Brands in the competitive set allocated $11M to digital ads from Q1 to Q3 2022. Here’s how:
Companies in the competitive set for this analysis included Tractive, Fi and FitBark:
From January 2022 to September 2022, companies in the competitive set decreased their digital advertising spend by -80%. January 2022 saw the highest ad spend at $3.6M and August 2022 saw the lowest ad spend at $446K.
From January to September 2022, Fi made up 97.8% of the total ad spend amongst the competitive set, allocating over $11.1M in digital ads during this period.
Tractive made up 1.5% of the total spend, spending $172K on digital ads. FitBark made up just 0.7% of the total spend at $75K.
Since the first quarter of 2022, Fi has drastically cut back its advertising spending — decreasing -70% from Q1 to Q2 and by -20% from Q2 to Q3. While Tractive and FitBark experienced a decline in their spend from Q1 to Q2, both companies experienced an increase in spend from Q2 to Q3—Tractive increased by +286% and FitBark increased by +406% from the previous quarter.
From January 2022 to September 2022, the competitive set invested $11M into digital advertising. Facebook and Instagram ads saw the highest spending of $8.8M and $2.4M respectively, followed by Search ($105K).
Brands in the competitive set did not run ads on YouTube, Display or TikTok and only Tractive ran OTT ads in Q3 2022.
The competitive set mostly used Facebook and Instagram ads to talk about product features (70%), followed by customer quotes (17%) and product promotions & sales (13%).
Fi allocated 79% of its spend on Facebook ($8.6M) followed by Instagram at 21% ($2.3M). Fi only allocated $87K to Paid Search, which accounted for less than 1% of its total spend. Fi focused on Facebook link ads ($6.7M) and Instagram story ads ($1.4M).
Product feature ads emphasize Fi’s GPS location, activity and sleep tracking, waterproofing and durability, and battery life of the device. Fi’s campaign for its Series 2 positioned the collar as being even “smarter, faster and stronger”.
Spend: $1.4M | Imp.: 173M | CPM: $8.23
Spend: $466K | Imp.: 58M | CPM: $8.08
Fi spent approximately $1.3M on ads featuring testimonial quotes from customers.
Spend: $425K | Imp.: 50M | CPM: $8.50
Spend: $529K |Imp.: 65M | CPM: $8.13
Of the ads analyzed, Fi allocated 13% of its total spend on promo & sale ads. The top two ads in this category were for their National Mutt week promo and Cyber Sale, which ran from Feb. 24th to Mar. 1st.
Spend: $59K |Imp.: 6.9M | CPM: $8.55
Spend: $42K |Imp.: 4.8M | CPM: $8.70
Fi allocated $89K to health related ads for a canine fitness week sale. Ads focused on setting step goals and monitoring your dog's activity and sleep patterns.
Spend: $22.6K |Imp.: 481K | CPM: $8.69
*Health ads are a subcategory of product feature, customer quotes, and promotion & sale ads
Fi allocated 11% of its advertising budget to Facebook and Instagram ads in California, specifically Los Angeles which accounted for 6% of the total spend. On Facebook, Fi’s ads target males (62%) and Android users (68%).
Tractive allocated 52% of its spend to Facebook ($80K) followed by Instagram at 26% ($41K), OTT (15%) and Paid Search (7%). Similarly to Fi, Tractive focused on Facebook link ads ($78K) and Instagram story ads ($34K).
Tractive spent approximately $54K on ads that promoted product awareness and its product features.
Spend: $16K | Imp.: 2M | CPM: $8.07
Spend: $9.3K | Imp.: 1.2M | CPM: $7.75
Tractive allocated $31K to promotion & sale ads, with $9K spent on a 30% off promo for Amazon Prime day (July 13th, 2022).
Spend: $4.3K | Imp.: 581K | CPM: $7.40
Spend: $3.4K | Imp.: 454K | CPM: $7.48
In September 2022, Tractive launched an OTT campaign which ran the following two 30-second ad spots exclusively on Tubi. The campaign budget was $23K as of September 2022.
Total Spend: $23K
Share of YTD Spend: 16%
Best Practices: In both ads, the creative focuses on the peace of mind that Tractive can offer dog owners. In addition, the ads feature their Virtual Fence, LIVE GPS Mode and Activity Monitor features and have a CTA with a 25% off promo code.
Spend: $12K | Imp.: 550K | CPM: $22
Spend: $10K | Imp.: 474K | CPM: $22
Tractive allocated 17% of its budget to Facebook and Instagram ads in California. Looking at top metros, Tractive allocated the most to Philadelphia (7%) followed by Orlando (5%). Tractive’s ads skew slightly male (52%) and to Android users (52%).
FitBark, which had the smallest ad spend out of the competitive set, allocated 82% of its spend to Facebook ($61K) followed by Instagram at 9% ($7K) and Paid Search at 9% ($7K). FitBark’s spend was predominantly made up of Facebook link ads.
FitBark allocated approximately 40% of its ad spend to product feature ads.
Spend: $4K | Imp.: 541K | CPM: $7.39
Spend: $8.3K | Imp.: 1.1M | CPM: $7.54
FitBark spent approximately 60% of its ad spend budget on ads featuring testimonial quotes from customers about different concerns such as separation anxiety and tracking a dog walker.
Spend: $11.6K | Imp.: 1.4M | CPM: $8.92
Spend: $5.3K | Imp.: 624K | CPM: $8.48
FitBark’s health ads focused on monitoring activity levels and caloric requirements, sleep, movement and vitals.
Spend: $4K | Imp.: 481K | CPM: $8.31
Spend: $4K | Imp.: 481K | CPM: $8.41
Spend: $2.8K | Imp.: 481K | CPM: $8.57
*Health ads are a subcategory of product feature, customer quotes, and promotion & sale ads
FitBark’s geo-target differs from Fi and Tractive’s, as Atlanta makes up 32% of its total Facebook and Instagram spend. Additionally, FitBark skews more male (70%) and to Android users (79%) than Fi and Tractive do.