Case Study

Problem: Grabien sought to build a consumer audience for its news site through digital marketing

Solution: Aggressive email acquisition through social media

It can be extremely helpful to understand how much ROI (return on investment) you should expect from a given digital marketing channel. When examining digital marketing strategies, there is not a one-size-fits-all solution. However, over time certain marketing channels have proven to be more effective than others. Below is an average return on investment for the following marketing channels:

It is clear that email delivers better results than other marketing channels. That is why email acquisition should be at the forefront of your digital marketing strategy. In fact, email is 40 times more effective at earning new clients or customers than Twitter or Facebook.

Of course, that does not mean social media should be abandoned. In actuality, social media is the prime spot for email acquisition. Businesses have the ability to target potential customers based on intricate demographics and interests.

To determine ROI your business needs to figure out your ‘break even’ point. If your digital marketing investment is $20,000 and your average order value is $176, then you need 114 sales to break even. This is determined by digital marketing costs / average order value. The same method can be applied for ad revenue based on CTR (Click-through-Rate).  If you need 114 sales to break even and your conversion rate is 0.68% then you will need 16,765 visits in order to break even. Obviously, businesses are not looking to break even, so you should have a goal of at least double your ‘break even’ point.

Grabien had a need to acquire as many news consumers’ email addresses as possible, at the lowest cost, in order to increase deliveries of their newsletter and earn traffic to their site in addition to building a long-term relationship with potential consumers.

That’s when we used our magic.

Landing Pages

The ideal landing page, is short, to the point, and has a clear call to action above the fold.

Take for instance this one from Salesforce:

No, it is not the most beautiful landing page in the world. But it does not have to be. The call to action is clear, there are few fields, and non-pertinent links and information are tucked away at the bottom.

Marketers often get hung up on the details and style of a landing page in order to impress businesses. The truth of the matter is, there are no style points in digital marketing. If a landing page works, it works. The less bells and whistles the better.

We were able to create similarily styled landing pages for Grabien that proved to convert beyond the wildest dreams of most industries and businesses (more below).

Results

What we were able to accomplish for Grabien was nothing short of remarkable, if we do say so ourselves. In spending under $10,000 we achieved a reach of 311,026, 1,078,826 impressions, 92,724 link clicks, and 41,124 emails and COUNTING! That’s a CPA (Cost-per-acquisition) of $0.15!

To put things in perspective, Buffer offers the following average costs regarding digital marketing campaigns.

• Facebook like average – $0.50 per page like
• Facebook reach average – $0.59 per thousand impressions
• Facebook click average – $0.50 per click
• Promoted tweet – $3.50 per thousand impressions
• LinkedIn – $2.00 per click

We pulled in average CPC (Cost-per-click) via Facebook for $0.03 – that’s 92% lower than the average cost per link click on Facebook! That key metric says much about these accomplishments. The lower the CPC, the more people Grabien could afford to reach, the better chance to earn an email signup.

The top landing page earned a conversion rate of 72.26%. The lowest had a 36.85% conversion rate. According to Wordstream, these numbers are what the digital marketing world refers to as a ‘unicorn.’

“But what is a good conversion rate? If you’re already achieving 3%, 5% or even 10% conversion rates, is that as high as you’re going to go? But what is a good conversion rate? Across industries, the average landing page conversion rate was 2.35%, yet the top 25% are converting at 5.31% or higher. Ideally, you want to break into the top 10% — these are the landing pages with conversion rates of 11.45% or higher.” – Source: Wordstream

(Source: Wordstream)

The top converting industry, Finance, only boasts a 24.48% landing page conversion rate, on average. That means our lowest performing landing page was still better by over 12%.

(Source: Wordstream)

Conclusion

There is no better way to leverage your business than through digital marketing. Facebook and Instagram are two channels that stand above the rest for many business needs. But it takes a seasoned digital marketing expert to make your goals a reality. There is a lot of misinformation and bad players in the industry who will happily take your money and give you subpar results. Don’t waste your time or money on someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing.

Yes, digital marketing has been around for a long time. But the amount of businesses who utilize it to its full potential is laughably low. That means you have an opportunity to get ahead of your competition. Many businesses seek to wade into digital marketing slowly, learning what they can for themselves, when they can. This can be slow going and may take years before you fully reach your potential. And if you do not have the time or means to give your full attention to these efforts, you could do more harm than good. That’s why trusting a digital marketing firm with a history of success like Paton Digital is the first step towards conquering the digital landscape.

So what can Paton Digital do for your business? Contact us today to start the conversation. Fill out the form below to schedule a free strategy session or call/text us at 571-248-1983.