Case Study
Spikeball
Who is Spikeball?
Imagine a cross between Volleyball and Four Square. Four players, two teams, a net… actually, scratch that, you don’t need to imagine it. Chris Ruder already did that back in 2008, and since then Spikeball has spread and become popular across the country. You’ll probably see a group of people playing it at your local park, particularly if you’re in a college town. The simplicity of the rules and the challenge of developing the skill, strategy and teamwork to be great have made this new sport infectiously popular.
Spikeball started with a garage, a 1998 Subaru, and the idea to bring people together through a new kind of physical activity. Now the sights are set on becoming the next great global sport.
What did they want to achieve with Wallaroo?
Spikeball’s partnership with Wallaroo began in Summer 2018. They had already been advertising on Facebook and Instagram but wanted to broaden their efforts to include more platforms in order to reach a larger audience. Wallaroo helped continue advertising efforts on Facebook and Instagram while also testing ads on Google, Snapchat, and Pinterest, gauging the viability of these channels for Spikeball. In addition to these services, Wallaroo would assist with Search Engine Optimization and building ad creatives, with the goal that each channel would perform well and generate cost-effective sales.
What steps were taken with their business?
In the early stages of the partnership, experimentation was key. Using the budgets allotted by Spikeball, Wallaroo was able to test out different creatives, messaging, and targeting on Facebook and Instagram to identify winning strategies on the channels. At the same time, campaigns were set up and tested on Snapchat and Pinterest, both new platforms for Spikeball.
The few months that followed were used to prepare for November and Black Friday, which were quickly approaching. September and October became months to build audiences to directly target on Black Friday weekend. During this period, it was decided that the budgets from Snapchat and Pinterest would be put into Facebook and Instagram in November, as they were underperforming expectations, and the focus for the holiday season was to create as many sales as possible.
FB/IG Ads by Wallaroo Media
November was exceptionally strong, and in the months that followed, budgets on Facebook and Instagram dropped as Google came to be a prominent part of the advertising strategy. More resources were put into creating ads on Google as the platform continued to show encouraging signs in the early months of 2019.
What results did they see?
The contract between Wallaroo and Spikeball at the one-year mark in July 2019. Spikeball’s Google ads were coming off of their strongest months to date, with an average monthly revenue on par with the Facebook/Instagram spike in November of the previous year with its 4.7 ROAS.
That strong November on Facebook and Instagram saw a revenue 10x higher than August (when the partnership started), and the total revenue from ads only increased from there with the addition of Google.
All together, Wallaroo helped Spikeball generate over 6 figures in sales directly from ads over the duration of 12-month partnership.
Spikeball is a unique and exciting product and the brand is especially dynamic and fun. Partnering them was a special privilege and we are proud of the results we helped create for them.
Ready to take your brand to the next level with Wallaroo Media?