Online retailers want lots of people to click through the ads they place on search engines, but what they really need is lots of the right people to click on their ads. The “right” people are those who actually are interested in the e-Tailer’s products, and who could be motivated to complete a purchase.
Furniture retailer Wayfair has worked with the Yahoo Gemini platform to optimize its search ads since May 2015, and has achieved strong results both in generating clicks and attracting good prospects. Wayfair’s click-through rate (CTR) is 240% higher than the retail industry benchmark, and the overall quality of those clicking also has been high.
“Early in working with search ads on Gemini, we found that customer performance was better than average along multiple metrics, including average order value,” said Dan Wulin, Associate Director of Data Science at Wayfair. “This is probably because Yahoo! traffic is generally more valuable than other sources, and they did a good job early on identifying the most valuable segments of search traffic and funneling it through the Gemini platform.”
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Part of Wayfair’s process involves rigorous analysis of the ads’ performance. “Our main approach is to make very tailored ads with an appropriate landing page,” explained Wulin in an exclusive interview with Retail TouchPoints. “We tailor the ads to drive to conversions — this means specific ad copy, landing pages and budgeting the appropriate amount of money to the ad based on its performance.”
Query-Based Navigation Boosts Results
By optimizing targeting parameters with Yahoo Gemini, Wayfair has been able to enhance its search strategy and increase the number of new customers coming to the site. Much of the optimization involves connecting would-be shoppers to the appropriate page on the Wayfair site, and doing so as quickly as possible. “If somebody is searching a very product-oriented term, such as a specific type of area rug, we want to get that person to the correct product page right away,” said Wulin. “At the end of the day, our goal is to maximize revenue and profit.”
Wayfair also uses Yahoo Gemini to nurture leads with consumers who have the potential to become high-value spenders in the future. “Yahoo has been a great partner, both in terms of helping our day-to-day marketing management as well as putting us in direct conversations with product experts,” said Wulin. “Our ads have evolved since we started working with Gemini search ads, but the overall strategy hasn’t changed.”
