8 paid acquisition strategies to grow your brand | Insights from Chomps

Chomps create delicious, high-protein meat snacks. Their ingredients are cleaner than most of the other brands in their category - which makes them a popular choice for people wanting extra fuel in their day. 💪

Matt Holtwick is the Head of Growth and Retention at Chomps. He joined me on Ecommerce Marketing 101 to explain how he’s helped grow the brand. From making ecommerce and retail work together, to finding the best ad creative for conversions - Matt offers his top tips for those of you looking for new acquisition and retention strategies. 

Listen to the full episode: 

• Apple Podcasts
• Spotify

Watch on YouTube: 

8 paid acquisition strategies for ecommerce brands 

Here are Matt’s top tips for creating paid acquisition strategies for your brand. 

1. Work with your in-store presence, not against it

When Chomps first started out, they only sold products online. But, as they grew, they were able to expand into the retail space. Now you can order a subscription online, or pick up a stick of Chomps in US stores like Target and Trader Joes. 

It can be easy for retail and ecommerce teams to compete with each other.  Not so for Chomps. They’ve had success by working together and using both channels to support one another. As Matt says: 

“The growth in retail is wonderful from a brand awareness standpoint. It's possible that a lot of our awareness marketing campaigns lead to that first purchase in a retail store. Vice versa, our data tells us that a lot of people who’ve seen us in a retail store then go to purchase online.” 

Key takeaway: Retail and ecommerce don’t need to compete with each other. They both serve the purpose of helping your brand grow - so make sure you’re regularly communicating with your teams and collecting data from different revenue sources. 

2. Plan, test and iterate on your creative assets    

Matt takes a ‘flywheel’ approach to Chomps’ creative ad strategy. Whether it’s static graphics, or user-generated content (UGC) video, he likes to test creative in smaller-scale campaigns, see what works and build on successes. Here are some of the steps he takes: 

• First, his team uses Monday.com - a project management tool - to help outline specific tasks and timelines. 
• Next, they’ll work on the creative brief. This includes identifying their target audience and the story they want the creative to convey. The team will often share ideas using a Figma board, and the designers will bring concepts to life. 
• If they’re working with a content creator, they might also outline what they’d like their creator to say. 
• Next they’ll look at how much budget they want to spend and what metrics they want to monitor. Depending on the platform and target audience, this could be anything from landing page conversion rates to the customer average order value. 
• Once they launch their assets into the wild, they’ll monitor and give feedback to the creative team. Based on results, the process can be started again. 

Even when an ad is working really well, Matt says they’ll never stop trying to get better. 

“We'll always iterate on our creative, even when we think we’ve found the best ad. If we need to create new ads to compete against those winning ads, then so be it.”

Key takeaway: Set up a proper process to plan your creative content. This way, it’ll be easier to test your ads, and iterate based on the performance of each piece of creative. And, most importantly, never settle for your ‘best ad’ - there’s always room to improve. 

3. Use metrics to understand the full customer journey 

Matt is responsible for acquiring new customers and maximising existing customer value. He can take data from different areas to create a clear picture of the entire customer acquisition journey through to repeat revenue. Let’s look at some metrics you could track for each: 

Customer acquisition metrics

Some of the metrics that Matt looks at for customer acquisition include:

• Customer acquisition cost (CAC)
• Return on ad spend (ROAS)
• New customer revenue vs. returning customer revenue
• Lifetime value (LTV)

He’ll also look at contribution margins to ensure they’re acquiring customers profitably and from the right channels. 

Customer retention metrics 

When it comes to repeat revenue channels, Matt says it's crucial they’re using strategies to encourage customers to make repeat purchases. The metrics they look at to analyse retention are open rates and click-through rates on email welcome flows. They also look at the first-to-second purchase percentage. If a customer hasn't made a repeat-purchase after 60-90 days, Chomps might offer them an incentive. For those who’ve purchased multiple times, they’ll be encouraged to subscribe to regular deliveries. 

“A lot of it is analysing email and SMS data. We want to see if people are signing up for the email program right after the first purchase. And we want to see how that data plays out over time.”

Key takeaway: Whether you work in customer acquisition, retention, or both - make sure you’re getting as much data as you can from every angle. All these different data points will help you build a big picture. In Matt’s case, he says that retention data helps inform their acquisition strategies. Knowing what types of customers spend the most money with you, can help you acquire similar audiences.

