers and determining the cost per customer.
Fourthly: Google:
– Search campaigns focused on keywords related to the store’s name to completely dominate searches for it, competitors’ names, and keywords related to the products the store focuses on and their features.
Campaigns aimed at calling branch numbers.
Performance Max (P.Max) campaigns using available videos and images.
Scaling Phase:
It was determined that the best platforms in terms of the number of orders and the cost per order were, in order:
1- Meta.
2- Google.
3- Snapchat.
4- TikTok.
Firstly: Meta:
We began by focusing on the best-performing platforms, especially Meta (Instagram).
On Meta, the most successful campaigns were the dynamic advertising campaigns and the Advantage + shopping campaigns, using a broad audience. Therefore, we focused on these and benefited from the abundance of ad content from videos and images.
This was followed by conversion campaigns on WhatsApp and Instagram messages, with attention to professionally responding to customers by our team to complete the customer’s purchasing journey.
After that, we started retargeting campaigns to maximize the benefits from the number of visitors to the store and those interacting with the Instagram account.
Secondly: Google:
As we entered the major scaling phase, it was time for the Performance Max campaigns. We compiled all the successful videos, images, and ad texts, and incorporated them into the Performance Max campaigns, which achieved significant success. This was alongside continuing with search campaigns and direct call campaigns.
Thirdly: Snapchat:
Initially, Snapchat was not the best platform in terms of the number of orders. However, we focused on the types of ads that generated the most sales and discontinued any ads that did not achieve the desired return.
In addition, we continued testing and diversifying the ad content with videos and images until Snapchat became one of the best-performing platforms.
Fourthly: TikTok:
TikTok was one of the most successful platforms in terms of low cost and exceptional order rates. The only issue was the rapid burnout of the ads, which we addressed in two ways:
1- We proposed engaging more content creators to increase the number of ads and diversify them.
2- Through our video editing team at MAKASEB, we produced 3-10 videos from each original video, sometimes through simple modifications.
How We Used Customer Service to Increase Order Rates:
In addition to the intensive and expanded ad campaigns on the site, we relied on boosting sales and improving the conversion rate with a full team of sales staff, not just customer service.
– Following up with customers through all communication channels.
– Responding to inquiries about the offered items.
– Increasing sales by suggesting the best items, which helped in raising the average order value.
– Continuous daily follow-up, with at least 16 hours of coverage per day.
– Following up with previous customers and encouraging them to make purchases.
The customer service and sales teams played a significant role in improving sales in this store, which is an integral part of the comprehensive marketing strategy we adopt at MAKASEB, because growth is more than just a sponsored campaign.
Results After 5 Months:
– Sales of 365,457 KWD were achieved in just five months.
– The total cost was 81,206 KWD.
– The return on ad spend was 4.5x.
Summary
- From the above, we can deduce the importance of convincing the client to invest in content and flexibility in dealing with the results from various sales outlets available to their store.
- The most crucial element of the equation is the product. The more unique and distinctive your product, the more advantage you have over competitors.
- Ad content is the strongest supporter and growth driver for the store.
- Marketing through influencers helps quickly spread the brand among the targeted audience effectively over a short period and builds trust between the audience and the brand. However, it is certain that marketing with celebrities alone is not sufficient to achieve this level of growth.
- The importance of diversifying visual content between images and videos to achieve the best result in terms of reducing the cost per order and increasing the basket value per order.
- The importance of diversifying across platforms and not relying on a single platform, as in this case study, all platforms—whether Meta, Google, Snapchat, or TikTok—performed well in reaching and acquiring new customers at the lowest possible cost.
