When COVID-19 hit in March of 2020, consumers jumped into panic-buy mode for anything related to health, well-being, and immunity.  As a result of the unexpected category demand surge, Protocol for Life Balance quickly went out of stock of many of its immune supplements. Worried about losing money on both stock outs and advertising (for products that were unavailable), Protocol for Life turned to Pattern. As a trusted ecommerce accelerator, Pattern’s strategy, advertising prowess, and sophisticated fulfillment and logistics resources was the perfect partner for the brand.

Data-Driven Insights Put a Stop to Current Ad Spend

As its 3P ecommerce partner, Pattern used its proprietary technology and data-driven insights to identify two key items for the brand:

1. Organic Traffic Trends and Behavior Predictions
2. Advertising Budget/Spend

Considering the circumstances and unexpected demand, Protocol for Life Balance was losing potential organic traffic for its immune products.  An influx of immune products onto marketplaces flooded the category and caused this drop in organic traffic—too much competition left Protocol as just another immune product in a long list of options. Based on inventory levels, consumer demand levels, and manufacturing timelines, there was little reason for Protocol for Life Balance to spend on advertising. This was simply because the models showed that the products would likely sell out anyways, without any ad spend.

Shift Focus to Advertising Unexpected Performers

Pattern’s advertising team decided to approach the months following the pandemic differently. Pattern identified what we call the “unexpected performers”, which are products that were receiving more sales than the previous month by more than 25%, but weren’t considered immune or vitamin D (the products the COVID crisis was naturally bumping). To capitalize on the "unexpected performers," Pattern and Protocol for Life Balance increased the total budget, ran non-branded ads, and capitalized on natural increases.

New Ad Strategy Increases Conversions over 200% and ROAS 84%

Because Protocol for Life Balance and Pattern’s advertising team shifted their advertising strategy:

• Conversions on Non-Branded Sponsored Products increased 211%
• Recognized an 84% increase of Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) in 3 months
• New customers jumped almost 10%—from 37% of total customers in the month of January to 44% of total customers in April
  • Typically, due to New Year’s resolutions, January is the best performing month for supplement brands and the only month of new customer acquisition

Pattern’s Advertising Strategy Outperforms Across Industries

Pattern’s proprietary technology and advertising experts were able to identify key opportunities and pivot Protocol for Life Balance’s ad strategy to optimize inventory and profitability.  They went beyond the top selling products to identify key gaps in the product portfolio and overlay that with cultural and consumer trends to drive significant results in sales and ROAS. Contact us to learn more about how to apply data, technology, and what resources you need to improve ROAS on Amazon and other marketplaces.