4. Analyse the performance of your creative assets 

It’s so important to monitor the performance of your creative assets. You put time and money into producing them, so you need to know they’re paying off. 

Chomps look at lots of different metrics depending on the channel and the type of content. 

For example, if they’re testing user-generated content, they might look at engagement rates and the thumb-stop ratio of each creative. This can help them determine whether the hooks they’re using are resonating with their audience. 

Or they’ll look at what click-through rate (CTR) and conversions they’re getting via a particular piece of creative. If CTR is high but conversions are poor, it could indicate that their landing pages need to be tweaked. Or they need to create separate landing pages for their static UGC versus their video UGC. 

All these metrics can help paint a picture of what’s resonating with their audience at different points in their journey. 

Key takeaway: Keep checking in on the performance of your creative assets. Whether it's a UGC ad, or the final landing page, there’s sure to be elements you can tweak to help drive conversions.

2. Use a mixture of static images and UGC videos 

After testing lots of different ad formats, Matt says there’s a clear winner when it comes to content that converts. He says that static images perform well at the bottom of the funnel - in other words, they help Chomps close sales. 💸

“We've found that many of our offer-focused static images work well because they have clear callouts. For example they might say “20% off and free shipping. This makes a strong impact.”

But that’s not to say you should ditch other types of content. Matt says that Chomps’ user-generated content performs better at the top of the funnel. They’ll often get lots of likes and comments, which indicates UGC does really well for brand awareness. 

Key takeaway: Use a mix of content to educate customers about your brand and pull them down the funnel. UGC can work really well for brand awareness, whilst static images with clear offers can help convert people on your website.

5. Collect UGC from multiple sources

79% of people say user-generated content influences their buying decisions. So this form of content has become the norm for most ecommerce brands. 

This is all well and good, but how do you actually collect UGC? 

Matt says that, at Chomps, they use a variety of methods and tools to connect with content creators. Here are some to consider for your brand: 

• Aspire for ambassador programs: Matt uses the tool Aspire to help push Chomps’ ambassador program. This tool helps you reach people who’re already a fan of your product. These customers are more likely to give a truly, authentic review. 
• Bounty for TikTok reviews: Bounty is another UGC tool that helps you get video reviews for your products. You can list your product on Bounty and pick suitable influencers who’ll get rewarded when they post a review. 
• UGC agency:  Matt also uses an agency to help cut up UGC and turn it into ads. “We use a UGC agency to produce higher performing, faster cuts. We let them handle the pre-production process with us from a bandwidth perspective. This means we’re able to spin up a lot of different creatives very quickly to be able to test.”

👉 You can find more UGC and influencer marketing tools to help grow your strategy.

6. Regularly communicate with your agency 

Chomps also works with an agency to help them run their paid media channels. Matt says it's really important that you keep open communication with your agency, and that you’re getting involved with all the top-level strategy conversations outside of regular check in calls. 

“We have strategy meetings for both Meta and Google. We’ll also look at what's working and any potential pivots we can make. Open communication has been key; always being available for each other and collaborating to grow has proven super successful.”

Matt’s experience in paid acquisition also means he knows what to expect when it comes to providing their agency with creative content. 

“I always try to provide lots of creative for testing, especially with platforms like TikTok where ad fatigue is high. It’s about being in-tune with the agency and making sure they have lots of creative assets to quickly test what’s working.”

Key takeaway: Make sure you and your agency are on the same page by keeping an open communication with them at all times. Get involved with top-level strategies and provide them with enough creative assets to test campaigns quickly.

7. Experiment with different paid channels 

One of the fun parts about working in customer acquisition is experimenting with new channels. Matt says they recently started looking at podcasts as a brand awareness and acquisition channel. 

“There's a belief that podcasts can help brands acquire new customers. Of course, speaking about Chomps as a brand is great from an awareness standpoint: people will hear the name, they'll hear what the host is saying and, if something resonates with them, they might search for us on Google or look out for us in a nearby store.”

What’s more, it can be relevantly easy to attribute podcast channels back to revenue. For example, when Chomps run audio ads they’ll offer unique discount codes on products. Whenever someone uses that code to purchase, there’s no doubt about where that sale came from. 

Matt says this has been a really great way to get in front of new audiences. 

