Unlocking Growth for a UK Grocery Brand via Amazon DSP
What We’re Celebrating:
By convincing our client to invest more in DSP and have an always-on approach, we were able to help them generate 1.65x sales growth in 2023.
Overview:
GO works with a consumables brand whose total business grew steadily on Amazon in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, as brick-and-mortar High Street stores closed to align with NHS COVID policies and more people shopped online. Once lockdown restrictions began to ease, the brand saw its category’s traffic on Amazon slow down as people began shopping in physical stores again. To top this all off, the client’s search placements had maxed out, meaning Sponsored Ads were no longer a viable option to generate net new customers.
To help our client overcome this downward trend and reach additional shoppers, we slowly introduced DSP advertising into their strategy via a test-and-learn process to convince them to adopt the tool full-time.
The Challenge:
Jungle Scout’s search volume data indicated that the brand’s two main sub-categories were stagnant in 2022 and began declining in 2023, resulting in them receiving less traffic on the Amazon platform.
According to Downstream's share of voice (SOV) data, the client’s Sponsored Ads had maxed out in placements and visibility, so they needed to explore new tactics to reach new customers.
The Strategy:
We ramped the client into our full-service support and began testing DSP before fully integrating it into the client’s advertising strategy.
Mar. ’22 - GO’s Partnership with the Client Began: We first optimized their business from a retail, operational, and search advertising perspective, and then we elevated their search ads by having them span the entire marketing funnel.
Nov. ’22 – Ran DSP Test During Black Friday & Cyber Monday (BFCM): Once we set those foundational pieces to help the client generate momentum, we were ready to mitigate the search volume and search placement challenges. To overcome these issues, drive incremental traffic, and build the client’s confidence in other advertising units apart from Sponsored Ads, we ran a DSP test during BFCM that leaned into retargeting (conversion) and loyalty targeting types.
Jan. ’23 – DSP Always-On Strategy Launched: The client’s goal for 2023 was to boost annual sales by 55% year over year. Combining this information with the apparent search volume decline, maxed-out search placements, and BFCM learnings, we persuaded the brand to launch a DSP always-on strategy and to alter their budget allocation split from 99% Sponsored Ads and 1% DSP to 80% Sponsored Ads and 20% DSP.
The Results:
By combining traditional search tactics with Amazon DSP to find incremental shoppers, we helped our client achieve 1.65x growth in 2023.
Want to expand the advertising tools you're utilizing on Amazon?
While search ads are a wonderful vehicle to push conversion at the bottom of the funnel, they can only take you so far. To see persistent growth, especially if your category is on a decline, you need to invest in tools that span the entirety of the marketing funnel. If you need help with this endeavor, contact our team.