Case: Brightening the Future: A 5-Month Integrated Marketing Campaign for an Online LED Lighting Store

In November 2023, an online store specializing in LED lamps and lighting solutions approached us with a significant challenge. The company, operating in a highly competitive market, was struggling to stand out among numerous online retailers offering similar products. Despite having a modern website and a variety of energy-efficient lighting solutions, their sales were stagnating, and their customer acquisition costs were increasing. With the holiday season approaching and the company eager to capitalize on the expected surge in consumer interest, the need for a comprehensive, data-driven marketing approach became evident.

At the outset, the online store was heavily reliant on sporadic Google Ads campaigns and organic traffic, which made up 45% of its monthly visitors. However, the conversion rate from this traffic was low, hovering around 1.2%. Furthermore, their customer retention rate was just 18%, well below the industry average of 25%. The company’s leadership sought not only to increase revenue but also to build a loyal customer base that would generate repeat sales and spread positive word-of-mouth. The goal was to reach a 30% retention rate within five months and grow revenue by at least 25%.

The company's email marketing efforts were limited to monthly newsletters, which generated less than 5% of overall sales. There was no segmentation or personalization, which meant that emails were often irrelevant to their recipients. The lack of a clear CRM strategy was a bottleneck in nurturing customer relationships, and the absence of chatbots and automated communication channels meant missed opportunities for customer engagement.

In addition, the store’s SEO efforts were lagging behind. Their organic rankings for high-intent keywords like "buy LED lamps online" or "energy-efficient lighting" were below the top 20 on Google’s search results. This resulted in minimal organic traffic growth, limiting their ability to capture users actively searching for their products.

Facing these issues, the online store recognized the need for a comprehensive, integrated marketing strategy. The goal was not only to drive traffic but also to improve engagement, retention, and ultimately sales conversion. Thus, our marketing agency was tasked with designing and executing a multi-channel marketing plan that would encompass Google Ads, SEO, CRM marketing, email marketing, chatbot implementation, and overall traffic management.

The first stage of the project was to overhaul the store’s Google Ads campaigns. Initially, the company was spending approximately $25,000 per month on ads, with a Cost per Acquisition (CPA) of $68. This figure was unsustainable in the long run, given the company’s average order value of $120. Our objective was to reduce CPA to $45 while increasing the overall Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) by at least 30%.

We began by restructuring the campaign into three segments: brand awareness, product-specific targeting, and retargeting for abandoned carts. The first step was to optimize bidding strategies by focusing on long-tail keywords with high buying intent. For example, we shifted the budget towards keywords like "best LED lighting for homes," "energy-saving LED lamps," and “warm LED lighting” as opposed to more generic and expensive keywords such as "LED lamps." This improved the CTR from 2.8% to 4.5% in the first month alone, representing a 60.7% increase in engagement.

Additionally, we used dynamic search ads to automatically show relevant ads to users based on their search queries, capturing more specific customer intent. Through A/B testing, we adjusted ad copy, emphasizing the store’s unique selling points (USPs) such as "free shipping on orders over $50" and "5-year product warranty," which resonated well with users and boosted conversion rates by 20%.

By the end of December 2023, CPA had dropped to $51, and the ROAS increased by 35%, exceeding our initial target. Monthly ad spend remained the same, but the store saw a 28% increase in revenue from Google Ads traffic, adding an additional $9,800 in monthly sales.

The company’s CRM system was underutilized at the start of the project, and its email marketing campaigns lacked segmentation. We implemented a robust customer relationship management (CRM) strategy by integrating customer data into a centralized platform, enabling us to track user behavior, purchase history, and engagement.

To increase email engagement, we segmented the customer base into four distinct groups:

• First-time buyers
• Frequent shoppers (purchased 3+ times in the last six months)
• Inactive customers (no purchase in over 6 months)
• Abandoned cart users

For each segment, we developed tailored email campaigns. First-time buyers received welcome offers and educational content on energy-saving benefits of LED lamps. Frequent shoppers were rewarded with loyalty discounts and early access to new products. Inactive customers were targeted with reactivation campaigns, offering time-sensitive discounts, which achieved a reactivation rate of 12.7%.

By personalizing emails based on customer behavior, we saw an open rate increase from 19.2% to 27.8% and a click-through rate jump from 3.4% to 7.6%. The conversion rate from email campaigns surged to 2.9%, generating an additional $3,200 in revenue per month by February 2024. Moreover, abandoned cart emails, sent within 24 hours, had a recovery rate of 16.3%, leading to a $1,500 increase in recovered revenue every month.

