Learn how SharkStrike helped it's client Increase it's E-commerce toy sales by 40%. Digital Blue wanted to increase online presence and sales to their online retail store. They also needed to reduce their pay-per-click budget from the previous year. Other challenges encompassed overcoming the holiday spending recession, as well as introducing new products to clients.

1. SHARKSTRIKE
INCREASES DIGITAL BLUE ONLINE
TOY SALES PROFIT BY 40%
BUSINESS OBSTACLE:
Digital Blue wanted to increase online presence and sales to their online retail store.
They also needed to reduce their pay-per-click budget from the previous year. Other
challenges encompassed overcoming the holiday spending recession, as well as
introducing new products to clients.
INTRODUCTION:
Digital Blue is a strategic licensing partner for major entertainment brands
including Disney, LEGO®, Cartoon Network, WWE, Inc., and Warner Brothers, and
has received industry acclaim from Oppenheim, Toy Portfolio, iParenting, NAPPA,
and LIMA. Founded in 2001, we are headquartered in Atlanta, GA and operate four
global offices.
THE SITUATION:
Digital Blue hired an interactive agency in 2008 to manage their online spending and
to increase their online presence and sales. The agency spent over $130,000 in pay-
per-click marketing including some conversions costing more than $100,00. “We
knew that our conversions and our spending were out of sync and we didn’t want to
repeat last year’s efforts,” said Lisa McEachen Vice President Marketing.
“Our target goal was to decrease our pay-per-click spending, increase our
natural/organic search results to gain more free traffic, increase our affiliate
marketing program, and reach a more broader audience that which our
partnerships with brick and mortar stores couldn’t accomplish. In order to do this
we looked outside to find someone who could increase sales, profits and introduce
our new products to a broader market.”

2. THE CHALLENGE:
Digital Blue’s challenge is to increase their online traffic to the web store, increasing
sales while reducing their online spending. The economy was a big challenge as
major players in the toy space such as Walmart, Target and Toysrus were slashing
prices. The toy category is a loss leader in the industry for major retail stores that
allows them to cross sell the toy buyer with other products. By reducing prices to
under $10.00 per toy stores were directly affecting Digital Blues ability to sell
directly and online to teens and tweens. Beside the big box companies with large
budgets, and sophisticated systems we were also competing against smaller
companies all vying for the same Christmas dollars.
CAMPAIGN:
The first step was to understand the environment. What tools, technologies and
vehicles the company was using to drive traffic and generate sales to the online store.
Next we had to decide on a budget and where that money would be allocated to. At
first Digital Blue thought that they should spend their entire budget in pay-per-click
marketing. Their history had been working in Google Adwords at a previous year
spend of $140,000 dollars. As their products were priced low and the cost of ppc was
high we recommended that they take a different approach. Digital Blue was already
utilizing Commission Junction affiliate program so we recommended that they spend
more money on creative that would attract more affiliates. Another recommendation
was to get new exposure in shopping engines such Shopzilla and Bizrate. Increasing
the overall Search Engine Optimization strategy would also drive more visitors into
the site by natural search. By combining the SEO strategy with social media
increased the exposure to the products and increased the overall sales. By changing
the on-site page optimization we were able to increase the conversion rate of people
purchasing.
RESULTS:
- Increased 4th quarter year over year profit by 40%
- Generated over $200,000 dollars in profit
- Increased online conversion rate by 173%
- Multiple SEO rankings (ie Lego camera #2, Lego digital camera #1)
- Increased online average order value by 60%
For More Information Contact
SharkStrike
800-897-7016
sales@sharkstrike.com
http://www.SharkStrike.com