Salam folks,
As you may have noticed we have been silent for the past couple of months. Because we have been busy at Halal.Ad recently.
Today, I’m going to share one of the recent success stories.
First Time In Canada
I visited Canada for the first time during winter holidays at the end of 2017. I usually travel alone. But this time I went with my family so we can get to see Canada as a family. The weather was amazing. Lots of snow. We were so excited that we actually bought some sleds and head to the park close. It was a full day of fun for the family to sled from the snowy hills.
I also met some old friends whom I haven’t seen for many years. Shakhzod was one of them. After usual greetings, I asked what he was up to these days. He said he was selling healthy foods online. I asked why. He simply said he was doing lots of research on healthy foods and eating healthy. He was looking for buying some locally, but it was not easy to find.
Here are two things I really loved about his project. First, it was something really cares and it is beneficial to others as well. Second, where he saw a problem, he provided a solution. Entrepreneurship in action.
By the way, check out his shop: www.naturamarket.ca if you are in Canada and want to eat healthily.
This is what you can read on their website under about section.
Healthy food is our passion! At Natura Market, we believe that healthy lifestyle starts with healthy eating. Healthy eating is about feeling great, having more energy, improving your health. Nowadays making healthy choices is more difficult than it has ever been before, therefore we decided to ease this mission. We carefully select every product to suit your lifestyle or diet be it Paleo, Whole30, Gluten-free, LCHP, Non-GMO, etc. Our mission is to bring the best healthy products to Canada from the best-selling brands!
Diagnosis
I started asking more questions “How are sales? How are you getting new customers?”.
He smiled and said “It is growing slowly. Most of it via search engines. We are considering some influencer marketing”.
I added my 2 cents: “Well, influencer marketing works, but it takes time. We have seen some great return on investment in social ads recently. Especially for online shops like Natura Market. Why don’t you try it?”
Shakhzod quickly replied “We tried some ads. They get likes, but no sales.”
It didn’t take a long time to figure out that he was just boosting some social posts like many companies on social media. It gives you a sense of accomplishment that you are doing something. However, it rarely produces a result. If it doesn’t work, what works?
The next minutes it was more like a monologue where I was sharing what I know.
You have to deliver the right message to the right person at the right time in the right away.
–Halal.Ad Motto
What works
Most companies with products or services, they just want to sell. Right here, right now. This is selfish thinking. Most people don’t wake up and open their mobile apps to see your ad then rush to your site to buy your offer.
What really works is this. If you really genuinely care, you should broaden your perspective and take the buyer into account. What are his or her dreams? What bothers your customer at night?
Let’s talk about people
People are in one of these groups at any given time:
- Ignorance
- Awareness
- Consideration
- Conversion
Ignorance
You may not like it, unless you are a well-known brand like Coca-Cola, most people have no idea about you, your product or service. This is how it is. This is where everybody starts. Your job is to move the relevant people from this group to the next.
Awareness
This is the stage when your potential customers know about you for the first time. The key words here are the potential customers. You don’t or will never have enough money to convey the message to all people. So you should know whom you are after, create a message that appeals to them and reach with this message at the right time.
It is much easier said than done. As they say in real estate, it is all about location, location, and location. In advertising and marketing, it is all about relevancy, relevancy, and relevancy.
Instead of shouting out you are the greatest “…” in the world (replace the … with your product), you should put yourself in the shoes of your customer. If your customer needs to put a family photo on his wall, he needs a hole in the wall, not necessarily a drill.
Your job will be to figure out what is going on customers mind and tap into it. Be a part of the conversation and offer your product or service as a solution.
Consideration
Assuming you did the job right in Awareness stage by telling your story about your product or service, your potential customer will be considering your offer. By the way, here is a great video by Simon Sinek on how to tell a great story (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPYeCltXpxw).
Depending on the price and many other factors, the decision stage takes a couple of minutes to hours, days and sometimes months and years.
Conversion
This is the last stage in getting your customers to pay you. Unfortunately, many companies want to star at this stage. This is why only 1-2% of website visitors ever convert. Don’t be like others.
In a nutshell, you have to create a product or service that really solves a problem. Then tell your story to the relevant people at the relevant time.
Agree on terms
Shakhboz agreed that we would give it a try. However, we need to agree on KPIs in advance. Since Natura Market is not just another shop that health products, but his vision is to be the largest online shop in Canada and make healthy options affordable so more people can benefit.
In terms of return on investment, it meant 1 dollar spent on ads should bring at least $10 sales.
Low Hanging Fruits
Do you remember we discussed Awareness? Due to a high expectation, we had to act extremely cautious to bring 10X ROI. So instead of reaching out to new potential customers from Ignorance group, we started with Awareness group. In other words, we started to advertise to the people who already know about Natura Market.
Even among Awareness group, there are people in different stages:
- People who got to know about Natura Market recently via Facebook or Instagram
- People who subscribed to Natura Market newsletter
- People who are fans or followers on social channels
- People who visited Natura Market site but left without buying
- People who added products to the shopping cart but didn’t finish the payment
The list goes on. However, we started with this list since they are the people who already know and some already shown interest in the products.
Each customer segment got a specific message so it is relevant to them.
13X Return On Ad Spend
So, did it work? Let the numbers do the talking.
As you can see, we created different campaigns with specific goals. We have tested and discovered what worked and what didn’t.
If the campaign continuously performed well, we gradually increased its daily budget.
The end result was that on average, we delivered 13X Return On Ad Spend as you can see from the report screenshot below.
Based on our experience, it is a great result. I think the business idea, your story, and execution also adds up to these numbers, not just advertising.
At the end of the day, advertising and marketing amplify your business assuming you already created a great product or service that solves a problem.
Does your business need more sales?
If you are one of those entrepreneurs with a great product and you need help with increasing your sales, fill in the form below. We will set up a meeting and talk. It is free.
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