Gift retailing is driven by the calendar. Holidays, birthdays, anniversaries and gift-giving occasions like Christmas, Valentine's Day and Mother's Day typically represent the bulk of the annual business for gift merchandisers like 1-800-Flowers.com. Since its launch in 1976, the business has grown into a public company with annual revenues in excess of $500 million. A pioneer in e-commerce since 1992, today 1-800-Flowers.com provides customers with a wide range of gifts, including flowers, plants, gift baskets, candy and fresh-baked goods, collectibles and much more.
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"They're on top of their game, constantly asking the right
questions, suggesting new keywords, being very responsive.
I know that my team and our search marketing campaign are in
the right hands." |
Approach
Seasonal sales require year-round mindshare,
and 1-800-Flowers.com faces another challenge in that its very name
and history are rooted in the floral business. Prospective customers
may not know of its extensive product line beyond bouquets.
Keyword advertising can solve both problems, because these ads are
the most efficient way to target many product types to interested customers
precisely when they are looking for them, and the ads can easily be
adjusted by season or special offer.
This combination of timeliness and targeting is what led 1-800-Flowers.com
to explore Google's advertising programs. For every new marketing initiative,
the company measures three critical data points: increased revenue;
greater market share; and new customer acquisition. "Everything we
do is ROI-focused," says Prakash Bharwani, the senior manager for interactive
marketing, adding, "We knew that keyword advertising offered us a way
to meet these objectives." But the company needed to test this premise
to see if such a campaign warranted becoming a permanent aspect of
the marketing mix.
In February 2002, 1-800-Flowers.com initiated a one-month trial using
Google AdWords™ over the critical Valentine's Day selling period. This
test "had to demonstrate a measurable gain in revenue for us," Bharwani
says. The resulting clickthroughs and conversion offered enough proof
that the company has extended its Google ad program.
Results "Buying keywords seasonally, and for a variety of products,
works well for us as a gift retailer."
The short, intense buying cycle around Valentine's Day
resolved questions the company had about the ability of Google advertising
to deliver timely and targeted messages. One key result: the clickthrough
rate for the Valentine's campaign was significantly greater than the
non-holiday keywords running on Google AdWords at the same time. "Buying
keywords seasonally, and for a variety of products, works well for us
as a gift retailer," says Bharwani. "Because we can test keywords and
track their performance so exactly, we can promote products we aren't
well-known for. We didn't have any idea that keywords like 'cheesecake,'
or 'teddy bear,' for example, would perform so well."
Beyond simply running Google AdWords ad campaigns, Bharwani says, "We
can optimize conversion and clickthrough by constantly revising messages
to get the right message at the right time, with the right frequency." He
notes that a year ago, the web team used just a few keywords. Within
12 months, they had added more than 10 times the original number. By
employing more keywords and constantly optimizing them, he says, "We
have increased impressions, clickthroughs and sales significantly – in
fact, sales have increased sixfold so far, so we are very happy with
the results."
Bharwani says his team looks at the ad performance reports "every day,
every week, and every month to spot trends and make adjustments. And
Google AdWords is so easy for our team to manage." He recalls that before
advertising with Google, "we were rarely ranked in search listings for
terms like 'tulips,' 'roses' or other single varieties of flowers, let
alone gifts or holiday products. With Google AdWords, a new avenue opened
for us to reach a previously unavailable segment of the market." He also
notes that using Google has enabled the company to be smarter in its
ad spending: "We can maximize our investment by tracking results so closely.
Our additional learning helps us spend more money efficiently and continue
to generate better results."
Regarding the Google ad support team, Bharwani says, "They're on top
of their game, constantly asking the right questions, suggesting new
keywords, being very responsive. I know that my team and our search marketing
campaign are in the right hands."
About Google Advertising
Google AdWords is currently used by thousands of businesses worldwide to gain new customers in a cost-effective way. AdWords uses keywords to precisely
target ad delivery to web users seeking information about a particular
product or service. The program is based on cost-per-click (CPC) pricing, so
advertisers only pay when an ad is clicked on. Advertisers can take
advantage of an extremely broad distribution network, and choose the
level of support and spending appropriate for their business. For more
information, go to www.google.com/ads.
