Boosting beverage sales with search marketing

Background 

A well-known family-owned business, offered an unique twist to traditional tea by infusing it with a variety of flavors, natural ingredients, and, most importantly, bubbles! However, it was facing an unique challenge. Despite a decade long presence it was not able to register satisfactory sales figures.With the festive season approaching, it aimed to increase its visibility and sales in a city like Kolkata, known for its rich culture and love for tea during celebrations.

Challenges

Some of the challenges it faced were:

• Limited Awareness: Despite being a decade-old brand with a dedicated local following, it was relatively unknown outside its immediate neighborhood.
• Seasonal Sales: The festive season is hyper competitive, with many similar businesses vying for consumer attention. The brand needed to stand out and capture the festive spirit.
• Limited Advertising Budget: With a not-so-glorious history,the brand had a limited budget for marketing and advertising.

Digital Marketing Trends for the Beverage Industry

Solution

We analysed behavioral intent and found that neighbourhoods with corporate offices had a tendency to consume beverages beyond tea and coffee. This tendency saw a sharp upward spike during the festival season.Further digging into contextual intent brought to light what sort  of brand messaging can trigger purchase behaviour.It also proved that for such unconventional beverage sales,time was a critical factor.

Campaign Strategy

• Keyword Research: Extensive keyword research was conducted to identify the most relevant and high-converting keywords related to bubble tea, the festive season, and local festivities in the city.
• Ad Creation: Compelling ad copy was crafted to highlight the unique qualities of the beverage, such as the wide range of flavors, natural ingredients, and the festive twist they were adding.
• Geo-Targeting: To maximize the impact of the campaign within their budget, the brand targeted ads specifically to neighbourhoods with corporate offices and its surrounding areas.
• Budget Allocation: The advertising budget was allocated strategically, with a focus on peak festive season dates,ranging over a week, when people were most likely to make purchasing decisions.

Campaign Execution

The Google search advertising campaign was executed in several phases:

• Pre-Festive Season Teasers: To generate anticipation, teaser ads were launched a week before the festive season. We invited customers to participate in games and contests with attractive gift hampers as prizes, at 10 specified booths selling the beverage in the city. 
• Festive Season Blitz: During the festival days, ad spending increased along with visibility. Ad extensions were added to provide additional information such as location, contact details, and festive discounts.
• Post-Festive Engagement: After the festivities, the beverage brand continued to engage with customers by running "Thank You" ads and offering post-festive discounts to retain customers acquired during the campaign.
• 10 winners from the contests were given gift hampers and also invited to post their individual videos on the social feeds of the beverage brand, where they highlighted their festival experiences.

Results

The Google Search advertising campaign produced outstanding results:

• Impressions: The campaign generated a million impressions, significantly increasing reach and brand awareness in the city.
• Click-Through Rate (CTR): The CTR was above 6 %, indicating that the ad copy and targeting were highly effective.
• Conversions: The beverage experienced a substantial upward spike in sales during the festival days. They also saw a rise in repeat customers due to their post-festive engagement efforts.
• ROI: The return on investment exceeded expectations, demonstrating the cost-effectiveness of Google Search advertising.

Conclusion

This  advertising campaign successfully allowed the brand to increase visibility and significantly increase sales during the festive season in the city. Due to the highly effective messages,the brand could establish a recall amongst customers.