As social channels like Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest continue to offer more features for users, they’re constantly testing new ad products and tools for brands. Because of our deep relationships with social channel partners, we’re often given early access to new products and tools before they’re widely available, and often while they’re in Alpha or Beta testing.
Getting the word out locally.
As part of our strategic partner management for Ashley HomeStore, we learned about a new ad objective called Local Awareness, which would allow retail brands to deploy Facebook ads that were geo-targeted to users living in areas surrounding the addresses of each local store’s page. But prior to us running any Local Awareness ads for them, we had to reconfigure their local store page structure on Facebook. Only then could the polygons around each of the stores be mapped to those pages. Once the local store pages were redeployed, we devised a media plan, created the ads, and launched them on Memorial Day. Its success—highlighted by increased store traffic and a lift in ad recall—compelled our client to continue to use Local Awareness ads to support the full year’s calendar of Ashley HomeStore grand openings.
Driving thousands of in-store visits.
As Facebook’s toolbox evolved, they introduced another ad objective called Store Visit. This enabled brands with freestanding stores to geo-fence their addresses, then leverage Facebook’s mobile app location data to confirm that people had visited a store after seeing their Facebook (desktop & mobile) or Instagram ads. By & Large was quickly approved through the closed Beta to use this new ad objective, and deployed campaigns that met Ashley HomeStore’s KPIs like ROAS, impressions and store traffic. We also ensured that our Ashley HomeStore clients were trained to deploy Store Visit campaigns in order to build on our success with this innovative new ad product.
Closing the deal.
Additionally, we were given premarket access to Offline Conversion, a feature that enabled us to build a more complete picture of the in-store revenue driven by our Facebook and Instagram campaigns. It not only validated our advertising strategy and creative, it delivered positive return on ad spend for Ashley HomeStore. Pinterest soon followed with a similar product, so we worked with our clients to develop a more complete picture of their in-store sales, helping to drive the ROI positive campaigns being run on that platform.
Overall, our efforts resulted in more than 15x ROAS, demonstrating that, with a smart approach, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest can be channels for ROI positive campaigns.
