A performance agency is one that deals with Performance Marketing . Therefore, more than just promoting companies, products, and services like yours, it also employs various resources to measure the impact of marketing strategies. Furthermore, it implements optimization strategies. With this, its goal is to achieve increasingly better performance in converting leads (contacts), clients, and customers.
In this context, it is worth remembering:
- When a visitor / consumer goes to your virtual store and subscribes, that is, registers in your email list, then he becomes a lead (a contact). Thus, the chances of him converting into a customer soon increase;
- If one lead makes a purchase, then he becomes a customer. That is, it breaks the barrier of distrust and increases the level of relationship with your brand;
- When, finally, a customer makes several purchases over a period of time, he becomes a customer. In other words, a customer is a regular, loyal customer.
In e-commerce, the role of a performance agency is primarily to convert as many visitors as possible into leads , customers, and loyal customers. Furthermore, it should ensure that the average order value of the business increases steadily. To achieve this, it uses a five-step process: planning, promotion, measurement, optimization, and monitoring. Learn more about this below!
- As soon as you can click on “Digital Marketing Metrics” and read our article that shows what to measure to evaluate your outreach campaigns!
1 – PLANNING STAGE: HOW A PERFORMANCE AGENCY LAYS THE BASIS FOR THE CREATION OF DISCLOSURE CAMPAIGNS
Right after hiring a performance agency, the first action it will take on your e-commerce is planning. And the first step of planning, in turn, is to identify and understand the current situation of your company. To this end, the agency may use a series of analyses.
In a competitive analysis, for example, the performance agency will try to understand who your e-commerce competitors are and how they operate. Once this is done, the agency can then analyze your Sales Funnel to gain a better understanding of your business.
Furthermore, analyses of your online store can also be performed using heatmaps, video navigation, and A/B testing. Moreover, the performance agency can conduct advanced data analysis using Google Analytics. This will allow you to generate insights for improving your marketing processes from the very beginning.
Based on the results of these analyses, the performance agency team will be able to visualize the overall picture of your e-commerce company and where it stands in the market. And from that, finally, it will be possible to create the planning of the next Digital Marketing campaigns in order to overcome the performance of the previous campaigns.
2 – DISCLOSURE STAGE: HOW CAN A PERFORMANCE AGENCY INCREASE THE EXPOSURE OF ITS E-COMMERCE?
The outreach phase performed by a performance agency is basically the same as that of a regular digital marketing agency. In other words, it can help you execute paid traffic campaigns using platforms like Google Ads, Facebook Ads, Instagram Ads, Pinterest Ads, and LinkedIn Ads, among others. It can also create campaigns on platforms such as Amazon Ads, Mercado Ads, and Shopee Ads, for example. It can run campaigns on price comparison websites, as well as SEO content campaigns and email marketing, among others. Furthermore, it can also create and execute content marketing and inbound marketing projects.
Either way, the goal is to get the attention of a large number of Internet users / consumers. That is, the goal is to attract people who in some way may be interested in the products your company sells. In order to obtain a good performance from the beginning, it is important to follow the orientations of the previous stage, that is, the planning.
It's worth noting that the potential of digital marketing is enormous. So much so that, in 2021, 63% of companies increased their digital marketing budget, according to data from the Word Stream blog . Between 2020 and 2021, there was a 14% growth rate in the sector's budget spending. The compound annual growth rate of digital marketing between 2020 and 2026 could be 9%. It is expected, therefore, that this market will jump from US$350 billion in 2020 to US$786,2 billion by 2026. Well, you can't be left out of this. You should also advertise!
However, applying Digital Marketing and Performance Marketing in Brazil is a challenge. In Brazilian e-commerce, on average, for every 100 visitors to a virtual store, only 1 purchase is made. That is, the average conversion rate is only 1%. Therefore, to improve this result, the help of a performance agency is always welcome.
3 – MEASUREMENT STAGE: MEASURE WHAT AND HOW?
To measure the performance of their outreach strategies, a performance agency uses metrics and KPIs . A metric is a situation to be measured. A KPI, on the other hand, is a numerical indicator of the performance of a metric.
In e-commerce, the most important metrics are Number of Visitors, Lead Conversion Rate, Sales Conversion Rate and Average Ticket. However, there are others such as Cost per Lead, Cost per Click and Return on Investment, which also deserve attention.
