Case study
Optibac Probiotics teams up with Tambo to drive new customer sales on Amazon
Goals
- Attract new customers to expand their reach and grow business
- Build brand loyalty through Amazon’s Subscribe & Save feature
- Increase new-to-brand sales
Approach
- Used insights from Amazon Marketing Cloud to optimise advertising approach
- Developed and deployed New Customer 360 Dashboard to track campaign’s impact over time
- Adjusted audience reach efforts to focus on ASINs with highest new-to-brand sales
- Broadened use of Amazon DSP to reach prospective audiences
Results
- 72% increase in total ad-attributed monthly new customers
- 52% of total sales from new customers (8% more than before the campaign)
- 51% of Amazon DSP campaign sales from new-to-brand customers
Probiotics, microorganisms often referred to as “good” bacteria have gained popularity for their role in promoting gut health and enhancing overall wellness. Finding the right probiotic, however, can often be a challenge. Optibac Probiotics (Optibac) thus caters to a wide range of consumers with their array of supplement offerings.
Optibac has long been committed to maintaining strong customer relationships by earning repeat business and building a loyal subscriber base. Nevertheless, the brand also sought to introduce their products to more people so they could expand awareness and grow their business.
Fermenting success in the probiotic category
Optibac began selling on Amazon UK in 2017, with a strategic focus on using the vast reach of Amazon to attract new customers and build brand loyalty through the Subscribe & Save feature. After engaging Amazon Ads partner Tambo in 2021, they accomplished just that.
From May 2022 to April 2023, Optibac’s Amazon sales soared by 190%.1 They used audience insights to deploy Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands campaigns, which helped grow their Subscribe & Save numbers. However, Optibac’s new-to-brand (NTB) sales percentage was still below their planned goal. To help attract new customers, Tambo proposed a metrics-driven strategy: using insights from Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) to uncover insights and identify ways to optimise the brand’s ads.
Analysing AMC metrics to gain advertising insights
To track the campaign’s impact over time, Tambo first created a New Customer 360 Dashboard powered by AMC within Tambo Compass, their proprietary Amazon insight suite. This dashboard measured and analysed key metrics, such as monthly NTB sales percentages and total monthly paid new customers, across all audience types, campaigns and Amazon standard identification numbers (ASINs).
Tambo discovered that Amazon DSP had the lowest NTB sales percentage compared to all other ad types, as Optibac primarily used Amazon DSP for remarketing to existing customers rather than attracting new ones. Additionally, five of the top 10 sales-driving ASINs had NTB sales that made up more than 55% of total sales, whereas four of the 10 had an NTB sales share of less than 40%.2
Using these insights from AMC, Tambo developed and deployed a test plan with a three-pronged strategy designed to bring in new customers. The partner first refocused audience reach around the ASINs with the highest percentage of NTB sales. They then broadened Optibac’s use of Amazon DSP to reach prospective audiences who weren’t yet familiar with their products. Finally, they increased ad spend for new customer acquisition activities by 50%.
AMC has helped us make better metrics-driven decisions across both our retail and advertising activity. We recommend adopting an insight-to-action way of working, which, combined with a good strategy, has driven strong results over the past 12 months for us.
- Claire Blake, head of digital, Optibac Probiotics
Growing NTB sales through strategic engagement
After implementing Tambo’s strategy, Optibac saw a boost in their NTB sales. From August to September 2023, their total number of ad-attributed monthly new customers rose by 72% compared with the previous three-month average.3 Additionally, Optibac’s average three-month NTB sales grew to 52% of their total sales—in other words, most of the brand’s sales now came from new customers.4 This represented an 8% increase over the period before the campaign.5
For the newly created Amazon DSP ads, NTB sales accounted for 51% of the campaign’s total.6 In October 2023, the month following the campaign, Optibac experienced their highest sales month on record.7
These results have fortified Optibac’s confidence in AMC insights and strengthened their partnership with Tambo. In the future, the two plan to continue to innovate, strategise and grow Optibac’s business together.
This campaign is a testament to the value of test and learn, and to the power of AMC to develop true new customer acquisition strategies.
- Jake Hewlett, managing director, Tambo
1-7 Optibac Probiotics, UK, 2023