Challenges
Improving the consumer experience – Amazon optimization was required to address customers pain points in order to improve conversion rate. All this while staying on top of new marketing trends and customer behaviors.
Brand differentiation – One of the main differences between Chirp and other yoga wheels is the spinal canal that cushions the spine while in use. This is the main feature that was needed to highlight.
Product pivoting – The Chirp wheel is designed to compete against the long foam rollers that you see in fitness stores. However, all of the products similar to Chirp are categorized as yoga wheels. Chirp was ranked #1 in this category but it was much smaller than the Foam Rollers category. Finding a new and bigger market was crucial to support the sales increase we were having.
Conversion rate – The listings were mature enough and the brand strong enough that we did not saw a keyword drop off from removing words from the title. Our focus was to generate a sustainable strategy without risking product devaluation.
PPC – Chirp is a well known brand in the foam roller wheel/ yoga wheel category, so Chirp brand terms are expensive due to competitors driving up the price. Sacrificing margins was not an option and we needed to defend the brand from competitors while expanding reach and increasing brand awareness.
Our approach
In order to define our strategy, we started by analyzing our target market and its size.
We then followed a plan integrated by the following elements:
Marketing & Design
- We defined a customer persona which helped us to optimize the listings accordingly by appealing to that market’s main pain points and concerns.
- Our goal was to solve the customers’ questions in a fun and engaging way.
- In order to do so, we created relevant content (infographics, videos, A+, Brand Story and a Brand Store).
Category Change
- We decided to go against the grain and switch to the Foam Rollers category. Even though Chirp no longer had the #1 rank badge (ranked #5 in the new category), we saw a 20% increase in sales after a few short weeks. They are currently ranked #2 in this much larger category.
Conversion Rate
- Even after optimizing the listings, we felt there was more opportunity for improvement. We ran AB title tests and discovered that a short title actually increased conversion rate for these items.
- We also calculated that the cost of lightning deals was a small investment compared to the benefit generated and began running weekly lightning deals. This method helped to increase the conversion rate on the thousands of sessions that are generated on these listings.
PPC
- To maintain profitable margins, we focused on cheaper advertising options like video ads and longer tail brand keywords to continue to defend the brand. We also went on the offensive and focused on target competitor brand terms and listings themselves. With our well known brand next to theirs, we were able to steal thousands of dollars in sales and gain market share.
This process was repeated several times with each new product launch.
The impact
With the correct lifestyle appeal, we managed to reduce the customer friction and obtain a quick growth in conversion rate. It increased from 1% to 20%.
With an average of $7 returned for every dollar we invested in advertising, our proprietary process has successfully grown the brand from $500k per year to $8 million, in a two year period.
We have successfully made Chirp a key player in the Amazon health & fitness space . Growth to date is over 519%.
