No safety goggles needed for Google. 😎
We’re back with Part 3 of our KiwiCo Brand Breakdown. Missed Part 1 (Facebook ads) or Part 2 (email)? Catch up before you dive in!
We tapped the most praiseworthy Google Team we know to bring us all the best insights on how KiwiCo is handling the Google universe.
In this newsletter, you’ll find: 👇
📦 How KiwiCo has search maximization on lock
📦 Boost recurring revenue when you need it most with Yotpo
📦 How to create elevated User Generated Content with minisocial
📦 Why you should be using Google’s entire suite of extensions
Do you want a DTC x Lululemon duffel bag? Read to the end to find out how. 🎉
👉 If a pal forwarded this to you, subscribe , so you never miss out.
We know KiwiCo are science experts, but did you also know they’re Google experts too?
A quick Google search for the brand leaves you swimming in a sea of KiwiCo – that’s right, ONLY KiwiCo. 🏆
Now we know what you’re thinking. What about the paid ad space? Not a competitor in sight. The ad space is populated with KiwiCo’s own ads that maximize your screen real estate. They’ve got your full attention.
Let’s take a look at what’s seen when we type “KiwiCo” into our browser…
Yes, yes, and yes. ✅
KiwiCo has hustled to win their top spots, and it shows. They’re also in a fortunate position where their competitors don’t bid (or aren’t bidding high enough) on their branded terms.
They’ve got search maximization on lock. 🔒
🌎 Location and extension discrepancy
KiwiCo primarily serves American traffic (66% according to the Pilothouse Google Team’s analysis) but that doesn’t mean they have to neglect the others.
It’s no secret that extensions on Google Ads are an invaluable tool. They’re free, take up more real estate (putting more eyeballs on your content 👀), and allow you to strut your stuff to potential customers.
Here’s what potential American customers will see when searching for the brand:
Here’s what us Canadian folk are seeing up in the north:
Spot the difference? 🕵️♀️
Callout extensions allow the insertion of up to four quick snippets of text (maximum 25 characters) about your brand’s unique selling points (USPs) and other goodies you’ve got to offer. We’re looking at you, discount codes!
Of course, KiwiCo focuses mostly on American browsers because American shoppers account for the majority of their traffic.
✨ Pilothouse pro tips:
This should help KiwiCo get more traction and engagement on branded ads and build their account’s learnings for prospecting in other markets.
75% of organizations selling D2C will offer a subscription by 2023 — but only 20% will succeed in increasing their customer retention! 🚨
So how do you make sure your brand will be a part of that 20%? The first step is to choose the right subscription management app.
Well we're here to tell ya that Yotpo Subscriptions makes it easy to get started.
It's an intuitive subscriptions management solution built on Shopify that makes it easy for eCommerce brands to add a recurring revenue channel to their store. The platform makes it a breeze for customers to skip, pause and stop their subscriptions without needing to log in to a customer portal, plus the user-friendly onboarding lets you add subscriptions to your website in just 8 minutes.
The choice is yours:
😵 Join the DTC brands not driving retention through subscriptions, or...
👉 Be a part of the 20% that does.
💻 Traffic/website
There’s nothing better than watching your brand CRUSH SEO, and KiwiCo’s got to enjoy that feeling since Q1 2017.
Their steady organic growth has them climbing the ranks to 385k monthly viewers.
But, organic is not their only source of growth. Check out their scale on paid traffic: 👇
Their top organic keyword rankings are majority branded, but they rank high on a few terms for services they provide, such as “science subscription box”.
KiwiCo’s website is very well-constructed, with additional social proof that fits with the overall aesthetic of their site.
When ordering and customizing your subscription box, you’re greeted with some super cute (and super simple to implement) personalization.
We really love this. And not just ‘cause it’s got our name on it. 🤷♀️
🔑 Prospecting ads and keyword insertion
If you’re searching for KiwiCo’s brand name directly, you can’t miss ‘em.
However, if you weren’t familiar with the brand and searched for “science kits” or “science kits for kids”, you’d be scrolling for a while before you found them. These specific searches don’t show until the second page of results.
To combat this, KiwiCo makes up for not having an overarching presence in prospecting organic searches by having a strong ad presence.
KiwiCo:
Due to their lower organic rankings, KiwiCo should continue to utilize the entire suite of extensions and perhaps consider bulking them up in other countries outside of America.
We’ve seen how KiwiCo conquers some lower rankings for high traffic searches, now onto terms that have them rising to the top of the lists! 👇
KiwiCo ranks 5th in organic position for “baby toy subscription”, high enough to keep you on the first page of Google. This term has 1.6k monthly searches, so they’ve got 1.6k attempts each month at getting their ads in front of a prospective searcher.
Ranking for baby products is also a great way to get parents as KiwiCo customers for years to come!
However, when we search for this term, there’s some clear competition here–no longer do they appear on our Shopping list (no pun intended)!
They’re not the first ranked ad (or shown in Shopping), but KiwiCo has a clear advantage…their price points start well below the competitor's featured products. What baby needs a $120 toy kit?!
KiwiCo’s cheaper prices for the same product category should get savvy customers clicking on their ad, leading to lower overall cost-per-clicks.
🎨 Creative Suite
Try as we might, the Pilothouse Google Team couldn’t get targeted or retargeted on YouTube videos for KiwiCo. With such hands-on kinetic products, video would be the perfect medium for KiwiCo to flex their artistic side. They’ve got a great opportunity here to expand their advertising funnels with some targeted videos.
We may not have found KiwiCo YouTube ads, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t find them on the platform. Catch ‘ya next week for Part 4 of our KiwiCo Brand Breakdown - YouTube! 👋
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🚨 Wanna know how top DTC brands are testing out new products and creating seasonal product bundles? Cross-Store Selling. Discover the new sales, marketing, and acquisition channel by installing Carro for free.*
🔎 Google adds more insights to its marketing accessibility resource.
👥 LinkedIn adds new event engagement options and a simplified ‘repost’ process.
📄 Google is paying the Wikimedia Foundation for better access to information.
🎥 Slack is adding video to Huddles so you’re not spending your days in Zoom meetings.
🕯️ Making Memories of NYC into Candles (and Killing it on TikTok) with Erica Werber from Literie Candle.
🍪 AdRoll Bakes Up A Solution to the 3rd Party Cookie-pocalypse.
🧴 Growing 20-30% Month Over Month with Stem Cell Skincare Brand CLEARSTEM.
🤑 Aviator Nation Drives Over $10 Million in Apparel Sales with their Tapcart App with Curtis Ulrich and Eric Netsch.
🦴 Greasy Affiliate SEO with Connor Meakin from Bluebird Provisions Bone Broth.
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DTC Newsletter is written by Rebecca Knight and Jordan Gillis. Edited by Claire Beveridge and Eric Dyck.
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