Adobe Marketing Cloud Success Story Optimized search engine marketing Popular custom furniture retailer adopts Adobe Media Optimizer for enhanced customer experiences Berlin, Germany www.fashionforhome.de Results Achieved higher efficiencies compared to other bidding engines Supported an extremely granular long-tail strategy in SEM Administered millions of keywords Maximized use of SEM budget Integrated bidding engine in a tailor-made SEM solution Enabled flexible reaction to anomalies has already moved on from its early days as a startup. The online shop, founded in Berlin in 2009, generates an annual sales volume in the mid-double-digit million (euro) range in five countries. It sees itself as an established medium-sized company and one that is experiencing double-digit growth month after month. One secret of its success is a consistent digital marketing strategy that utilizes various channels. Search engine marketing (SEM) is one of these channels, in which Adobe Media Optimizer for Search controls a basic stock of over three million keywords in Germany alone for an optimal effect. The goal is to achieve maximum efficiencies on campaigns, which are differentiated according to terminal device and region. Comprehensive range of products, with over 8,000 items The Berlin company markets its collection primarily online and, in addition to Germany, also delivers to the United Kingdom, the United States, Austria, and the Netherlands. The individual pieces of furniture, fixtures, and art objects are created by renowned designers, and are produced only after the customer has ordered them. This reduces the role of middlemen and storage costs, which makes it possible to offer first-class furniture at a fair price. At the same time, great value is placed on using sustainable materials and manufacturing processes. Our range of products now includes more than 8,000 items, says Florian Geyer, head of search engine marketing (SEM) at.
SEM plays an important role for. While it is significantly more expensive than other channels such as display advertising, affiliate programs, newsletters, and social media, it brings in relevant traffic very quickly. Challenge Increase conversion rates Optimize budget allocation React quickly to changing conditions Cover the entire customer lifetime value Solution Use Adobe Media Optimizer to increase efficiencies on Google AdWords campaigns Systems at a glance Adobe Marketing Cloud, including Adobe Media Optimizer solution. Capabilities used include: Adobe Media Optimizer for Search Search engine budget continuously increased Since the summer of 2012, the Internet retailer has also been operating a showroom in the center of Berlin, with over 400 square meters of space. Here the bestsellers from the online shop are presented live. This means that customers now have the opportunity to see firsthand the quality of the item they are thinking of buying. Mobile furniture consultant teams who visit interested customers at home by request is another service the company provides. However, the essential point of the business model is and will remain marketing via the Internet. And in the process, search engine marketing has played a vital role from the very beginning. It is considerably more expensive than other channels such as display advertising, affiliate programs, newsletters, and social media, Geyer explains, but from the very beginning it brought us suitable traffic very quickly, which led to higher sales volumes. Given the revenue generated, an expanding product line, and moving into international markets, SEM activities grew continuously, accompanied by constant optimization and refinement of processes. Today campaigns are taking place regularly in the Netherlands, Austria, the United Kingdom, and the United States, in addition to Germany. Over three million German-language keywords From the start, invested in a very granular long-tail strategy, in which campaigns with Google AdWords were optimized based on the keywords most frequently used in searches. Examples include wall unit module walnut and robust sideboard plastic. These terms are used less often by other advertisers, which leads to a lower cost per click (CPC). Even when the number of search queries for long-tail keywords is reduced, these efforts primarily reach people who are interested specifically in the product advertised. At this means a library of more than three million German-language keywords, a number that can be significantly increased as needed. However, the company also continues to bid on high-traffic short-tail search terms, even though they are expensive. Because of Google s autocomplete function, many potential customers no longer type in multiword searches, but instead use the suggestions offered. Generic one-word keywords such as furniture can make an important contribution to visits to the online shop. leaves the decision of when an offer on a specific key word is still worthwhile to the bidding engine, which automatically submits the corresponding offers. The goal in the process is to always achieve the most efficiencies on the campaigns, which are differentiated according to terminal device. From the very beginning, our strategy included pursuing efficient bidding, Geyer says.