The performance agency stipulates a KPI for each metric. A KPI is a number to be beaten, that is, surpassed or expired within a period. It is usually expressed in one sentence. “Increase Sales Conversion Rate to 2% by April 30th”, for example, is a KPI.
Furthermore, the performance agency can work with Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO). In this context, the agency can, for example, perform competitor analysis, sales funnel analysis, heatmaps , and video navigation analysis. It can also conduct A/B testing and advanced data analysis with Google Analytics, as well as issue monthly reports, track results, and support your e-commerce marketing operations on a daily basis, continuously improving your results.
According to data compiled by the AI Multiple blog , companies invest an average of US$2 per month in CRO. A VentureBeat study published on the aforementioned blog revealed that the average ROI for companies using CRO is 223%. According to this study, conducted with 3.000 companies, only 5% did not report ROI. Meanwhile, 173 reported ROI above 1.000%. In other words, CRO is a great tool for performance agencies.
4 – OPTIMIZATION STAGE: HOW DOES A PERFORMANCE AGENCY IMPROVE ITS E-COMMERCE PERFORMANCE?
Once in possession of updated KPIs related to the key metrics of their marketing strategies, as well as CRO reports and analyses, the professionals at a performance agency can make optimizations to improve the performance of their lead , customer, and client acquisition.
At this point, you can make interventions in your paid traffic campaigns, for example, improving the quality of your ads. This will allow you to reduce the costs of your campaigns and boost your results.
In the same way, the performance agency can discover through data reports dozens of opportunities for improvement in its Content Marketing and Inbound Marketing. That way, you'll be able to rank your pages better on search engines like Google; increase organic visits to your online store and your e-commerce blog; and get more traffic and more conversions overall.
A performance agency can also intervene in your email marketing campaigns and lead nurturing flows , optimizing everything from start to finish to increase performance. It can optimize the design of your online store to generate higher sales conversions. And finally, it can improve your entire sales funnel, among other factors.
5 – FOLLOW-UP STAGE: CONTINUOUSLY IMPROVING RESULTS
Follow-up is the action of monitoring and improving the performance of Digital Marketing campaigns over a period of time. It can occur, for example, for 3 months, 6 months, 1 year or permanently, depending on the demand of your e-commerce. In any case, this is the last stage of work for a performance agency.
To carry out follow-up, the performance agency team issues monthly reports with the main metrics and KPIs related to its Digital Marketing campaigns. That way, you can check the results, draw your conclusions and make the improvements yourself.
In a more advanced monitoring mode, in addition to presenting periodic reports, the performance agency can intervene in the day-to-day operation of your e-commerce. In this case, the agency can recommend and carry out optimizations, act in specific disclosure processes, carry out and monitor campaigns and much more.
One of the advantages of using an agency to monitor your marketing performance is that it ends up passing on some of its expertise to your company's marketing team. In other words, during the monitoring process there is an exchange of knowledge and experiences, which generally benefits the client.
HIRE PERFORMANCE AGENCY
Hiring a performance agency is an attitude that can transform your company. In addition to helping to improve the results of your e-commerce, this type of agency brings in its baggage the competence and quality of an expert. It brings knowledge to your company, and as philosopher Francis Bacon would say, knowledge is power.
If you're already convinced that you should hire a performance agency, then I want to introduce you to e-Plus Agency as an option. e-Plus Agency is a performance agency based in São Paulo, but with operations throughout Brazil, Portugal, Spain, Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and other countries.
The e-Plus Agency team is certified in some of the leading digital marketing tools on the market, such as Google Ads, Meta Ads, E-goi, and RD Station . They are also certified in some of the world's best e-commerce technologies, such as VTEX , Shopify Plus, and Wake Commerce. Furthermore, they are proficient in tools like Google Optimize, Hotjar, Microsoft Clarity, and Google Analytics, among others fundamental to the application of performance marketing.
Since most of these tools are in the cloud, they can be managed remotely. Therefore, it is possible to use the services of a performance agency without even setting foot in its physical headquarters. In fact, all it takes is a phone call, an email or a WhatsApp message to start a conversation or make a contract.
The e-Plus Agency, for example, is headquartered in São Paulo, but serves customers from all Brazilian cities and even from other countries via the internet. To learn more about this service, just click on the next button from your smartphone right now and start a conversation via the messenger app:
