The Challenge & Goal
Despite having a clear product-market fit in football-loving Germany, FPRO™ struggled to scale their sales and revenues to match their success in other markets. The primary challenges they highlighted before our collaboration were overcoming German consumers’ low trust in foreign brands and addressing their conservative, loyalty-driven purchasing behavior. Although we were eager to assist, starting our collaboration just before the Black Friday/Cyber Monday (BFCM) season meant we had a limited timeframe to craft and execute a successful strategy. FPRO™ needed to achieve substantial revenue growth in the DACH region, with Germany as the focal point.
Solution
To achieve FPRO™ ambitious growth goals in the German market, we developed a tailored communication strategy that leveraged Germany’s deep-rooted football culture and addressed the unique concerns of German consumers. We recognized that Germany, with over 1.6 million young individuals affiliated with the Deutschen Fußball Bund (DFB), offered significant market potential for FPRO™ football training products. However, we also knew that German consumers typically have lower trust levels in online shopping, particularly with foreign brands. Therefore, our primary objective was to position FPRO™ as a trustworthy, local brand that resonated with this audience.
We began by launching a targeted Meta Ads campaign on Instagram and Facebook, which served as the initial channel to reach our audience. Recognizing the need for scale, we quickly expanded our efforts to include Google and YouTube Ads, TikTok Ads, and Bing Ads, ensuring comprehensive coverage across all relevant platforms. We also took over email marketing and managed FPRO™ German-language social media presence to create consistent, localised messaging.
Our communication strategy was developed around key Buyer Personas – such as parents, grandparents, and football coaches – who have the financial means and influence to drive purchasing decisions. We tailored content to emphasise the quality, safety, and expertise behind FPRO™ Football Training Mat, positioning them as essential tools for developing football skills.
Implementation
To address trust issues in the German market, we first focused on enhancing the website’s credibility. We implemented proper tracking and cookie consent features, ensuring compliance with German privacy standards. We also made sure that trust elements such as the Impressum, authority badges, and customer testimonials were prominently displayed on the site and in advertising materials.. Content on the website was refined by native speakers to ensure that all communication resonated authentically with the German audience.
On Meta Ads, we built a sophisticated multi-funnel campaign structure. The lower-funnel campaigns were designed to drive conversions using broad targeting and Meta’s A+ feature. We ensured frequent ad rotations, with up to eight different variants per week, to keep the content fresh and prevent ad fatigue. To support these efforts, we created testing campaigns that allowed us to rapidly experiment with new ad formats and messages, feeding successful elements into the primary conversion-driving campaigns.
Our implementation strategy also included two distinct Performance Max campaigns on Google: one focused exclusively on Shopping Ads, and the other on placements across Search, YouTube, Display, Discover, and Gmail. We optimised the product feed extensively, refining titles to capture relevant search queries and maximise CTR’s.
Moreover, we took over FPRO™ email marketing, releasing around 15 campaign emails per month, blending sales-driven content with brand storytelling. These efforts, combined with tailored communication that highlighted the mat’s quality, safety, and individual training benefits, led to a significant increase in both engagement and conversions across all channels.
In addition to paid campaigns, we launched German-language Facebook and Instagram pages to build a strong local community around the brand. This helped foster deeper connections with German consumers, further enhancing trust and engagement across all channels.
Ads
Results
- Revenue Growth: A remarkable 445% increase in November revenue compared to October, with further growth of 635% in December, surpassing client expectations.
- ROAS Improvement: The return on ad spend in BFCM season increased by 5 points compared to the client’s previous averages.
- Sustained Growth: Q3 2023 compared to Q1 2024, FPRO™ saw a nearly 300% increase in revenue with a tripled media budget while maintaining consistent ROAS.
- Also in Q1 2024, Germany outperformed other top-selling countries, including the UK and the US, becoming the main revenue driver for the brand.
Conclusion
Our collaboration with Client FPRO™ during the Black Friday & Cyber Monday season successfully unlocked the potential of the German market, driving substantial revenue growth and laying a strong foundation for future expansion. As we move into Q1 2024, our focus remains on sustaining this momentum through continued optimization of digital marketing efforts, further enhancing brand trust, and exploring additional growth opportunities in the DACH region.
