Success Story

Lighting up engagement with carousel ads

Using carousel ads to build product and service awareness, the energy company increased engagement 2.5X over previous link ad campaigns, recording a 2.4X increase in clicks.
  • 56%decrease in cost per click
  • 2.5Xincrease in engagement
  • 2.4Xincrease in clicks to its website

Their Story

Empowering consumers

Direct Energy is one of North America’s largest providers of electricity, natural gas and home services. Its mission is to provide customers with the tools and service they need to be smart energy consumers, supporting their homes and saving on costs.

Their Goal

Illuminating options

Direct Energy wanted to show that it offers better value and more options than other providers to help drive engagement and clicks to its website. The company also wanted to target to potential customers looking for a new energy provider, both within and beyond Texas’s highly competitive energy market.
Carousel ads helped us publicize our brand promise of helping customers use less energy, while also showcasing the selection we have for their home needs. This new format helped increase customer interaction with the ads, while sharing our value proposition.
Jackie Effenson, Digital Marketing Manager, Direct Energy

Their Solution

Smart targeting

Direct Energy used carousel ads to educate consumers about energy options and showcase its competitive plans, using ad creative that reflected viewers’ diverse home lives and priorities. For example, an ad targeting budget-conscious parents featured a boy in his favorite superhero cape, introducing the promise that “You Have the Power to Save.”
To reflect market-pricing differences across multiple American states, the ads featured offers uniquely to each region. To serve different ads to different regions, Direct Energy built Custom Audiences based on email lists for different geographical areas. Initially focused on the Texas market, the energy company later extended to other markets where its plans would stand out—for example, Massachusetts, where it offers a 27% saving over the local utility.

Their Success

A strong connection

Carousel ads helped Direct Energy connect with a broad but strategically targeted group of audiences, at significantly lower cost than other advertising media.
Compared to its May 2015 link ad campaign, the November 2015 carousel ad campaign achieved the following results:
  • 56% decrease in cost per click
  • 2.5X increase in engagement
  • 2.4X increase in clicks
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