Goals
The result was a digital strategy that did not end with site performance optimization, but also led to a rise in foot traffic at the physical points of sale.
SEO/SEM synergy to increase sales on the website and boost foot traffic at brick-and-mortar stores
Context
The purpose of the SEO actions was to provide complete optimization of the Italian website, so as to foster growth of the customer base.
In order to meet the need to also increase foot traffic to points of sale, Webranking organized a drive-to-store strategy that involved both organic and sponsored channels.
To strengthen the synergy with digital planning activities, we implemented a compelling SEM strategy, with the goal of boosting sales on the e-commerce site and increasing foot traffic to the brick-and-mortar stores.
Approach
The two goals were pursued in different ways. Activities to boost e-commerce revenues and SEO operations were based on improving IKEA page positioning on search engines. The non-branded keywords in the top positions made it possible to eliminate corresponding SEM expenses and concentrate on more competitive keywords. In addition to reallocating the budget towards more competitive terms, SEM created and managed several campaigns that meticulously segmented the different products from the IKEA catalog, so as to generate extremely detailed bid offers and ensure ongoing optimization management. On Google Shopping (PLA), the campaigns were separated into branded and non-branded and divided by geographic connotation and product.
The drive-to-store objective was achieved in part through the first implementation in Italy of the Google “In Store Visits” metric, which made it possible to gauge the effectiveness of online advertising in bringing users into IKEA’s physical points of sale.
Results
In terms of e-commerce, the account’s ROAS rose to 1,192%, while PLA campaign revenues alone rose by 270% year-over-year.
