STIHL leveraged InMarket's proprietary GeoLink location-based marketing platform and real-time Moments App Network to drive consumer awareness, consideration and purchase of STIHL products.
Objective and Context:
During the COVID-19 pandemic, consumer demand for streaming services, food and alcohol delivery, and do-it-yourself home improvement projects skyrocketed as consumers adapted to life at home. STIHL's toughest marketing challenges reflected advertisers' uncertainty about effective ROI during unprecedented times.
STIHL quickly recognized the opportunity to tap into this emerging customer demand and be top-of-mind for buyers. Moreover, the brand wanted to understand who their best prospects were at scale, where and when to best reach them, and position themselves as the premier choice for buyers.
To accomplish these goals, STIHL and its digital agency, PowerChord, turned to InMarket, a 360-degree consumer intelligence and real-time activation platform to better understand current customer mindsets and reach consumers on their terms in the purchase process during this fragmented time. InMarket's 360-degree consumer intelligence and InSights provided STIHL with the knowledge necessary to better understand who their consumers are, precisely where they go, how often they go, and how long they stay to drive their advertising targeting strategy.
STIHL leveraged InMarket's proprietary GeoLink location-based marketing platform and real-time Moments App Network powered by the InMarket SDK to drive consumer awareness, consideration, and purchase of STIHL products.
Leveraging that intelligence, STIHL then tapped into InMarket's proprietary real-time Moments network to reach consumers as they were visiting authorized dealers. The STIHL program highlighted the importance of relevance, timing, and context. The strategy, focused on cross-digital promotion at the awareness stage, led product interaction and sales via trusted sources of recommendations during the decision stage while consumers were inside stores making purchase decisions.
With foot traffic at stores brought to a sudden halt, and 95 percent of the U.S. population forced into self-isolation by April, buyer behaviors were disrupted and advertisers had to adapt. InMarket helped create the opportunity for STIHL to execute a successful campaign during the uncertainty that COVID-19 created across consumer shopping. Using these insights, STIHL was able to reach customers on their terms when it mattered most.
Target Audience:
STIHL and its agency, PowerChord, targeted avid home improvers and circumstantial do-it-yourselfers alike. To understand who those shoppers are, InMarket's GeoLink provided exclusive access to consumers' past andcurrent interests as well as visit behavior to attain a deep understanding of the ideal audiences to target and engage.
Specifically, for STIHL's breakthrough moment, InMarket determined that devices which over-indexed for do-it-yourself outdoor projects, lawn care, gardening, and top competitive retailers were likely to purchase STIHL products. InMarket leveraged this past and present location movement in real-time to target and retarget these consumers as they entered authorized STIHL dealers and retailers, which were considered essential businesses during the pandemic.
Creative Strategy:
STIHL's creative for its breakthrough moment was driven by informative and engaging messages. Using its proprietary real-time Moments Network, InMarket deployed its unique ability to notify mobile devices and send permission-based push notifications from apps users know and trust. These consumers were served dynamic ads across every device in their digital world. These advertisements were loaded with value messaging and exclusive offers designed to inform shoppers and convert their home-improvement interests to brand awareness for STIHL.
Overall, the STIHL ad was an example of interactivity executed well and with purpose. This creative started out with an engaging video, driving shoppers to the nearest dealer locator at the top of the ad, which would lead directly to the nearest dealer's website if clicked. Once the video finished, the creative transitioned into a swipeable product carousel, highlighting the features of popular and seasonal products, focusing on a battery pack promotion for multiple STIHL battery powered tools.
Overall Campaign Execution:
The strategy focused on cross-digital promotion at the awareness stage, and then drove product interaction and sales via trusted source recommendations during the decision stage while consumers were inside stores ready to make purchase decisions.
The first step of this process was understanding who STIHL's customers were, and how they indexed on home-improvement products. InMarket determined that devices which over-indexed for DIY outdoor projects, lawn care, and gardening belonged to consumers who visited top retailers like Home Depot, Lowes, Ace, and independent hardware stores and were most likely to purchase STIHL products. Using this profile of a likely STIHL customer based on offline behavior, InMarket was able to target and re-target high-intent users.
