THE BLUEBIRD
Short-term, Strategic Spends Impact Sales
The great thing about digital advertising is that it is possible to make a positive impact on your business without the barriers of large investments or long-term commitments of traditional ad channels.
This is something we’ve been able to help the Bluebird in Stanford with many times over the years. The combination of well-followed social media channels and strategically placed ad spends has allowed them to punch well above their weight in terms of growth at times.
The examples below are not exhaustive of their efforts, but they do illustrate that you don’t have to spend thousands of dollars on ads to see great returns.
THE CHALLENGE
Use social media and small, short-term digital advertising investments to grow exposure and sales.
Small Town Budget
The Bluebird offers the naturally sourced and chef-prepared dishes you might expect to find in an urban cafe to diners in downtown Stanford, Kentucky. As with any restaurant, though, the margins are razor thin, so money spent on advertising must be used judiciously. Thankfully, digital advertising makes that possible.
Picking Your Spots
When money is an object, it is important to be strategic in deciding when and how to invest in paid advertising. Thankfully, the Bluebird has built a faithful following on social media organically since the restaurant opened in 2012, with more than 14,000 followers on Facebook alone. We were able to leverage the demographic data from their existing audience to target like-minded potential patrons in their market.
THE SOLUTIONS
Coordinate short-term digital ad campaigns with scheduled opportunities like new menu items or special pricing to maximize the impact on sales.
The Bluebird planned to launch a revamped dinner menu in the summer of 2021, which presented an opportunity to increase exposure and sales for the restaurant. Once the launch date was decided, we began work to produce video content and a social media posting schedule to build anticipation for the changes. To kick off a month of social media build up, we began with an artfully crafted teaser video that focused on beauty shots of a sampling of new menu items. We bookended that with a launch video a month later to share details of the menu.
Teaser Ad
Launch Ad
Results
The combination of social media and digital ad coverage led to a 68% increase in year-over-year gross sales for July. Specifically, they saw a $31,362.46 increase in sales versus an ad investment of $110. This equates to an ROI of 28,411% for ad spend alone. Factor in fair market value for man-hours invested and the ROI is still nearly as impressive at 1,386%.
Social Media Posts
Beginning in August and running through the end of September our social media calendar became saturated with lunch and dinner promotions. Combined with paid digital ads and emails, locals would have been hard-pressed to be unaware of the promotions at the time.
The Deals Are Back
Midway through promotions in August, we decided to run digital ads to share the news outside of our follower group in the local market.
Ad Numbers
- Dates: August 15 – September 3, 202s
- Impressions: 30,304
- Clicks: 1,234
- Click Through Rate: 4.07%
- Cost Per Click: $0.16
- Cost: $198.34
Results
Our efforts led to a 23% increase in year-over-year gross sales for August and September, besting previous highs in 2021. Specifically, they saw a $21,600 increase in sales versus an ad investment of $198.34. This equates to an ROI of 10,790% based on ad spend alone. If you factor in man-hours for social media planning and posting, the number comes in at 414%.
THE RESULTS
The combination of effective communication to customers via social media and email with strategically timed and targeted digital advertising has consistently led to a high return on investment for the Bluebird.
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