Characters such as Sherlock Holmes, Julius Caesar, or even Batman are exciting because they’re generalists. Their wide range of abilities and knowledge allows them to change a diaper, plan an invasion, design a building, write a poem, build a wall, give/take orders, cook a meal, and fight efficiently. They are all things to all people.

In the eCommerce world, the outlook regarding generalization is different. Over-generalizing products can often lead down dark roads. Those that are marketed as having a “jack-of-all-trades” ability or “cure-all” property are not often bestsellers.

Such was the case in 2018 for a client’s foot insole product. Upon launch, the product was branded and marketed as a holistic reflexology insole that could help align chakras and improve blood flow. The messaging was complex, confusing, and overly scientific; its generalist solution did not appeal to customers. 

Stats from the initial media buying test confirmed suspicions.

“We knew the product worked well and could sell at a high volume with the right messaging,” said Alex Brown, GPC’s Chief Marketing Officer and head of media buying. “Our goal was to corner the correct marketing angle, and we leaned on our internal hack-a-thon to play that out.”

During the 72-hour hack-a-thon, ideas were floated, sunk, and floated again. Throughout several iterations, the marketing team wrote and rewrote new copy, paired it with new page designs, and tested with live traffic on Facebook. The winning combination was identified late into the 3rd day of testing, which focused on the shared anguish and, eventually, resolution of, a serious problem facing millions around the world – back pain relief.

Coupled with new creative assets and a rebrand, MindInsole launched anew. The team was determined to continually make improvements, including in payments and processing. Performance marketing industry folks know different processors (including those housed domestically or internationally) often have disparate results insofar as customer approval rates. In the case of MindInsoles, when domestic processing was introduced, the decline rate improved by more than 200%.

“Higher approval rates come with a litany of effects, including, most notably, the ability to share learnings and successes with our network of affiliate traffic partners,” said Krishna Nirmel, GPC’s head of performance marketing. “It’s the global marketing expertise of the network that resulted in higher volumes, increased revenue, and profitability.”

The team also worked on several front-end checkout page optimization tests, including adding/deleting headers, buttons, form fields, and payments options. Once optimized, this resulted in an uptick in both earnings per click and average order value, meaning an increased conversion rate, increased volume, and higher revenue at scale.

MindInsoles are a specialized, focused product; the story that gets told about it needs to match. Specialization won’t make you Batman, but in the eCommerce world, that’s a good thing.

About GPC Global Performance Commerce

We are one of the world’s leading technology and marketing companies specializing in performance, delivering unparalleled results for advertisers, clients, and affiliates in the eCommerce space. Our technology development and full-service digital agency capabilities provide online businesses the power to maximize ROI on multiple platforms and channels with geo-specific precision. For more information, reach out to info@dfogpc.com.