The bidding engine automatically submits the offers according to the set parameters and, in the process, attempts to achieve maximum efficiencies on SEM campaigns carried out, which are differentiated according to terminal device and region. In view of a price difference of approximately onethird, the investment in a differentiated bidding strategy is worthwhile. Florian Geyer, SEM manager, Therefore in 2009, company decision makers looked at different solutions on the market and chose what is now Adobe Media Optimizer for Search. According to the SEM manager, the portfolio approach used based on Wall Street trading algorithms was groundbreaking even then, and today remains an excellent fit for the company s long-tail strategy in search engine marketing. Tablet traffic has increased significantly and means more sales We use many of the features this solution offers, Geyer says. For example, the filing of attribution models and detailed parameters for bidding. Reports, which the tool can generate at the push of a button, also play an important role. The SEM experts use these reports to optimize the company s own activities. Additionally, after the reports have been appropriately processed and combined with figures from other marketing channels, they are regularly provided to the company management as a basis for strategic decisions. Adobe Media Optimizer can also perform simulations and model calculations. Even if their results are not 100% accurate, they serve as an important early warning system. This is because one special characteristic of online retail with designer furniture is the customer s long decision-making process. During this time, the entire customer journey is tracked so that the eventual purchase can be assigned to a specific campaign. The cloud solution also supports the numerous tests that are continuously being performed by the SEM experts. In the process, they constantly try out new forms of advertising, modified display texts, or modified strategies for the offers. Overall, has built up an individual SEM solution around the bidding engine with its own tracking system, self-developed campaign management, and the ability to differentiate between desktop and mobile traffic. Representing annual double-digit growth, customers accessing the website via mobile devices are playing an increasingly important role and require a different approach than customers accessing the site via traditional computers. For instance, advertising is tailored to customers using mobile devices. While the CPC costs for mobile traffic used to be lower than the same keywords in the desktop sector, that is no longer the case. Increased competition for advertising space is driving click prices higher and higher. In view of a price difference of approximately one third, the investment in a differentiated bidding strategy is worthwhile, Geyer says. Google has reacted to this development with its new Enhanced Campaigns. As a result, it is possible to distinguish between desktop and mobile traffic within a campaign and to submit different offers for the different segments. Adobe Media Optimizer for Search already supports this format, which promises to make work easier for the SEM experts in the future. However, initially wants to stick to the proven procedure, in which the individual campaigns for the various terminals are duplicated, provided with their own tracking IDs, and individually controlled by the bidding engine.
While the purchase of high-quality designer furniture via smartphones does not currently play a significant role, tablet traffic has grown dramatically in the past few months to almost 15% of all visits. Compared to using competing solutions to manage campaigns, Adobe Media Optimizer delivered long-term efficiencies. Florian Geyer, SEM manager, Comparison test shows significantly better efficiency In the fall of 2012, the bidding engine was subjected to scrutiny as a comparison test was initiated between Adobe Media Optimizer for Search and one of its leading competitors. In order to evaluate the results objectively, Geyer and his team divided all the campaigns running in Germany equally into two parts. In doing so, they paid attention to the fair allocation of the campaign types and sizes as well as the type of keywords, and made sure that the key performance indicators (KPIs) were the same. From the end of October to the end of January, the two solutions competed against each other and controlled their share of SEM activities accordingly. The campaigns supported by Adobe Media Optimizer show significantly better efficiencies, says Geyer. Compared to using competing solutions to manage campaigns, Adobe Media Optimizer delivered long-term efficiencies. Due to concentration on the right keywords and better bidding decisions by the algorithm, the budget was allocated more advantageously overall and the sales volume per cost unit was therefore higher. Overall, the long-term difference showed a relevant uplift, explains Geyer. Given the amounts puts into this marketing channel every day, this is substantial, and reason enough for the online retailer to continue to rely on Adobe Media Optimizer in the future. The support and consulting provided by Adobe did not play a role in this test, which was specifically intended to compare only the efficiency of the respective algorithms. However, the Adobe support and consulting are both very important to the SEM team. Even though the team has come to know the bidding engine s diverse features inside and out, issues continually arise that require quick professional support. For example, when parameters need to be set before important public holidays so that associated fluctuations in traffic do not lead to incorrect conclusions in the automatic submission of bids; or when changes in the business strategy result in new measures in search engine marketing. Google Product Listing Ads should be extended The comparison also did not analyze the Google Product Listing Ads (PLAs), which FASHION FOR HOME has been running for a long time with the help of Adobe Media Optimizer for Search. With this form of advertising, small preview images of the products being promoted are included in the search results. For us, that means we can use it to convey a first impression of our designer furniture to potential customers, Geyer says. This means that interested parties who might simply be looking for the nearest local furniture retailer could be made aware of the option of purchasing online.
The results of a comparison test show that due to concentration on the right keywords and better bidding decisions by the algorithm, Adobe Media Optimizer allocates the budget more advantageously, thus achieving a higher sales volume per cost unit. Because the advertised search terms must always be connected with a specific product name, there is a natural limit to the number of clicks generated by Google PLAs, which PLA optimization helps to determine. The Adobe solution can also take over the management of advertising on platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. With the expansion of social media as a source of traffic at, Geyer believes that an integration of all advertising channels and their ongoing optimization via a single tool makes perfect sense for the future. In his experience, one of the advantages of Adobe Media Optimizer is the scalability of the solution, which until now has had no problem keeping pace with the opening up of new foreign markets and the expanding product line. In the process, Geyer has made a discovery: The greater the data volume, the better the algorithm works. For more information www.adobe.com/solutions/ digital-marketing.html Adobe Systems Incorporated 345 Park Avenue San Jose, CA 95110-2704 USA www.adobe.com 2013 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA. Adobe and the Adobe logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. 91084797 7/13