Google AdWords case study: Buyagift.com
Ever gone to a retailer with a shopping list that included afternoon tea at Harrods, purchasing a moon estate or arranging a spot of indoor bungee jumping? If not, you may be surprised to learn about the success of Enfield based Buyagift. Founded in 1999, it has gone on to become the largest gift experience provider of its kind online. With over 1000 gift ideas to choose from, Buyagift has proved popular with international corporations and with individuals looking for gift ideas with a difference.
Given the range of gifts on offer, Buyagift appeals to all demographics. Furthermore, while there are elements of seasonality in their business, the company also needs year-round exposure in order to cater to birthdays, anniversaries or just the general whims of customers. The easy interface and price guarantee of www.buyagift.com has built up a growing number of customers who recognise it as a one-stop-shop for both unusual and traditional gifts.
Buyagift started with a branding drive. Online marketing was the core focus. Buyagift Marketing Executive Jon Moorfoot explains the benefits that AdWords has over offline marketing: “We really want to be able to know where the money is going, how the money is being spent, where it is allocated and what we are getting back’’. With this ethos in mind, Buyagift began advertising their most popular gifts – spa breaks and Ferrari driving days.
Quality is paramount to Buyagift. They offer quality products, create highly relevant AdWords campaigns and expect quality leads. This emphasis on quality is ultimately aimed at achieving the maximum ROI possible. Moorfoot says “The main goal I’ve always had is to improve traffic levels, and maintain or increase ROI at the same time, we concentrate on the traffic that is converting and make the most of it.”
In terms of their AdWords advertising, Moorfoot places a lot of emphasis on his keyword strategy. He adds that “a lot of the time it’s a case of making the keywords more specific and constantly refining and trying to find the point where you’re getting the traffic that’s bringing through the best return.” One product that Moorfoot uses for his keyword management is AdWords Editor. With an account that covers hundreds of different gifts and thousands of live keywords, this free application allows Moorfoot to
make changes with unprecedented ease. He says that if you’re doing bulk changes, checking campaigns or simply trying to make changes to your keywords, it’s a lot easier because you don’t have to worry about the lag-time. Moorfoot notes that, with innovations like AdWords Editor and the consistent support that is offered by Google, “AdWords is always trying to make things better for marketers”.
The success that Buyagift has been enjoying is in large part due to the success of their AdWords advertising. Moorfoot concludes “We believe that AdWords certainly is the best online pay per click model that we have used.” The expansion of Buyagift’s advertising has been done without compromising the ROI that Moorfoot is keen to maintain. The figures are adding up in all the right ways. Clicks increased 65% between 2005 and 2006 while impressions actually went down. Moorfoot reflects that “this shows the work that Google are doing to help us have more control over where we’re showing. It’s more relevant traffic that we’re pulling in now.” Buyagift’s 2007 performance is already looking very positive as revenue is up 85% and their ROI has jumped by 31%. © Copyright 2007
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