“We've already seen some really good results when it comes to the core audiences that we're targeting. We're working with an agency that's helping with negotiating cost per miles (CPMs) and finding the right shows that work best for our ads. We've seen some really good success so far. But we’ve barely scratched the surface”

Key takeaway: Experiment with new paid channels to help boost brand awareness and conversions. Podcasts and audio ads, for example, give you the opportunity to get in front of new audiences you might not have considered before. 

8. Set up post-purchase surveys 

Matt is able to glean lots of information from various data points across a customer’s lifecycle. But he says some of the best information comes from post-purchase surveys. 

“This is where we’re able to slice and dice the data to find out where new and returning customers are coming from. We can ask them specific questions about what resonates with them and strengthen our audience demographic data.”

These surveys aren’t just for finding out if customers enjoy Chomps’ products - they’re also used to find out whether people are connecting with the brand. 

“One of the questions we have in our new customer survey is how Chomps resonates with them. From this we’re able to validate what we already know about the brand. For example, our survey shows that people value our clean ingredients, high protein and low calorie count. A lot of that feedback is already used in our marketing, but it’s always great to see these responses - it shows we're hitting the nail on the head. We understand the core value propositions that our customers are really passionate about.”

Key takeaway: Use post-purchase surveys to find out what value propositions are resonating with your customers. You could also ask them how they heard about your brand and what they like most about your product. This can help validate your existing marketing strategies and help you plan new ones. 

3 DTC brands that nail their creative assets 

To close the episode, we asked Matt what his favourite brands are for finding inspiration. He told us that there are three consumer-packaged goods brands that he admires. Here’s why: 

1. Oats Overnight 

“When you're advertising a CPG or snacking product like Chomps, people can't really tell how it tastes as a first-time customer. So how do you make a snacking product resonate with prospects if they’ve never tasted it? Oats Overnight does a really good job at this. I love their UGC content and their video type content. Their static images are also amazing.”

2. Olipop

“From a site experience standpoint, I love Olipop’s. They're very similar to Chomps in that they have a lot of SKUs. We’re often looking at ways to present different types of flavours on one website. Olipop does a great job of that.”

3. Catalina Crunch 

“The other brand I love is Catalina Crunch. They’re another great CPG business that I've really enjoyed finding inspiration from in the Meta ad library. I can see what's working for them with their flavour launches. I'm always impressed by the creative that they're putting out.”

Matts key takeaways for creating paid acquisition strategies 

Here’s a summary of Matt’s top tips that you can take with you today!

• Make sure ecommerce and retail work together:  Retail and ecommerce don’t need to compete with each other. They both serve the purpose of helping you grow your brand - so make sure you’re regularly communicating with your teams and collecting data from your different revenue sources.
• Plan, test and iterate on your creative assets: Set up a proper process to plan your creative content. This way, it’ll be easier to test your ads and iterate based on the performance of each piece of creative. Never settle for your ‘best ad’ - there’s always room to improve. 
• Use metrics to understand the full customer journey: Make sure you’re usingdata to properly understand the customer lifecycle. In Matt’s case, he says that retention data helps inform their acquisition strategies. Knowing what types of customers spend the most money with you, can help you require similar audiences. 
• Analyse the performance of your creative assets: Keep checking in on the performance of your creative assets. Whether it's a UGC ad, or the final landing page, there’s sure to be elements you can tweak to help drive conversions.
• Use a mixture of static images and UGC videos: Use a mix of content to educate customers about your brand and pull them down the funnel. UGC can work really well for brand awareness, whilst static images with clear offers can help convert people on your website.
• Regularly communicate with your agency: If you work with an agency, make sure you’re all on the same page by keeping an open communication with them at all times. Get involved with top-level strategies and provide them with enough creative assets to test campaigns quickly. 
• Experiment with different paid channels: Experiment with new paid channels to help boost brand awareness and conversions. Podcasts and audio ads, for example, give you the opportunity to get in front of new audiences you might not have considered before. 
• Set up post-purchase surveys: Use post-purchase surveys to find out what value propositions are resonating with your customers. You could also ask them how they heard about your brand and what they like most about your product - this can help validate your existing marketing strategies, and help you plan new ones. 

Listen to Matt’s full episode on our podcast. You can find it on:

• Apple Podcasts
• Spotify
• YouTube