Your sale is invisible - fix it now

Hey there

I’ve got a small story to tell you today.

A major eCommerce brand launches a huge 50% off sitewide sale (with a bunch of ads and marketing), but it doesn’t yield good results.

The founder brings in a marketing consultant to get their sales up again.

Here’s how the convo went:

Founder:
Our sitewide sale is live, I thought we’d be swamped with orders! Conversion rate is higher, yes - but traffic to the website has hardly increased. What’s going on?

Marketing Consultant:
Hmm, that’s concerning. How are you letting people know about the sale?

Founder:
The usual, I guess. We’ve got banners on the website, sent out an email blast, and posted about it on social media. Plus, we’re running our regular catalog ads.

Marketing Consultant:
Okay, that’s a solid start. But here’s the thing—your sales will only increase if customers know about the new collection. Right now, you’re mostly reaching people who are already in your ecosystem—those who visit your site or open your emails.

Founder:
What about the ads? Isn’t that how we bring in new customers?

Marketing Consultant:
Absolutely. Ads are crucial for attracting people who haven’t visited your website yet. But let me show you something about your catalog ads. Imagine I’m scrolling through my feed, and this is what I see.

Founder:
Okay, so what’s the issue?

Marketing Consultant:
Where’s the discount??? If I’m a potential customer, I have no idea there’s a sale going on. I’d scroll right past this ad without a second thought.

Founder: Oh come on! It’s right there, can’t you see it? Written above the ad!?

Marketing Consultant: You’re lucky if viewers give this ad a single second of their attention - you expect them to notice this tiny little 30% off written there? It’s YOUR JOB to inform customers about your offers, not theirs to look for it!

Founder:
But the sale details are on the website. The ad is just supposed to get them there.

Marketing Consultant:
Exactly. If they click. But why would I click if there’s no clear incentive? If the “30% off” was more prominent, I’d have noticed and clicked immediately. Without that, you just lost me as a potential customer.

Founder:
You’re saying we’re missing out because our ads aren’t highlighting the promotions?

Marketing Consultant:
Precisely. And just think about the scale! Every day, thousands of potential customers are scrolling past ads that could have hooked them with something like “Flash Sale – 40% Off!” Highlight the benefit prominently, and you’ll see a big difference in engagement and conversions.

– – -

We had a similar conversation with Birkenstock, a major luxury footwear brand. They were facing poor revenue, especially during their sale seasons. We used RetainIQ app to create branded catalog ads which prominently highlighted their key features.

Case 1 - New arrivals

Case 2 - Flash sale

Case 3 - Clearance sale

We ran this exact experiment for Birkenstock, using these templates. The results?

A staggering 164% increase in RoAS.

Something as simple as saying “Hey guys, we have a sale going on, come buy” in a prominent manner was enough to solve their problems. 

With a tool like Enhanced Catalog Ads, all your catalog ads are updated regularly, instantly reflecting any changes on your website.

New arrivals? It’s old news, everyone already knows.

Clearance sale? Ads are updated with the latest discounts.

Flash sale? The discount sticker is prominently displayed on the ads.

Not only are you increasing your revenue, you’re also doing your (potential) customers a service by efficiently giving them the best deals on your products.