Running the eCommerce offer at HilltopAds: ROI 157,87%

Last updated on Dec 13, 2023

In the competitive world of eCommerce, strategic advertising is paramount. HilltopAds provides the tools and technology needed to not only stay in the game but to thrive.

This guide will walk you through the essential steps for creating and managing a successful eCommerce campaign on the HilltopAds platform. Moreover, there are useful recommendations from the HilltopAds QA-department.

Key points of the case study

Offer: eCommerce
Offer source: Direct Advertiser
Traffic source: HilltopAds
Ad Format: Popunder mobile
Ad campaign period: 23 - 28 November
GEO: ID
OS: Android and iOS
Traffic Channel: Mainstream high and medium activity
Spending: $1 770,56
Conversions: 3 578
Earnings: $4 565,7
ROI: 157,87%

Settings of the ad campaign and its Optimization at HilltopAds

Before launching an advertising campaign on HilltopAds, you need to register as an advertiser. You can register using this link.

Next, to create an advertising campaign, you need to:

Go to the Manage Campaigns section
Click the Add Campaign button
In the campaign creation section, select the Popunder mobile ad format
In the Traffic Channels section, choose Mainstream high and medium activity

Next, it's essential to set up the Postback to track the results of your ad campaign.

For a detailed description of working with Postback and the available placeholders, check out our guide.

In simple terms, for the final URL of the offer, we need to insert parameters to pass conversions and source IDs. The parameter for passing conversions is click_id, and the source ID is zone_id.

In simple terms, for the final URL of the offer, we need to insert parameters to pass conversions and source IDs. The parameter for passing conversions is click_id, and the source ID is zone_id.

As a result, our Final Destination URL should look like this:

https://my_offer.net/?&click_id={{ctoken}}&s1={{zoneid}}

{{ctoken}} - HilltopAds parameter for passing conversions.
{{zoneid}} - HilltopAds parameter for passing source ID.

In general, you can add absolutely any parameter from the available options that is necessary for further campaign analysis. However, remember that it is essential to include the click_id parameter in the final link to pass conversions.

Next, we specified the ad frequency per user - 1 display in 24 hours. And we set the necessary targeting settings:

GEO - ID (Indonesia)
OS - Android and iOS

If needed, you can also set campaign limits or display schedules. The final step before launching the ad is to specify the cost per thousand impressions (CPM). Here, we pay attention to the Traffic Volumes graph in the top right corner, which calculates premium, minimum, and recommended CPM rates based on the selected ad format, targeting settings and traffic channel.

We initiated the ad campaign with a bid of $1.06, based on the provided recommended CPM price.

Before launching an eCommerce advertising campaign, we set up an Auto Optimization tool. We recommend you to set up an optimization period longer than for other offers (at least 96 hours) because you will get the first confirmed conversions 3-5 days after the campaign is started. Confirmed conversions for eCommerce offers are paid and received orders. Additionally, for eCommerce offers on Indonesia, we recommend you to optimize sources based on impressions.

Auto Optimization is a tool for automatically adding non-performing traffic sources. Thanks to this feature, the HilltopAds system removes non-profit sources from your advertising campaign and adds them to the BlackList.

So, we configured auto optimization according to the following rules:

Optimization period is 120 hours (5 days)
If a specific source ID has more than 7 000 ad impressions
AND
generates less than 1 conversion,

then that source ID (zone) will be automatically added to the BlackList.

So, the key settings of the advertising campaign are as follows:

Ad format - Popunder mobile
Traffic Channels - Mainstream High and Medium Activity
Frequency cappings - 1 display per 24 hours
Geo - ID
OS - Android and iOS
CPM rate - $1.06

Final Results and Areas for Improvement

Over the course of the full 6 days of running the advertising campaign using the eCommerce Shopee offer, the following metrics were achieved:

Total Conversions - 3 578
Total Costs (Revenue) - $1 770,56
Total Earnings (Profit) - $4 565,7
ROI (Return on Investment) - 157,87%

ROI is one of the key indicators in digital marketing that allows you to assess the profitability of an advertising campaign. In simple terms, ROI shows you the percentage of advertising investments that you have managed to recover through earnings from the ads.

The formula for calculating ROI is:
ROI = (total earnings - total cost) / total cost * 100%

The higher this value, the more successful an advertising campaign.

As a result of launching the eCommerce Shopee offer in Indonesia for 6 days, we completely recouped the investment in the ad campaign and earned an additional +$2 795,14 on top.

Recommendations:

To get high results we recommend you do the following:

Create landing and pre-landing pages in Language used in the targeted country (in our case, we used Indonesian language);
Check out if there are any special sales and add it to your pre-landing and landing pages. Please do not mention unexist sales;
Remember, that you will get the first confirmed conversions only 3-5 days after the campaign is started. So, set up an Optimization Period at least 96 hours.

By following these steps and optimizing your campaign, you can achieve high ROI and increase the profitability of your advertising activities. HilltopAds offers a variety of tools and options to successfully launch an eCommerce campaign.

Want to run eCommerce offers and get high profit? Register with HilltopAds!