Challenge
Extreme is an award winning, full-service agency based in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. Founded in 2002 as a web design and development agency, Extreme has evolved to develop multi-channel marketing strategies for their clients that incorporate everything from pay-per-click (PPC) to public relations.
They work with clients spanning a plethora of industries from timber buildings to telecommunications, and while the majority of their clients are local, many also have a national or international presence. Extreme’s Senior PPC Consultant, Lucie Heseltine cites one of their main challenges as highlighting the true value of upper-funnel advertising.
Lucie elaborates that for performance-focused campaigns, “The client sees the immediate impact of their marketing activity… and this makes them appear to be more important than they possibly are in the overall customer journey.” She goes on to say, “We, as marketers, know that the true value of a YouTube or display campaign is in the reach and subsequent increase in brand awareness, but this is a difficult sell as it often does not present itself as a tangible, measurable piece of data.”
Working together to target the right audience
One of Extreme’s key clients, a major dog food brand, wanted to run a campaign with downloadable coupons, which could be used in various retail outlets to purchase dog treats. Extreme needed a partner to help reach a large scale of users, but also reach the right people to ensure the maximum number of downloads. Lucie says, “Given the limitations in Google’s display capabilities in terms of targeting, reach and reporting… a programmatic solution was the most viable option.”
Criteo is able to go beyond broad socio-demographic audiences to target high-value customers and offer massive scale beyond walled gardens to reach audiences. Criteo is Extreme’s first programmatic partner and they’ve been happy with the strategic nature of the partnership, as well as the self-service capabilities including creating assets and pulling custom reports. Lucie describes the relationship as, “a true partnership rather than something we were giving up ownership of, as well as an opportunity to learn from the Criteo team.”
In order to reach as many dog owners as possible, Criteo recommended a strategy aimed at targeting users in the market for animal and pet supplies, as well as targeting any users who had previously visited Extreme’s client’s website. These users were already searching for animal and pet supplies or were already aware of the brand, which increased the likelihood that they’d be interested in downloading a coupon to purchase more treats.
Measuring upper-funnel advertising success
The campaign succeeded in driving 2,600 downloads altogether at an overall conversion rate of 1.62%. However, brand awareness, reach, and traffic were all extremely important to Extreme’s client and their future activity, so the impressive number of impressions delivered by the campaign (62 million+ altogether) continue to contribute to their client’s ongoing success.
Lucie says, “The overall conversion rate and engagement rates across the campaign were higher than we have ever seen with a regular display campaign.” For Extreme, reporting was crucial to demonstrate the true value of the campaign. Providing data on the number of post-view conversions, and not just the ones which occurred directly, was something that this client had not seen before.
When thinking about the future of Extreme’s partnership with Criteo, Lucie says “We are already exploring new campaigns… with Criteo. We see it as an inevitable part of our marketing strategy for the coming years, especially as a way to launch new products or specific campaigns.”
When asked what advice she has for advertisers who are new to trying ad tech solutions, Lucie says “Give it a try! This might be exactly what you need to start opening up conversations about the true value of brand awareness and the importance of display as an essential touchpoint in the customer journey.”
