Inspired by the opportunity to memorialize life’s most treasured moments, Framebridge provides consumers with bespoke, high-quality, and cost-efficient framing options. The company has grown to offer design services, Gallery Walls, and Quick Ship gifts in addition to its custom framing capabilities. Building on its robust e-commerce business, Framebridge now has nearly 20 physical locations along the east coast of the United States and in Illinois.
Customers choose Framebridge to share their stories through artistic display. Framebridge’s one-of-a-kind frames are handcrafted by experts to the customer’s precise specifications. This attention to detail and personalized care is the hallmark of the Framebridge brand and what drives its persistent growth.
121%
increase in CTR
7%
reduction of CPM
14%
increase in ROAS
Strategically scale growth
The ever-changing digital landscape coupled with supply chain challenges and rising costs created an environment that threatened to limit Framebridge’s scalability during peak seasons. As Framebridge sought expansion into untapped markets for both online and in-store shopping, the company needed to build awareness among new audiences, as well as remain top-of-mind with prospects and repeat customers. A full-funnel approach to marketing would help the company synchronously attract new customers, increase intent, and drive purchases.
The holidays are typically a strong sales season for Framebridge. Between Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Giving Tuesday, there are multiple opportunities to tailor creative and optimize campaigns. DEPT was tasked with developing a winning strategy to ensure fourth quarter 2021 holiday and promotional campaigns would resonate with consumers.
However, the rising cost of digital advertising was a significant concern as more customers shop online. Competition for digital advertising space skyrocketed during the pandemic when much of life shifted online and shows no sign of slowing down. Since the pandemic began in 2020, the cost to advertise on Meta grew substantially. Looking at Q4 of 2021, the cost per click (CPC) and cost per thousand impressions (CPM) were 33% more than just one year prior. For growth, Framebridge sought a more economical way to reach more customers.
To stand out amid perceived barriers and challenges, DEPT® recommended that Framebridge invest into Meta branded content campaigns and shift their advertising focus to creative and creator marketing. By leaning into branded content, Framebrige could leverage assets developed by influencers with a native look and feel in their media mix.
Content creators drive value
A key means for testing creative preferences is influencer partnerships. Influencer marketing, also known as creator marketing, is a core strategy in social media today as consumer behavior continuously evolves. Influencers boost the reach of ads by introducing the content to new, different, and expanded audiences, while also providing more opportunities to frequently optimize these ads.
Meta-branded content leverages a network of media outlets, celebrities, and social media influencers to share sponsored content. Each branded content social post features “sponsored” by the entity’s name to reflect a paid partnership between the content creator and the brand. This strategy enables brands like Framebridge to amplify the most popular content by turning them into branded content ads on Meta.
Branded content ads are an effective strategy for expanding reach, influencing intent, and increasing sales, largely because consumers appreciate recommendations of products and services from people like themselves. Creator content may feel and look more authentic to consumers compared to advertisements from a brand. The creator’s originality can provide a fresh and personable perspective about a brand’s product or service that consumers find more trustworthy and favorable. Meta-branded content ads often feature detailed accounts of the influencer’s experience with a brand’s product or service. This narrative inspires, educates, and provides audiences with a behind-the-scenes look at Framebridge’s framing and hanging process.
We recommended branded content as a solution to also beating increasing digital advertising prices. The value in this approach comes from the endorsement from the influencer. As consumers look for guidance in wading through shopping choices, influencer content stands out and an implied recommendation or stamp of approval from the influencer can convert customers.
Branded content boosts the bottom line
Framebridge’s branded content campaign ads out-performed traditional ads, with an over 121% increase in click through rate (CTR) and a 7% reduction in cost per thousand impressions (CPM). Brands often struggle to scale Meta advertising due to rising upper-funnel costs, but Framebridge saw significant improvements by leaning into branded content with us. Branded content ads drove a 14% higher return on advertising spend (ROAS) than traditional ads in Q4, despite the fact that traditional ads more clearly highlighted promotions and holiday messaging. Additionally, the lower cost of branded content allowed Framebridge to diversify content AND beat out other competitive bids on Meta to accelerate sales growth.
Single image ads drove 35% of overall Framebridge purchases on Meta. The combination of video and single image ads in a carousel display also enabled Framebridge to show before and after creations when framing and displaying art. These ads drove 37% of overall purchases, and 71% of those purchases came from branded content.
Top-performing ads featured Framebridge gallery walls, which showed the influencer’s first-hand experience hanging the frames and a peek at the influencer’s home before and after displaying the gallery wall. These high-performing ads included a Shop Now call to action, making up 90% of all purchases and revenue. The carousel and video ads did not feature bold promotional or seasonal messaging, though delivered a high CTR.
Branded Content Holiday campaigns that ran during Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Giving Tuesday performed very well without any sale or promotional discount offering. This showed us that consumers had a strong intent to purchase from Framebridge, regardless of a promotion. Through influencer partnerships and customized content, brand exposure drove year-over-year revenue increases of 66% for Framebridge.
Questions?
VP of Growth
Lou Amodeo
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