Becky Hopkin is the managing director of our favourite ad agency Digital Gearbox. With her team of Google and Facebook Ad specialists, Becky drives sales to many eCommerce brands and ran the advertising for our recent eCommerce MasterPlan Virtual Summit.
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Behind The Scenes Of The eCommerce MasterPlan Summit
The Quick Timeline
The eCommerce MasterPlan Summit was held last June 2021, and Becky and her team at Digital Gearbox were given the task of running the advertising for this event.
They were only given three weeks before the summit to run ads, plus one more during the week the event went live.
Identified Targets
The registration target was 500 sign ups, at a cost of £6 per sign up.
This being the summit’s first time have its ad campaign run by an agency, it was also an opportunity to learn what to do and what not to do for future projects.
Platforms And Strategies Used
Google was used because as Becky says, there’s nothing better than advertising to audiences who are actively searching for what is being offered. For this platform, the agency tapped on branded terms.
Ads were also run on Facebook to target those who aren’t necessarily searching but could be interested in taking part in the Summit.
The Results And Takeaways
The final tally at the end of the event was 413 registrations at £6.20/sign up.
Based on the data that was recorded, the team learned which strategies and platforms worked best. And while the 3-week window was not ideal, the campaign was done on time, within budget, and delivered what it was targeted to do.
What To Do When Working With An Ad agency
Preparing To Run An Advertising Campaign
It’s best to approach your agency armed with a brief outlining at the very least, your targets in running the campaign. Identify the key message you want to get across and what your key selling points are.
Provide your ad agency with available assets they can work with. Assets include branding guidelines and images that can help establish the general look and theme of the campaign.
For the eCommerce MasterPlan Summit, Chloë gave the agency a document outlining her goals from the very start, as well as the images and logos they would need to create ads with.
Regular Reporting And Post-Campaign Reviews
Taking a look at how well your campaign is doing while it is being run and giving the data to your agency, instead of waiting for them to generate the report, is one way of optimizing everyone’s time.
In the case of the Summit, Chloë handled reporting to Becky and her team, which gave the latter more time to spend on actually running and optimizing the campaign.
For post-campaign reviews, making sure this is done makes way for planning the next steps and future implementations.
Tracking Your Targets
Come up with a tracking plan before doing any advertising because it’s harder to set once you’ve implemented your campaign.
Make it a priority; you won’t know what’s working and what needs to be optimized if you don’t have this in place at the beginning.
Additional Advice
Aside from giving your agency a clear picture of your objectives and providing pertinent materials to work with, setting up a regular stream of communication between you and your agency is important.
Kickoff calls and regular check-ins are crucial in figuring out how the campaign is doing and what needs to be done to come up with even better results.
Lastly, trust your agency and give them space and breathing room to get creative and maximize the potential of your campaign.
eCommerce Book Top Tip
- The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It by Michael E. Gerber
- eCommerce Marketing: How to Get Traffic That BUYS to your Website by Chloë Thomas
eCommerce Traffic Top Tip
- Google Search for tapping people who are actively looking for what you sell or do
Tool Top Tip
Growth Top Tip
- Set a clear objective from the beginning. Set targets for how much you want to grow your business and also how much you’re willing to spend to acquire leads and sales.
Interview Links
Related episodes
- 089: Michael E. Gerber, author of Beyond the eMyth and small business guru talks eCommerce with Chloë
- 046 Google Ads: Why you should try Display Ads and how to make it work with Becky Hopkin
- AND you can still sign up for our summit for FREE here
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