How ALDI increased its reach by 30% on the Google Marketing Platform

Case

ALDI SUISSE AG is part of the booming global retail trade company, ALDI SÜD Group. The company is known for its simple branding and reliability in all business activities – from production to advertising.

Being reliable means being agile. As more and more consumers demand multichannel experiences, ALDI wanted to find a way to strengthen its online presence and live up to the new generation of expectations. They faced several challenges.

Challenges

• Create a new product feed
• Customize product feeds for different channels
• Keep product pricing up to date

ALDI was aware of the need to be present on popular channels like Google and Facebook. But they also knew that this would bring its own set of challenges.

They would first have to create a new product data feed. Without automation, this task could have taken weeks as they would have had to manually extract product information from their retail website and enter it into Excel spreadsheets. Not only would this task waste valuable time, but it also increased the risk of human error and the potential for advertising mistakes. The ALDI team would also have to manually update their Excel sheets every time they needed to correct some data to ensure accurate ads.

The team had to build separate product feeds for both Google and Facebook because each channel's product feed requirements are different. This meant the team would have to manually adapt each line in their original feed or ask IT for support. These tasks left little time for optimization potential as they could take days or weeks to complete. The work had to be methodic as any errors or mistakes could result in Facebook or Google rejecting the feeds.

ALDI’s product prices are constantly changing as they seek to offer great bargains to their customers. This dynamic brought a whole new level of complexity to their feeds. Whether it was time for sales or they were introducing new product lines, ALDI’s team needed to find ways to keep their pricing up to date across channels at all times. They could not do this manually. Asking IT for support would waste time and leave them unable to launch new ads or new product lines quickly.

ALDI had to find a way to automate its feed management processes.

Solutions

• Extensive product content manipulation possibilities
• Bulk image optimization
• Built-in channel connections and automated feed updates

ALDI found the answer to their feed management problems at Productsup.

Creating the perfect feed for Facebook Dynamic ads is uncomplicated given the Productsup platform’s portfolio of built-in editing options. ALDI’s team amend text attributes in bulk according to each channel’s requirements.

Compelling ad images are vital to the success of any Facebook dynamic ad campaign. With Productsup’s Image Designer, ALDI’s digital marketing team quickly and easily create high-performing product images for every product in their feed. The Google Marketing Platform and ALDI’s corporate identity requires different image backgrounds. To ensure their images stayed on brand, the ALDI team uses the image background removal function on the Productsup platform to ensure compliance. This enables the team to remove backgrounds in bulk and ensure that the feeds are ready to go.

With Productsup, adhering to Facebook and Google’s unique product feed specifications is no longer a challenge for ALDI. The team simply uses the built-in Facebook dynamic ads and Google Marketing Platform channel templates in the Productsup platform. The data gathered from their website is automatically mapped to fit the format requirements of each channel. The Productsup platform also boasts multiple channel integrations and APIs. This makes it easy to publish and maintain accurate product data on Facebook and Google.

Results

• Time saved
• Performance boost
• 30% increase in possible impressions on Google

Since choosing Productsup, ALDI’s digital marketing team has automated their day-to-day tasks, which gives them more time to focus on bigger projects.

The team estimates that they saved 66 hours of work per month.

The team recorded a substantial boost in channel performance thanks to Productsup’s product feed optimization options.

ALDI was able to increase possible impressions on the Google Marketing Platform from 45 billion to 59 billion. That's a 30% increase.

ALDI’s team now knows their digital ads are high-quality and up-to-date across channels.