DOE Media Triples Rasta Imposta's Advertising Sales Through Strategic Amazon and Google Campaigns
from advertising
0
X Sales
In the first year working with DOE.
(Return on Ad Spend)
0
x ROAS
In the first month working together, up from under 5x.
during the second month
0
x ROAS
of working together, with only a 40% increase in ad spend.
As a leader in the costume industry for over 30 years, Rasta Imposta has sold millions of products since their inception in 1992. Specializing in creative and unique designs for Halloween, cosplay, holidays, events, and festivals, they’re mostly known for humorous and easy-to-wear hats and costumes that make people laugh.
Based in New Jersey and primarily selling online through Amazon, Rasta Imposta partnered with DOE Media during the summer, several months before their busiest season of the year, to enhance their digital advertising efforts and boost sales.
Despite their longstanding presence in the industry, Rasta Imposta faced numerous challenges that hindered their online growth and profitability.
Limited Advertising Strategy on Amazon
- Minimal Advertising Efforts: The company was doing limited advertising, mainly working directly with Amazon advertising representatives, which didn't yield the desired results.
- Inefficient Campaign Structure: They had a few campaigns with only a handful of products, grouping unrelated products into single campaigns with numerous keywords. This approach made it difficult to scale or analyze what was working.
- Seasonal Sales Fluctuations: Sales tend to drop after October due to stock shortages and the seasonal nature of their products, picking up again in March and peaking in August and September as people prepare for Halloween.
- Overemphasis on ROAS: Their main metric for evaluating success was Return on Ad Spend (ROAS), with the goal of surpassing 5x ROAS. They were slowly creeping towards this goal, investing a healthy amount on advertising to generate low 5-figure sales, but this focus neglected a key metric for measuring success on Amazon, Total Advertising Cost of Sales (TACOS).
Inefficient Google Advertising
- Lack of Best Practices: Previous Google campaigns were not well-optimized, lacking adherence to fundamental advertising practices needed to create a foundation for success.
- Haphazard Setup: The campaigns were a mix of uncoordinated efforts without a strategic plan, missing essential Day 1 setups necessary for effective advertising.
Outdated and Hard-to-Use Website
- Old Platform & Design: Rasta Imposta’s original site was on a rarely used platform and felt stuck in the ’90s/early 2000s design era. This outdated appearance and lack of standard e-commerce functionality limited their ability to expand beyond Amazon.
- Difficult Navigation & Limited Growth Potential: Without filters, a proper homepage layout, or intuitive product hierarchy, customers struggled to find what they needed. This made it harder to push direct sales and rely less on Amazon’s marketplace.
Despite their longstanding presence in the industry, Rasta Imposta faced numerous challenges that hindered their online growth and profitability.
BUSINESS WITH BEZOS
Amazon Advertising Revamp
Implementing Best Practices
- Campaign Restructuring: Overhauled the campaign structure to prevent grouping unrelated products together, allowing for better scalability and performance analysis.
- Brand Awareness Campaigns: Launched campaigns to test and enhance brand performance, understanding that profitability might not be immediate but would improve over time.
- Listing Optimization: Recommended and implemented improvements to product listings, including proper image sizing and SEO-friendly product descriptions.
Isolating Top-Performing Keywords
- Keyword Research: Conducted in-depth keyword research to identify top-performing keywords relevant to their products.
- Budget Reallocation: Adjusted budgets to focus on these high-performing keywords, ensuring efficient use of advertising spend.
Not Those Kinds of TACOS
- Educating on Key Metrics: Shifted the focus from solely ROAS to include TACOS (Total Advertising Cost of Sales), emphasizing its importance in measuring overall profitability when working with the Amazon Marketplace.
- Organic Search Boost: Highlighted how paid sales from specific keywords could enhance organic search rankings, leading to increased visibility without additional ad spend.
DID YOU TRY GOOGLING IT
Google Ads Strategy
Strategic Account Planning
- Product Line Targeting: Split high-value and best-selling product lines into individual campaigns for precise targeting.
- Brand Awareness Initiatives: Ramped up overall brand awareness through demand generation campaigns.
YouTube Campaign Launch
- Video Advertising: Launched the first YouTube campaign to engage audiences with dynamic video content, expanding reach and attracting new customers.
BUILDING A FUTURE-READY WEBSITE
A New Site to
Call Home
Website Redesign & Platform Migration
- New eCommerce Platform: Migrated from the outdated platform to a modern, widely supported solution, enabling best practices and scalability.
- Modern Design & Fun Brand Elements: Introduced a fresh, visually appealing homepage with sliders featuring ongoing sales, highlighted collections, trending items, and bestsellers. This approach embraced Rasta Imposta’s playful brand identity and made navigation more intuitive.
Improved Navigation & Filtering
- Collections Feed & Filters: Added advanced filtering options and a better product hierarchy. Users can now quickly narrow down choices by category, ensuring they find what they want faster and with less frustration.
- Product Page Enhancements: Focused on visuals, color variations, and a clear “Add to Cart” button. Non-essential text is tucked behind dropdowns, avoiding information overload and encouraging direct engagement with the products.
Significant Increase in Profitability and Sales
- Tripled Advertising Sales: Achieved a 3x increase in advertising sales in the first year working together compared to previous years.
- Conversion Rate Enhancement: Improved listings led to higher conversion rates, maximizing the effectiveness of advertising efforts.
Enhanced ROAS and TACOS
- Higher ROAS: In the first month, ROAS improved to 6.6x, and in the second month, it increased to 7.15x with only a 40% increase in ad spend.
- Optimized TACOS: Maintained a year-to-date TACOS average of 6.4%, outperforming the industry standard of 10-15%, indicating higher profitability.
Seasonal Sales Success
- Halloween Peak: Capitalized on the peak season with ad sales reaching six figures during Halloween, the main time of year for costume sales.
Improved Direct E-Commerce Experience
- Modern, Scalable Site: The new platform and best-practice design created a website capable of supporting growth beyond Amazon.
- Better User Engagement: Highlighted collections, advanced filters, and intuitive product pages simplified the shopping experience. This sets the stage for improved direct sales, better margins, and a foundation for exploring new marketplaces.
COSTUME OF THE YEAR
BY THE NUMBERS
(Total Advertising Sales Cost) average
0
% TACOS
In the first month working together, up from under 5x.
from advertising
0
X SALES
In the first year working with DOE.
(Return on Ad Spend)
0
X ROAS
In the first month working together, up from under 5x.
(Total Advertising Sales Cost) average
0
X ROAS
of working together, with only a 40% increase in ad spend.
Looking ahead, Rasta Imposta focuses on enhancing direct sales and continuing to refine their overall customer experience.
By offering a more engaging, modern website and leveraging the improved advertising framework, they can capture more market share outside of Amazon and capitalize on their unique brand identity.
DOE Media will continue to collaborate closely with Rasta Imposta, optimizing advertising campaigns on Amazon and Google to sustain growth and expand brand awareness. Utilizing data-driven strategies, we will adjust campaigns in real-time to ensure continued profitability and competitiveness in the market.
Rasta Imposta’s partnership with DOE Media has led to remarkable growth in a short period. By overhauling their advertising strategies and focusing on key profitability metrics, they have significantly increased sales and improved their market position. This success story illustrates the impact of strategic digital marketing and the importance of adapting to market trends.
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