Case Study: Bonobos hit 1200% ROI

Bonobos’ exclusive sale on Twitter results in 1,200% ROI

The Challenge

Bonobos is a premium, web-driven men’s apparel brand and e-tailer. It launched in 2007 with the goal of providing better-fitting men’s pants. As the largest U.S. apparel brand that started solely on the web, it now also sells suits, polos, oxfords, shorts, swimwear and offers free shipping. Bonobos receives roughly 25% of its customer service inquiries from social channels, and provides amazing customer service by striving to respond to all inquiries within an hour.

Ahead of refreshing its core washed chinos inventory for the fall season, Bonobos saw an opportunity to provide its spring/summer line at a deep discount as a way to acquire new customers and move inventory. Bonobos had conducted similar promotions in the past through various external marketing channels and now looked for an alternate approach that would give it more control over the customer’s experience and protect its profit margin.

The Solution

Bonobos held a “Twixlusive,” a 24-hour sale, exclusively on Twitter. David Fudge, Bonobos’ Head of Social Media explains, “On short notice, we can launch campaigns on Twitter with minimal effort and low costs compared to traditional media channels. Twitter gives us quick access to an engaged audience and drives them directly to our website for purchase — this includes our existing followers and with Twitter’s targeting capabilities, relevant non-followers as well.”

The company drummed up anticipation by teasing the sale with a Tweet a couple of days before its launch. Due to a last minute technology question, Bonobos decided to postpone the sale and received numerous messages from customers who expressed excitement to still get the deal. “The response showed that seeding interest for the sale was a really effective way to generate buzz — it demonstrated Twitter’s value as a nimble communication platform,” says Fudge. On the day of the sale, Bonobos used Promoted Tweets in timelines to announce an exclusive Twitter deal for $49 chinos, which were normally priced at $88. The private deal was only available through Twitter and not advertised anywhere else on Bonobos’ website. Bonobos encouraged customers to spread the word and unlock the deal by retweeting the “Twixlusive.” After a total of 49 Retweets, the sale would then go live.

The Results

“The deal unlocked almost immediately with more than 80 Retweets in about 8 minutes,” says Fudge. “Our built-in customer base of Twitter followers was extremely receptive to the sale but we also targeted users who had similar interests to our followers. That strategy helped us get nearly 100 first-time purchasers.” In addition to acquiring new customers, the campaign drove tremendous sales results:

• 1,200% ROI in 24-hours
• 13 times more cost effective (CPA) to acquire a new customer from Twitter than from other marketing channels

“We plan to do more Twitter exclusive sales,” continues Fudge. “Twitter allows us to easily target and launch campaigns — we effortlessly postponed our sale one day and used Tweets to communicate that to our customers without much effort. This media channel leaves room for flexibility and allows for easy schedule adjustments. The ROI was incredible. We have always considered social to be a major part of our marketing strategy. This campaign greatly reinforced Twitter as a valuable channel through which we can quickly and efficiently drive sales.”

Tagged Twitter; Social Media; Case Study