Client: CAVA

Like many client engagements, I started off working with CAVA by performing an audit of their primary ad accounts at the time, Google, Facebook, and Instagram. Their creative imagery and ad copy on Facebook & Instagram was fun and vibrant. The opportunities there revolved more around creating and testing various audience segments that my team developed and layered together, including your standard affinity, interest, demographic, and platform, along with a couple unique combinations that I’d like to keep secret.

What we found to be true with their Google Search Ads account was especially interesting. Every brand that advertises on Google typically bids on their brand name. This can help ensure your brand remains at the top of the search results and very important if you’re still building your SEO, positioned in a crowded market, or are defending against competitive keyword bids. But like many things, there has to be a balance.

As I dug in and analyzed the data across multiple metrics, it became clear that CAVA needed to expand beyond their brand terms to capture more new customers. It was a hard trade-off to sell through, though. Trimming down the account’s reliance on brand terms was going to negatively affect performance in our reporting. After making a strong case to the VP of Marketing that people searching for CAVA already had a level of brand awareness and that we should try to reach more net new users, we proceeded with the change. What we saw next was the predicted drop in overall conversion rate (and this was a good thing!). The shift then boosted our conversions by 5-7% in other keyword categories resulting in expanded brand awareness and a higher percentage of net new customer gain.

-Pete Sahaidachny