Blenders Eyewear
Cost-effective sales with sponsored messages in Messenger
SUCCESS STORY
The online sunglasses shop reached its most engaged audience by placing sponsored messages in Messenger, increasing its return on ad spend by 7.5X.
7.5Xlower cost per action
7.5Xincrease in return on ad spend
10.6Xhigher click-through rate
THEIR STORY
San Diego shades
Based in sunny San Diego, Blenders Eyewear was founded in 2012 and now distributes a large variety of sunglasses and snow goggles worldwide. Blenders believes there should be as many unique styles and personalities of sunglasses as there are people. The company prides itself on radical design and bold colorways intended to inspire people to live “Life in Forward Motion”.
THEIR GOAL
Eyeing efficient sales
Blenders Eyewear wanted to sell more sunglasses at a more efficient cost by reaching an already-engaged audience with personal messaging.
THEIR SOLUTION
Keeping the conversation going
To work toward its goal of more efficient sales and reach the right people at the right time, Blenders Eyewear partnered with the ad agency Sum Digital. Sum Digital suggested the company test sponsored messages in Messenger: ads directed to people who have already participated in a Messenger chat with a business. Blenders Eyewear uses ShopMessage to both start Messenger conversations with website visitors and also build automated experiences to drive abandoned cart recovery and repeat purchases.
The Blenders and Sum team created a promotional message with a clear “Learn More” or “Shop Now” call-to-action button and an image of sunglasses paired with company branding. Then the team messaged it—over about 48 hours—to people who had already taken part in a Messenger conversation with the Blender Facebook Page. Blenders also served the sponsored message to people who had shopped on its website and abandoned their cart before purchasing. The team deliberately did not select age or gender restrictions on its audience, instead allowing Facebook to select based on performance.
In addition to nurturing existing relationships and offering a personalized shopping experience, sponsored messages have additional benefits over other ads in Messenger. For example, the “sponsored” label only appears on messages once someone opens them, and they tend not to be flagged as spam because they are only delivered to recipients who have already been communicating with the brand.
Blenders ran a Facebook split test to compare its sponsored ads in Messenger campaign to ad campaigns with the same messaging placed on other Facebook platforms.
THEIR CREATIVE
Looking cool
The Blenders Eyewear and Sum Digital team follow best practices for sponsored ads in Messenger, which are similar to those for Facebook photo ads. The team:
- chooses images with broad appeal to all audiences, such as unisex products, bestsellers, multiple products, and so on
- takes advantage of Messenger’s ability to personalize ads to get reader’s attention and make them more relevant
- includes a clear call to action
- keeps the message short and sweet
- leads with a valuable offer
- links to a relevant landing page when not offering shopping options within the Messenger flow
THEIR SUCCESS
A bright future
As a result of its overall success from advertising on Facebook, Blenders Eyewear upgraded to a new office and opened its first retail store. The sponsored ads in Messenger outperformed the company’s other campaigns, delivering the following between February 5–7, 2019:
- 7.5X lower cost per action
- 7.5X increase in return on ad spend
- 10.6X higher click-through rate
- 40% increase in sales
Products Used
Messenger is the perfect channel for personalized, real-time brand experience. These conversations are the strongest form of interaction you could hope for with your customer—answering questions, saying thank you and making them laugh are all things that help build the community side of the brand.
Chase Fisher
CEO & founder, Blenders
Sponsored messages gave us the tools we needed to reach our most qualified audience at a much lower cost. This powerful ad format maximized our reach in a very short window of time. We’ve since run multiple Messenger campaigns with similar results, so we now consider it a core component of our Facebook ads strategy.
Deirdre Kelly
Director of Paid Social, Sum Digital
Related Success Stories
Jane
The boutique marketplace increased sales during the November–December 2020 holiday season with its shop on Instagram by creating custom product collections and product tags that led people to checkout, generating $24,100 in sales.
ONE BOY
The Taiwanese fashion brand created a seamless shopping experience with Instagram Shops and ads with product tags, ultimately boosting online sales and achieving a 30% lower cost per purchase.
Alipearl
Boosting return on ad spend with Facebook branded content ads
Start advertising on Facebook or visit more case studies
Skills and Training
