What to expect from pilot results if performance was declining prior to launch
As a company with an ad performance product, many of our pilot customers decide to test Popsixle as a way to boost declining performance.
It’s our goal to use Popsixle’s data accuracy and restoration tools to reverse downward trends, stabilize fluctuating performance and get e-commerce brands back to growing. However, it’s important to manage expectations of anticipated performance lift when starting with previously poor performance.
There’s a variety of factors that can lead to a decline in performance, including seasonal slow periods, consumer buying trends, creative/audience ad fatigue, etc.
Popsixle measures success through a pre-post format comparing pilot performance metrics of reporting accuracy, ad efficiency and growth to 8 weeks of pre-pilot data. On average, Popsixle customers typically see a 20% improvement to performance during a 14 day pilot period.
However, if a brand is experiencing a decline in performance in conjunction with another factor, the 20% gain from Popsixle may be hidden by the ongoing performance decline.
For example, if a brand was seeing a weekly cost per purchase of $100 and it went up to $120 just before the trial started, Popsixle's 20% improvement may only bring the cost back to the range of ~$100. This may appear as if Popsixle is not working, when in fact it is helping to maintain performance – which means without Popsixle’s support, it’s likely performance would be trending down.
While analyzing Popsixle performance, it can sometimes be easy to overlook the downward trends occurring 1-2 weeks before a trial. The Pre-Post reports on your account's Popsixle dashboard provide a weekly grid to make it a bit easier to spot, and the Popsixle team will support you with performance analysis with a pilot-in-review report toward the end of the trial.
Still, we understand that it can be challenging to decide if Popsixle is right for your site after not seeing a big lift in performance during the trial.
Here’s our advice to pilot customers experiencing a perceived lack of lift:
- Look beyond the trial
- Popsixle’s best benefit is in the incremental growth that comes over time. The constant stream of quality fully-compliant data makes for improved account stability and efficiency. With smarter ads, maximized spend, and a stable account, you have the ultimate recipe for growth.
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Whether it's an off season or the market is suffering, subscribing to Popsixle in a “slow” period to accumulate data and develop stability will set your site up for success when you’re ready to scale. Moreover, taking advantage of Popsixle to find new customers during slower seasons will help you to create repeat customers for gift-buying seasons later on
- Not sure? Subscribe, then cancel. If you need more time to test after the pilot, you can subscribe to continue support for another month. Popsixle subscriptions are billed month-to-month, with no contract or long-term commitment, so you can cancel anytime without penalty.
- Test further by turning it off. One of the best ways to test Popsixle efficacy is by allowing the pilot to expire. If after turning off Popsixle support you see a continued decline in performance, that’s a strong indication that Popsixle did improve ad performance for your brand within the context of an overall decline.
- If you decide to test a shutoff, make sure to notify our team and we’ll follow up 1-2 weeks later with a comparison report.
- Of course this can come at some risk to your performance, but you can change your mind at any time and resume support by subscribing (reach out to our team for guidance). See this article to learn more: What to expect after ending Popsixle support
Popsixle can be the tool that changes the game for your ad performance as it has for hundreds of others, but be mindful that a 14 days (or even a month) of a test may not reveal all the benefits to come. If you don’t see a huge lift right away, our team will work with you to help you decide the best path forward. Whether you decide to continue with Popsixle or not, we’re always in support of what’s best for you and your brand.
If you have any questions about Popsixle support or pilot performance, reach out to our team at success@popsixle.com.