SEO was another major focus of the integrated strategy. At the start of the campaign, the online store ranked for only 40 non-branded keywords on the first page of Google, with an organic traffic volume of 12,000 visitors per month. Our goal was to increase organic traffic by 30% and improve rankings for high-intent keywords within the five-month timeframe.

We performed a comprehensive site audit, identifying several technical SEO issues, including slow loading times (average page load speed of 4.7 seconds) and lack of optimized meta tags on key product pages. By addressing these issues, we reduced the page load time to 2.8 seconds, resulting in a 12.5% improvement in bounce rate.

Next, we created a content plan that included in-depth blog posts, guides, and product comparison pages targeting high-intent keywords. For instance, we published a guide on "How to Choose the Best LED Lighting for Your Home," which ranked #3 on Google within two months. Additionally, we targeted long-tail keywords like "LED kitchen lighting ideas" and "outdoor LED lighting for patios," which together contributed to a 28.9% increase in organic traffic by January 2024.

By March 2024, the store ranked for 120 high-intent keywords on the first page of Google, and organic traffic surged to 18,600 monthly visitors, an impressive 55% increase from the campaign’s start.

Recognizing the need for better customer engagement, we introduced a chatbot to the store’s website in December 2023. The chatbot was designed to assist users with product recommendations, answer frequently asked questions, and follow up on abandoned carts. The bot was also integrated with the company’s CRM, allowing for personalized interactions based on user history.

Within the first month, the chatbot handled 2,300 customer interactions, reducing the load on human customer service representatives by 35%. Most importantly, it contributed to direct sales by answering questions about product compatibility, pricing, and shipping. By January 2024, 6% of all website sales were influenced by the chatbot, generating an additional $4,600 in monthly revenue.

Furthermore, chatbot-assisted abandoned cart follow-ups led to a 20% recovery rate for abandoned carts, which was 3.7% higher than the email recovery rate. This added another $1,800 per month to the store’s revenue stream.

Alongside the improvements in SEO, CRM, and paid advertising, we focused on enhancing the user experience (UX) of the website to ensure that increased traffic would convert effectively. We implemented several UX improvements, including simplifying the checkout process, optimizing product pages with clearer call-to-action buttons, and reducing unnecessary steps in the purchase funnel.

One significant change was streamlining the mobile experience, as 62% of traffic was coming from mobile devices but only 41% of purchases were made on mobile. After implementing mobile-optimized designs and faster checkout options, the mobile conversion rate increased from 0.9% to 1.8%, effectively doubling mobile sales in just three months.

Overall, the site’s conversion rate improved from 1.2% to 2.5%, representing a 108.3% increase in sales efficiency. By March 2024, the average monthly sales grew by $19,200, with total monthly revenue reaching $85,300.

To capitalize on past website visitors who hadn’t converted, we developed a comprehensive retargeting strategy using both Google Display Network and Facebook Ads. This effort focused on reminding users of the products they viewed, offering limited-time discounts, and showcasing customer reviews.

By utilizing dynamic remarketing ads that featured products users had previously viewed, the click-through rate for retargeting campaigns jumped to 6.1%, well above the industry average of 4.3%. The conversion rate for retargeting traffic also improved from 1.8% to 3.4%, resulting in an additional $7,400 in revenue per month by February 2024.

By the end of the five-month period, the online LED lighting store had undergone a complete transformation. Our integrated marketing approach, which combined paid search, SEO, CRM marketing, email campaigns, chatbot implementation, and traffic management, had delivered outstanding results:

• Revenue increased by 38.6%, from $61,500 in November 2023 to $85,300 in March 2024.
• Customer retention rate grew from 18% to 28%, moving closer to the industry average.
• Conversion rate doubled from 1.2% to 2.5%.
• Cost per Acquisition dropped by 25%, from $68 to $51.
• Monthly organic traffic increased by 55%, from 12,000 to 18,600 visitors.
• Abandoned cart recovery rate improved by 16.3% via email and 20% via chatbot follow-up.

The comprehensive nature of this marketing overhaul allowed the company to not only boost immediate sales but also build a solid foundation for sustainable growth. With the improved CRM system, SEO ranking, and personalized marketing strategies, the online store is well-positioned to continue expanding its market share and customer base.

This case demonstrates the power of an integrated marketing strategy that leverages data, technology, and personalized customer engagement to drive both short-term wins and long-term success.