EcoPhone
How we were able to double the number of orders and sales year-on-year thanks to the combination of PPC advertising and engaging creatives
Year
2023 – 2024
Segment
Electronics
Services
Google Ads, Meta Ads, graphic design
EcoPhone sells refurbished iPhones, saving both customers’ money and the environment. It enables customers to buy an iPhone with a new battery and a 24-month warranty. Despite having a high-quality product with appealing added extras, EcoPhone was slow to grow.
The owners decided to entrust their campaigns to Dexfinity and together we managed to double the sales and the number of orders in just one year. How?
Initial situation
Our cooperation with our client, EcoPhone, grew from a dissatisfaction with their previous agency. They were missing growth and convincing results. The owners felt that they could achieve more on the Slovak market and planned to expand to other markets.
Before going abroad, they needed to fine-tune their advertising campaigns and increase sales in the domestic market. Our job was to find out why their PPC ads and current creatives weren’t producing results.
Automated work with the feed
First, we started by looking at the Google Ads and Meta Ads account settings. Since they were managed by an agency prior to our involvement, they already had some structure and were running active campaigns.
After the initial Google Ads analysis, we made the following amendments:
- we created a better and more automated feed workflow with the help of external tools (Mergado, Google Merchant Center). For example, we sorted the products into different advertising groups (based on the condition of the refurbished phone),
- we changed the structure of the campaigns (we added Awareness campaigns like YouTube or Demand Gen ),
- we changed the bidding strategy to be more in line with selling refurbished phones (maximising conversion value didn’t make sense because EcoPhone has more or less the same margin on most phones and it is enough to just maximise conversions).
We tried to make all adjustments and changes to settings during the summer so that Ecophone would be ready for the main e-commerce season (from October to December). We optimised performance ads, but due to slow growth, we also looked at acquisition. We decided to invest more into brand campaigns over the summer period.
"The fact that some people call summer the "cucumber season" (or slow season) does not make it entirely true. Sales are usually down, but think of it as the calm before the storm, when you have an opportunity to build your brand, test new approaches and prepare for the season.”
New campaign structure on Meta Ads
We had to completely redo EcoPhone’s campaign structure on social media. We found three problems:
- The previous setup was costing too much money without delivering the required results.
- The campaigns were too broad and did not follow a specific goal in the customer journey.
- Customers who had already purchased were not excluded from the campaigns.
The customer journey is often overlooked during the process of creating campaigns. Each channel fulfills a different role. Communication, budget and campaign structure should all take this into account. That’s the only way you can utilise it to it’s highest potential.
Brand and performance at a ratio of 50:50
We split the campaigns 50:50, which is a good starting position for testing the next steps when the market is already established.
Brand campaigns allowed us to collect a lot of data. We found out exactly who clicks on each ad, we created the necessary audiences and a high-quality basis for remarketing – basically re-approaching the people we were interested in. Only then did we increase the ratio in favour of performance campaigns.
We immediately excluded customers who had already purchased a refurbished iPhone from our targeting set. You don’t buy a new mobile every six months. Targeting them made no sense.
Why was EcoPhone still growing slowly?
Even after moving across to Dexfinity, the results did not appear from one day to the next. We found several errors in campaign structures and targeting. We fixed everything, but the growth was still too slow.
Where was the problem? We put our heads together and looked for even the smallest snags that could slow down EcoPhone’s growth. We found three possible problems:
- Static banners and classic PPC advertising is not attractive and creative enough.
- The demand for refurbished iPhone products is more or less covered, and we are only fighting for the market share with the competition.
- We couldn’t convince customers who want a new iPhone.
"Right from the beginning, the cooperation was completely different than in previous agencies. I appreciate the sincere interest in our project and how the team comes up with new strategies. Communication with the people who work at EcoPhone, especially with the account manager, is perfect."
Solution
When we took a good look at the data and results, we found that the current demand for refurbished iPhones was hitting a ceiling. We were competing for a customer with our competitors, sometimes more successfully, sometimes less so.
Together with the client, we realised that we must to focus on another target group – people who want a new phone. We needed to show them that a new iPhone is not the only pathway to a quality phone. That they can be more ecological and if they don’t want the latest model, they can buy a powerful, refurbished iPhone with a brand new battery for less money.
How to cut yourself a piece of the new phone market?
We lacked interesting creatives and attractive formats, ideally videos. In other projects, video creatives significantly helped us with sales in a relatively short period of time. After some persuasion, the client agreed and we started creating AI creatives and videos.
Social media creative for EcoPhone by Dexfinity. Eye-catching visuals paired with with precise settings reduced the cost per click.
