Purchase cycles for printers and office technology have changed. There used to be spikes in retail purchases around key dates like back to school (September) or the most popular hiring months (January and February). But overall traffic for OE Canada, a London-based premier office technology provider and partner, was steady month-over-month.
When the pandemic forced businesses to operate more nimbly, it disrupted the historically steady purchase cycle of printers and office technology. It no longer made sense for OE Canada to have a fixed monthly advertising media budget. They risked losing sales during demand spikes due to an inflexible monthly budget or seeing a low Return On Ad Spend (ROAS) during lulls by spending when searchers were less likely to convert.
OE Canada needed help adapting its digital advertising strategy so that it responded to rapidly changing economic factors and buying behaviour. Luckily tbk is agile and fast-moving, so we were able to implement a proactive spend strategy to help OE Canada see a 159% increase in return on ad spend.
Return On Ad Spend (ROAS)
Increase in ROAS from last year
dollars in revenue
Prior to 2020
Consistent traffic & conversions MoM
Pandemic
Businesses needs were less predictable and sporadic due to lockdowns.
Deep-Dive into Data
tbk reviewed past and new data to better understand consumer behaviour changes.
159% Increase on ROAS
Through data-driven spending, tbk was able to achieve a 159% increase in ROAS during Q1 of 2022
OE Canada is a retailer of print solutions, office technology, and business process consulting. They have been serving Southwestern Ontario for over 30 years. With two offices in London and Kitchener-Waterloo, OE Canada provides the equipment and operational process consulting services that businesses need to increase productivity. They also reduce paper/printer waste, increase process efficiency, and keep businesses printing cost effectively.
OE Canada is a longtime client of tbk. When we noticed their historical ad performance gains had started to plateau, our digital advertising strategists conducted a 3-year deep analysis of campaign performance results. We looked for notable changes in consumer behaviour online and verified what we were seeing with Google Trends data.
tbk presented the data to OE Canada, and we made strategic recommendations for Google Search Ads based on a new data-driven forecasting. We changed their media budget from a fixed (month-over-month) amount to a variable amount based on historical conversion data.
Our digital strategists keep a close eye on the ad campaign and respond in real-time when Return On Ad Spend is not meeting our performance benchmarks. We dial down the Google Search Ads when the goal Return on Ad Spend is not being met to conserve budget and spend more when user behaviour shows they are more likely to convert.
Thanks to the support OE Canada gets from tbk, its digital advertising dollars are being more strategically allocated throughout the year. Media spend is saved for the months that are most likely to see a high ROAS, resulting in higher number of quality leads.
In a quarterly audit of the new conversion rate optimization strategy, we can see that tbk’s recommendations drastically improved OE Canada’s ROAS.
For context, anything above 400% is considered “good” for Google Search Ads, so seeing numbers over 2,000% is phenomenal. Within the first quarter of the year, tbk’s changes to Google Search Ad spending have resulted in tens of thousands of dollars in revenue for OE Canada—while decreasing media spend by over $1,400.
tbk is proud to have helped OE Canada (along with many businesses) change its advertising strategy during the pandemic to keep pace with the ever-changing business environment.