Admitad and Shopee case study

The Shopee brand has planned its expansion on the Polish market for the fourth quarter of 2021, a hot period for e-commerce. Due to the wide variety of marketing campaigns targeting consumers just at the end of the year, Admitad’s team, creating the affiliate marketing campaign strategy, had to be creative and use non-standard solutions.

Client profile: Shopee

Shopee is a global e-commerce platform connecting shoppers, brands and sellers, empowering anyone to buy and sell anywhere and at any time. This marketplace offers an easy, secure, and engaging experience that is enjoyed by millions of people daily. It offers a wide product assortment from local and international sellers, supported by integrated payments and logistics. Also this international platform is a key contributor to the digital economy, with a firm commitment to helping homegrown brands and entrepreneurs succeed in e-commerce.

Business objectives of the campaign

As a new player in the Polish market, Shopee was looking for ways to increase its brand visibility, reach and engagement among shoppers, especially in the run-up to the popular e-commerce holiday Black Friday. That is why launching the affiliate program in a short time, right before one of the biggest shopping events of the year, was strategically important for the client.

Key considerations for Shopee were:

• increasing website traffic,
• increase sales,
• attracting new customers,
• and building their loyalty to the brand.

Shopee reach out to Admitad for seek expertise and suppor, given their experience and effectiveness in affiliate marketing. Executing the strategy in a timely manner required seamless cooperation and dynamic action from both sides in order to get it done in time for the peak e-commerce season. The Admitad team approached the project by planning every step of the project in detail.

A formula for success

Admitad planned to launch Shopee’s affiliate program at the end of November, in parallel with the brand’s entry into the Polish market. The solution was based on cooperation with publishers selected by the team and the creation of groups related to the brand on Facebook.

Cooperation with selected publishers

The Admitad team created a strategy for marketing activities based on cooperation with selected publishers best suited to the brand. Key in the selection of publishers was the correspondingly high quality of traffic delivered and trust from staff.

To verify the traffic from the selected accounts, Admitad experts used Brand Auditor and Brand Guard tools, enabling ongoing traffic control and immediate detection of possible abuse.

Creation of groups dedicated to the brand on Facebook

The planned marketing activities were to take place on Facebook discussion groups. Internationally such groups are rarely used to deliver traffic to e-commerce stores. In Poland, however, they play an important role in the shopping process. Consumers read posts and reviews, discuss products and analyze other people’s opinions before deciding on a purchase. The role of the administrators of such groups is both to market products, but also to help them place orders, handle complaints or explain system functions or promotional rules.

The Admitad team, oriented to the peculiarities of the local market, decided to use this phenomenon on a global scale to generate traffic. This method of promotion builds a sense of belonging and brand loyalty in consumers.

Results

The Facebook groups created by Admitad for Shopee had a total of 2.5 million users. All of them were dedicated exclusively to Shopee.pl and did not promote any other brand.

An effectively selected and personalized strategy proved to be crucial to the cooperation between Admitad and Shopee. Actions got the affiliate program up and running early enough to realize its potential during a “hot” period for e-commerce. Within five months, the number of publishers working under the program tripled.

Basing the marketing strategy on affiliate marketing increased traffic to the Shopee site and during the selling season helped generate significant sales results. In addition, non-obvious marketing solutions, such as the use of Facebook groups, led to the acquisition of a large group of loyal customers.