We formulated various hypotheses to address the challenges:
– Who constitutes their Ideal Client Avatar? Is it a businessman, a sportsperson, or someone interested in fashion?
– What types of content yield the best results? Is it User-Generated Content, detailed shots of shirts, carousel formats, or modeling shoots?
– Was their sales funnel appropriately configured? Identifying and refining bottlenecks in the process.
– How could we enhance their Lifetime Value (LTV)?
Our strategy involved testing different interests to discern the most responsive audience. One key solution involved constructing accurate audiences and implementing a well-structured campaign for audience testing. Specifically, a Top of the Funnel (TOFU) campaign was initiated, excluding the Hot Audience typically found in the Middle of the Funnel (MOFU) and Bottom of the Funnel (BOFU) phases.
This stage is critical, as there is often a tendency to neglect excluding Warm Phases (MOFU and BOFU) from the Cold Phase (TOFU), hindering the understanding of the most profitable interests in the Cold Phase.
Approximately 15 audiences were tested, and the results were conclusive: the most promising audiences were associated with businessmen (e.g., entrepreneurship, Forbes, etc.).
All other interests failed to meet our Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), which included a Cost Per Acquisition of < 36€ and a Break-Even Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) of 1.2.
Upon delving deeper into the data, we identified that the most lucrative demographic was men aged 30-45. Consequently, our response to the initial question was refined to *businessman, aged 30-45.*
The next step involved initiating Creativity Testing to further optimize the advertising strategy.
The eCommerce owner provided us with numerous high-quality content pieces, primarily focusing on modeling shoots and detailed shots of shirts. Despite their quality, initial tests using this content were moderately successful. Even upon analyzing competitors in the market (which are few), it was evident that they all utilized similar content and ideas without achieving significant results.
**This led us to shift our strategy to User Generated Content (UGC).** While unconventional in the market, we believed that the missing element in their communication was the absence of real people showcasing the product. Given that the service was an innovation, especially in Italy, creating empathy and trust became paramount.
Opting for UGC, we collaborated with an influencer from the finance niche to create amateur content with other creators, including unboxing and showcasing the product within an office setting. The outcomes were remarkable—the Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) decreased significantly. In the Top of the Funnel (TOFU) campaign, we consistently achieved sales for an average of €20 (€16 below our CPA) for over eight months.
The retargeting phase, following the introduction of new content, also yielded excellent results, achieving a CPA of €10. In this phase, we utilized review-based content for the Middle of the Funnel (MOFU) and discount-focused content for the Bottom of the Funnel (BOFU), as elaborated in the subsequent point.
Regarding their sales funnel, we identified a weak point by analyzing the drop percentage within it. The most significant drop occurred after the shirt configuration stage, attributed to the requirement of self-measurement using a meter. Addressing this bottleneck significantly improved sales and the conversion rate, reaching approximately 1.53% from the initial situation of 0.79%, as previously reported.
Additionally, we identified another weakness—the absence of upsells, bundles, or subscriptions that could enhance the Lifetime Value (LTV) and Average Order Value (AOV). The initial scenario indicated that each customer only purchased a single shirt.