Video content for EcoPhone
We set up several meetings, explained what videos we needed, suggested scripts and helped create a video schedule. We definitely weren’t just trying to use them for selling. On the contrary, many were simply focused on the brand and its USPs (unique selling points or benefits). In other words, what makes EcoPhone different and gives it that advantage.
“I was surprised at how the videos helped the overall results. I didn't believe in video content for a long time, but after the poor results of September 2023, we started filming. After that, everything started moving in the right direction very quickly. Since then, we've been making at least two videos every week."
AI-assisted static creative
In addition to the videos, we also delivered new creatives to the client. We used artificial intelligence to generate eye-catching images and create new graphic visuals.
We also used all these visuals in Google Ads adverts. We emphasised environmental friendliness and a connection with modern technology.
Everything came crashing down overnight
After all the adjustments and changes, the numbers started to grow exponentially. That is, until one sad Tuesday, when everything came crashing down.
We immediately went through the entire account from top to bottom, searching for the cause that dramatically affected the results out of nowhere.
We found that the client changed the product offering. Until then, they sold refurbished iPhones in three variants: “good”, “very good” and “like new”. Later on, EcoPhone also added the Reborn option (with a new battery) and removed the “good” option from the menu.
At first glance, a good solution. The “good” condition actually hardly sold. On the other hand, this exclusion had a huge impact on sales.
The shopping ads stopped showing cost-effective offers (good condition) and we lost the traffic we needed. The cheapest category may not have sold much, but it was attractive enough and it was thanks to this that all the others sold well.
After the return of the “good condition” category, the situation improved again and we could finally enjoy solid growth together.
Cheaper clicks from ads
After implementing new creatives, we also tested other types of campaigns such as Demand Gen in Google Ads, and we used videos from the client in Performance Max and YouTube campaigns.
The results of the video content and new creatives were visible within a few weeks. Clicks from ads on social media and Google Ads became cheaper and we managed to reach a much wider audience.
The project in numbers
Results
227%
Increase in conversions for December
These figures were delivered by Google Ads campaigns year-on-year. In addition, the conversion value increased by 286% and the return on ad investment improved by almost 64%. In January, which is traditionally more difficult for online stores, the great numbers were confirmed again. The number of conversions almost doubled year-on-year.
92%
Quarterly increase in orders
All these great numbers translated into the most important thing – real orders. These almost doubled when comparing the various quarters in 2023 and 2024.
110%
Year-on-year increase in sales
When we compared the first quarter of 2023 and 2024, the results were clear. A combination of the right adjustments in Google and Meta Ads along with new creatives finally brought the desired growth.
In addition, EcoPhone not only enjoyed more orders, but they could be sure that we were using every single euro invested in advertising effectively. We reduced cost-to-turnover ratio by almost 15% year-on-year.
What are we most proud of?
Above all, we are proud of the change in the relationship between us and the client. EcoPhone initially had a classic approach, like many other clients. They set us a task and expected results. Thanks to constant communication, we managed to convince the client that even well set up ads need content and creatives.
Eventually, the client agreed to the video content. Heeding our advice and recommendations, they started creating videos that we consulted on and evaluated together. Great results were achieved through a combination of good content creation from the client and well thought out targeting (Google Ads, YouTube and Meta Ads).
Expansion to Croatia
Thanks to successfully set up processes, today we are preparing to expand into Croatia together. We view this as a huge sign of trust and a reward for the work we have done together on the home market.
We did not choose Croatia randomly – we based this on Google export tools, to which we have unique access. Even though the EcoPhone online store works on Shoptet, for the expansion we decided to create a new online store on Shopify.
"We will see where we go after the expansion to Croatia. Next year, we will definitely continue to enter other markets. We have just opened a new store in Nitra and we will be looking forward to Christmas."
Why Shopify?
Shopify is built for expansion. Thanks to Shopify, opening new markets can happen quickly, not least thanks to automatic translations. The client saves a lot of money and we can simply turn any market on or off as needed. Shopify is also well connected to banks and carriers.
We are curious to see what the future holds and look forward to our future cooperation with EcoPhone.
The specialists behind this project
Matus Oriesek
Matúš covers several projects of our partners at Dexfinity as an Account Manager. He focuses on the results and quality of work, including AI generated creatives and the content itself.
Tomas Sefcik
Social Media Specialist
Damian Duda
PPC Specialist & Graphic Designer
DIRECT CONTACT DETAILS
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Michal Lichner
Global BizDev, Sales, Marketing Consultant
+421 911 585 689
michal.lichner@dexfinity.com
Eva Cechovska
Sales & Export Consultant
+421 918 341 781
eva.cechovska@dexfinity.com
Pavol Adamcak
International Marketing Strategy Consultant, Founder
+421 918 435 105
pavol.adamcak@dexfinity.com
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