Etna Digital Academy case study: +300% sales and ROAS of X2,600 with Spoki and WhatsApp in the beauty industry

Context

Etna Digital Academy is an academy founded by Davide Faranda (co-founder), a digital advertising expert, specializing in training on digital marketing and dealing with e-commerce at 360°. In addition to training professionals, the academy also runs its own e-commerce of beauty products, which makes it an interesting case study for the implementation of new marketing technologies, with a focus on optimizing sales and loyalty through digital strategies.

Starting Problem: Etna Digital Academy was mainly using email marketing to reach its customers, but was finding very low open rates, around 16 percent, and a high percentage of messages ending up in spam, despite the fact that steps such as domain verification had been taken. This resulted in low effectiveness of promotional campaigns, leading to low conversion rates. The academy needed a more direct and effective approach to reaching its customers, boosting sales, and retaining existing customers.

Project Goals

Etna Digital Academy has identified three main goals to improve its performance:

1. Increase the open rate of communications by reaching customers through a more immediate channel than email.
2. Automate communication flows to reduce the time and resources required for direct contact activities.
3. Increase campaign conversion rates by improving the customer experience and incentivizing sales through personalized messages.

Davide Faranda, as Co-Founder and head of advertising campaigns, then decided to partner with Spoki, the first conversational marketing platform that enables the integration of WhatsApp APIs to optimize sales processes and transform the relationship with customers by making it more personal, direct and profitable.

Implementation of the Strategy

The decision to adopt Spoki was driven by the need for a more effective channel than email to reach customers. WhatsApp, with an average open rate of 98 percent, proved to be the ideal choice for immediate and direct communication.

Actions implemented:

1. Segmented messaging campaigns:Etna Digital Academy used Spoki to send personalized messages to specific groups of customers based on their purchasing preferences and previous behavior.Customers were segmented into four main categories:
   • Not Responded: customers who had never responded to previous contact attempts. Generic messages were sent to them to rekindle interest in the products.
   • Negatives: customers who had previously shown disinterest. They were engaged with informational messages to educate them about product benefits and generate curiosity.
   • Unsold: contacts who had booked an appointment or shown interest but did not complete the purchase. They were incentivized with discount codes and exclusive promotions.
   • Sold: customers who had already purchased products. They were sent thank-you messages, requests for positive reviews, and cross-selling suggestions for other products, such as kits and accessories.
2. Launch of new collections:
   • VIP list members received advance news about the launch of new collections, with promotions dedicated only to WhatsApp users.
3. Recovery of abandoned trolleys:
   • Customers who had added products to their shopping carts without completing the purchase received automated follow-up messages with personalized offers to stimulate conversion.
4. Quick polls on WhatsApp:
   • The academy used short questionnaires to gather feedback on customer preferences, using the data collected to further personalize future campaigns.

Tools Used and Integration

To achieve its goals, Etna Digital Academy has integrated Spoki with the following tools:

• Shopify: e-commerce platform for product and transaction management.
• Brevo (formerly SendinBlue): for automation of email marketing campaigns.
• Meta Ads: to promote social media advertising campaigns.

The integration was implemented quickly and efficiently, allowing the academy to send about 8,000 WhatsApp messages in a few days. Spoki automated the sending of personalized messages, improving open rates and reducing response times.

Results Obtained

The adoption of Spoki has led to extraordinary results:

1. 300% increase in sales over the previous quarter.
2. Turnover of €25,000 in just two days, of which €6,000 came from the recovery of abandoned trolleys.
3. ROAS of 2,600% with an advertising budget of €750.
4. Sixty percent of abandoned carts were recovered through automated messages sent through Spoki.
5. 35% conversion rate on WhatsApp campaigns, with a spike in responsiveness during seasonal promotions.
6. During the Halloween campaign, a 30 percent discount promotion generated 176 orders in 24 hours and a total of 303 orders over the two days of the campaign.
7. Opening rate of 98 percent for WhatsApp messages, a marked improvement from 16 percent for email.
8. Managing approximately 4,000 contacts, with targeted breakdown to maximize campaign effectiveness.

Advantages and Benefits

The implementation of Spoki has radically transformed the way Etna Digital Academy handles communications with clients, leading to:

• Automation of communication flows: reduced operational costs and increased efficiency in marketing campaigns.
• Improved Customer Relationship Management, with increased engagement through personalized messages.
• Increased retention of existing customers, with a focus on cross-selling and upselling via WhatsApp.
• Reduced response time through automation, thus improving the customer experience.

Conclusion

Etna Digital Academy’s case study demonstrates how the adoption of advanced digital tools like Spoki can transform traditional marketing, bringing tangible results in terms of conversions and sales. Through the strategic use of WhatsApp and integration with advanced CRMs such as ActiveCampaign, the academy achieved a level of efficiency that exceeded initial expectations.

CREDITS
Agency: Etna Digital Academy
Ceo & Digital Marketing Specialist: Davide Faranda (co-founder)