Greenworks reaches new-to-brand shoppers with sponsored ads on Prime Day with help from CommerceIQ

The lawn and garden category saw tremendous growth since 2020, and Greenworks had high expectations for 2022. However, weather posed a major challenge. Spring weather started nearly two months later than anticipated, creating a slowdown in category sales. This unexpected weather pattern, along with macroeconomic conditions, created a significant risk for Greenworks’ 2022 planning. Both Greenworks and CommerceIQ agreed that Prime Day was an opportunity to try and increase immediate sales, and navigate these issues throughout 2022.

CommerceIQ and Greenworks created a full-funnel strategy with two distinct goals for Prime Day:

• Increase NTB purchases: Category growth was critical, given the pent-up consumer demand in the season and the wave of new shoppers entering the category during Prime Day.
• Facilitate cross-sell: Once bought into a given battery product lineup, Greenworks consumers have historically shown a high degree of loyalty and satisfaction. However, increasing awareness of the products available in that product mix can often be a challenge, so the combination of Prime Day visibility combined with cross-sell campaigns was essential.

To build a deeper plan, CommerceIQ used Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC), a holistic measurement and analytics solution from Amazon Ads, to map distinct paths to purchase using historical campaign signals and Greenworks’ own pseudonymized shopping insights, in a privacy-safe manner. For each pathway, they built a cohesive full-funnel strategy in the lead-up to and on the day of Prime Day.

For NTB shoppers, CommerceIQ gradually built awareness in the weeks prior on core product categories such as dethatchers, hedge trimmers, and niche products such as electric chain saws. On the day of Prime Day, CommerceIQ used Greenworks’ own lower funnel on nonbranded keywords and prioritized stockkeeping units (SKUs) with healthy inventory and competitive price point.

For existing or lapsed shoppers, CommerceIQ focused on cross-sell opportunities within a given product lineup. For example, they remarketed to audiences who have historically purchased the 40V batteries as they are more likely to stay within that product lineup and focus on new SKUs. On top of that, CommerceIQ automated every campaign in real time based on inventory position, margin, and incrementality.

Key Amazon Ads products and goals included:

• Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC): CommerceIQ leveraged AMC to deliver incremental retail media strategies that combined discoverability and display. CommerceIQ’s AMC dashboards helped them to create retail media strategies that included media mix analysis, custom attribution (multitouch attribution), and customer journey analysis (hourly dayparting). CommerceIQ’s informed AMC strategies helped Greenworks grow ad-attributed sales 225% YoY.
• Sponsored Display: CommerceIQ implemented Sponsored Display contextual ads focused on deal SKUs optimized for impressions wherever they spend time. This was one of the biggest advertising wins for Greenworks with one campaign spending $20,000 delivering over $3 million in ad-attributed sales at a return on ad spend (ROAS) more than $150.
• Amazon DSP: CommerceIQ launched ads on Amazon DSP to reach NTB shoppers and drive incremental sales. They split campaigns by product group and set up individual campaigns against each segment using both custom and standard in-market lifestyle Amazon audiences. CommerceIQ looked at ROAS and NTB sales to estimate the impact of Amazon DSP on Greenworks total retail sales.
• Sponsored Products: CommerceIQ leveraged Sponsored Products as a core element of the program, strategically focusing spend where it drove the best total return, incorporating SKU-level inventory and share of voice.
• Sponsored Brands: Sponsored Brands ads were another core element focusing on the full product lineup Greenworks offered, as there is a strong cross-sell opportunity within a given battery product mix. For example, owners of 40V batteries are more inclined to look for additional 40V-compatible tools.
• Sponsored Brands video: With a relatively small spend, Sponsored Brands video was an efficient way to highlight key benefits like durability and battery life.

With the applied strategy, CommerceIQ helped to grow Greenworks’ ad-attributed sales by 225% and total ROAS by 42%.¹ This also included a 69% increase in NTB shoppers, and an overall reduction of out-of-stock rate by 446bps. Greenworks saw their total ordered sales increase 89% YoY and was able to hit their annual sales goal.²

The CommerceIQ and Greenworks teams plan to repeat these learnings as a best-in-class example of online retail management. For future tentpole events, they plan to apply the following tenets:

• Build a unified plan: Implement a cohesive strategy that incorporates all elements of business, including advertising spend, SKU-level inventory, internal sales, and margin goals
• Create a full-funnel strategy: Coordinate upper- and lower-funnel activation across multiple advertising products, and leverage AMC to continually iterate for best results
• Optimize for incremental results: Programmatically optimize for total incremental sales, factoring in share of voice, NTB sales, and consumer lifetime value

We were naturally worried when June rolled around and spring weather hadn’t picked up. Not just from a sales perspective but working capital as well. The proactive planning with Amazon Ads and CommerceIQ, as well as granular implementation, was a game changer.

— Michael Reali, senior vice president, Greenworks