Not One Size Fits All

Shopping site Getprice increases ROI by choosing where its ads appear

Whether it’s picking the right resolution for a LCD TV or the perfect color for a couch, savvy shoppers know that “one size fits all” doesn’t always apply. So it’s no surprise that Getprice, Australia’s leading independent shopping comparison site, uses Yahoo!’s new Network Distribution tools to obtain optimum results by tailoring which Yahoo! sites and Yahoo! partner sites its ads appear on.

The Challenge
Downstream Marketing, Australia’s leading Search agency, wanted to help Getprice stand out in an extremely competitive field, one where customers choose their allegiance based on three criteria: the range of merchants, the quality of savings, and the value of customer reviews. Yvonne Pflieger, one of Downstream’s Search Marketing Directors, explains that the challenge was to get more consumers to visit Getprice, “Getprice does very well once people visit the site and compare it with its competitors. People appreciate that it’s Australian-owned and independent, but what converts them to customers is seeing the great value the site provides.”

Getprice features over 1.5 million products in over 500 retail categories ranging from electronics to home and garden. Downstream Marketing also faced its own challenge. The search engine and performance display specialist guarantees its clients a 30 percent improvement in their metrics within the first 3 months, whether they’re a new client or have worked with one of Downstream’s competitors. Even though Getprice had been a satisfied client since 2008, Downstream partnered with Yahoo! to even further exceed the overall guarantee.

The Solution
Downstream Marketing, Yahoo! and Getprice already had a productive relationship when Downstream helped Getprice implement Yahoo!’s Network Distribution feature. Network Distribution lets advertisers choose whether to run their ads on Yahoo! or the Yahoo! partner network. Those who opt to run ads on the entire network can set bids for ad placements on Yahoo! and its partners.

“Yahoo! has been great about educating us on the new features and implementing many of the changes for us,” Pflieger says. Downstream used Network Distribution for Getprice by separating out different campaigns for Yahoo! and its partner networks and optimizing for the best campaign placement combination. Pflieger says one of the best aspects of Network Distribution was the ability to choose which mix of placement options worked best for each of Getprice’s retail categories.

The Results
Downstream Marketing loves the flexibility of Network Distribution because “one size fits all” doesn’t fit for all campaigns.“In certain campaigns, we found that the Yahoo! partner network was converting better than some of the Yahoo! sites but slightly worse for cost per acquisition due to higher CPCs,” Pflieger says.

Downstream achieved improvements in key metrics: clickthrough-rate increased by 43%, coverage increased by 14%, and ROI improved by 5%. “We are very happy with the improvements in performance, and of course the improved ROI made us even happier,” says Justus Hammer, Marketing Manager at Getprice. “It was also great to see how Yahoo! and Downstream worked together to provide us a solution that made us even more competitive in the comparison shopping field.”

In the process of optimizing Getprice’s Network Distribution settings, Downstream Marketing collected valuable information that it now applies to all of its Yahoo! advertising. “Often it is not really necessary to make any changes to the settings as Yahoo! is over-achieving on targets, especially on travel,” Pflieger says. “Yahoo! performs well on both networks, but it’s great to have options since
our objectives differ from client to client.”

About Getprice: Getprice is Australia’s leading independent shopping comparison site and the first port-of-call for savvy Australian consumers. Getprice displays up-to-date product and pricing information, as well as useful buying guides, product reviews and user opinions to empower consumers and provide them with shopping choices and transparency.

About Downstream Marketing: Downstream Marketing is Australia’s leading digital performance agency. Primarily known for Search marketing strategy & execution, Downstream is also the exclusive licensee of the world’s leading Search technology platform, Efficient Frontier, in Australia & New Zealand.

— Christine Tseng