Next, InMarket deployed a multi-faceted online-to-offline ad solution, leveraging its unique ability to reach shoppers throughout the entire purchase process. The strategy focused on cross-digital promotion at the awareness stage, and then drove product interaction and sales via trusted source recommendations during the decision stage while consumers were inside stores ready to make purchase decisions.
This mobile execution and combination of creative and consumer intelligence allowed STIHL to achieve a 18.17 percent click-through rate, 31.37 times higher than industry benchmarks (based on Google Ads Mobile Benchmark for average click-through rate, 2019). This brand engagement was vital to continuing to grow market share and increase revenues during unprecedented times.
Mobile Execution:
Much of this campaign was built around real-time movement. With millions across the nation self-isolating, STIHL needed to tap into real-time data to reach potential customers more effectively. InMarket leveraged its GeoAudiences, GeoFencing, GeoRetargeting, and Moments capabilities within GeoLink, to enable STIHL to reach the right consumers at the right time with the right message driving high engagement and consideration.
STIHL leveraged InMarket's exclusive GeoLink location-based marketing platform and network of more than 850 apps to drive consumer awareness of STIHL products and offers, and subsequent consideration and purchase of STIHL products during the COVID-19 pandemic.
InMarket's proprietary real-time Moments network enabled STIHL to send permission-based push notifications and interactive ads to consumers from apps they trust and use regularly. Moments' real-time activations specifically allowed STIHL to connect to consumers as they entered STIHL retailers, including local independently owned shops. By waking up devices at key points in-store, STIHL was able to capture customer interest at the peak moment of ad receptivity and provide valuable messaging to shoppers to help inform their purchase decision.
InMarket's location-based marketing platform, GeoLink, successfully solved STIHL's toughest challenges: reaching audiences at peak moments of receptivity, driving awareness, engagement, and purchase conversion during an unprecedented time for advertisers.
To achieve extraordinary campaign performance, InMarket's proprietary real-time Moments Network provided access to consumers' past andcurrent interests and visit behavior to attain a deep and precise understanding of the ideal audiences to target and engage. By doing this, InMarket pinpointed crucial changes in consumer behaviors in real-time to meet them at their precise moments of need as they shop, making the most of ad spend.
Achieving a mobile breakthrough moment during the COVID-19 pandemic requires a unique combination of art and science to accomplish. By combining consumer intelligence to understand who customers are and where to reach them with engaging creative, STIHL was able to stand out from competitors.
InMarket's hyper-accurate and actionable location data allowed STIHL to adapt to an industry-wide crisis, and successfully position STIHL as the top home improvement brand during the pandemic. STIHL outshined competitors while driving in-store visits to smaller, independently owned hardware stores where STIHL products were sold.
With GeoLink's access to 100 million unique mobile devices, InMarket's native mobile marketing capabilities were unique in not only leveraging past visitation and behavior, but also in its ability to wake up mobile devices by sending permission-based push notifications and interactive ad experiences to consumers from apps they trust and regularly use. By reaching consumers during key decision-making moments while shopping in-store, the campaign substantially surpassed industry benchmarks and exceeded KPIs.
STIHL achieved 18.17 percent click-through rate, or 31.37 times higher than industry benchmarks. InMarket proved through exceptional performance that its location-based marketing platform, GeoLink, was successful in not only breaking through the noise of competitive ads to build awareness, but also driving record engagement.
For STIHL, this advertising campaign drastically improved engagement and purchase conversion for the brand. By partnering with digital agency, PowerChord, and consumer intelligence platform, InMarket, STIHL was able to gain additional market share and position itself top-of-mind for experienced home improvers and situational DIY-ers alike.
For InMarket, this effort to lead location-based breakthrough moments for brands is part of its long-term strategy of creating location ads that are permission-based and accurate. InMarket's location data is backed by the global location verification provider, Location Sciences, which returned the highest possible accuracy rating optimal for its location data. InMarket's real-time Moments platform has outperformed any other digital marketing effort including email, search, and mobile and display advertising, and returned substantial ROI for brands, like STIHL.
