DOE Media Helps Foton Pearled Candles Ignite Growth with Optimized Advertising Strategy
Founded by sisters Heidi and Sirli, Foton Pearled Candles reimagined traditional pearled candles through chemistry, thoughtful design, and sustainable materials, creating a safe, clean-burning, and customizable candle experience.
To reach more customers while protecting its brand values, Foton partnered with DOE Media to drive profitable growth through strategic digital advertising.
To reach more customers while protecting its brand values, Foton partnered with DOE Media to drive profitable growth through strategic digital advertising.
THE CHALLENGE
Before partnering with DOE Media, Foton faced several hurdles in their advertising and sales approach:
Inconsistent Seasonal Performance
In the previous year, December’s performance had been suboptimal. Ad spend was limited during the crucial early holiday period and then ramped up later—a risky approach that reduced their potential to capitalize on peak demand.
Disjointed Landing Page Strategy
Ads directed traffic to various pages—events, collections, the homepage, and product detail pages—without a cohesive plan. This fragmentation made it difficult to guide customers through a clear purchasing journey.
Lack of Targeted Optimization
Lack of Targeted Optimization
While the brand had great products and creative potential, their campaigns lacked specific targeting and the necessary optimization needed to scale. Without leveraging data to refine focus on top-performing products or audiences, there was no clear path for the business to grow at the rate they were aiming for.
The Solutions
DOE Media implemented a data-driven strategy to streamline Foton’s advertising efforts, enhance seasonal impact, and drive consistent growth:
Focused Creative and Landing Pages
- Followed the data: We saw that ‘Collections’ pages were consistently driving the strongest performance, so campaigns were refocused there to create a cleaner shopping experience and improve conversion rates.
- Turned organic momentum into paid performance: A video showing how to use the pearled candles started taking off organically, so we pushed it into paid and it quickly became one of the top-performing creatives. We also rotated in strong static visuals for new product launches to keep the creative fresh.
Seasonal and Promotional Strategy
- Started the holiday push early: Seasonal messaging was introduced ahead of peak shopping days, helping build momentum and drive stronger performance through December.
- Kept promotions flexible: Holiday offers were kept broad rather than tied to a single date, allowing campaigns to extend deals into early December and maintain steady engagement and conversions.
Iterative Optimization
- Refined Ad Targeting: Using campaign performance data as a guide, we expanded into interest-based audiences such as home décor enthusiasts, self-care shoppers, and gift buyers, while also testing less conventional segments to uncover new pockets of demand.
- Managing Inventory and Supply: Foton occasionally releases limited-edition bestsellers that can sell out quickly during peak demand periods like Black Friday. When inventory became limited, DOE Media worked closely with the Foton team to adjust ad spend and messaging, pulling back on campaigns until production could keep pace. This helped avoid overspending on out-of-stock products while maintaining campaign efficiency.
THE RESULTS
It didn’t take long for DOE Media’s strategy to start moving the needle for Foton:
- Reallocated budget & retargeting
- Q4 Uptick: By the end of Q4, total revenue increased by 314% compared to the same period in the previous year. This lift wasn’t solely due to earlier holiday engagement and consistent messaging; it also resulted from diligent ad account optimization and strategic scaling during peak demand. By refining ad structures and timing, Foton was able to seize key sales windows and maximize seasonal performance.
- Year-Over-Year Revenue Surges
- October Year-Over-Year (YoY) Achieved 195% revenue growth compared to the previous year’s October.
- November YoY Drove over 400% increase in November revenue versus the previous year, while also quickly pivoting product focus to solve inventory challenges.
- December Momentum December saw revenue climb by more than 115% YoY, maintaining the upward trend through the end-of-year festivities.
- Improved Efficiency and Profitability
- Meeting and Surpassing Return on ad Spend (ROAS) Goals Meeting and Surpassing Return on ad Spend (ROAS) Goals Achieved 195% revenue growth compared to the previous year’s October.