Top Digital Advertising Channels for Phone Case Brands from Jan. 2020 to Dec. 2022

Key Takeaways

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Advertising Trends

• Brands in the competitive set spent the most on Paid Search ($42.9M), followed by Facebook ($18M) and Instagram ($13.6M). OTT ($1.4K) saw the lowest ad spend allocations.
• Paid Search saw a significant increase of +70% while Facebook maintained their ad spend and all other brands in the competitive set saw increases in ad spend year-over-year. Display saw a -69% decrease in 2022. 
• 60% of brands had Paid Search in their top 2 ad spend channels.
• Casetify had the highest budget amongst the competitive set, with an ad spend of $47.7M from Jan. ‘20 - Oct. ‘22.

Content Trends

• Casetify and Rhino Shield had ad copy that focused on the durability of their phone cases by sharing how many feet you can drop a phone.
• Casetify and OtterBox both had messaging highlighting the product feature of being antimicrobial.
• Casetify partnered with the Louvre to give their customers the chance to have fine art masterpieces on their phone case.
• Burga advertised unboxing videos of their products; showcasing to their audience what their product looks like on and off the website. 
• Spigen capitalized on the hype surrounding the release of new technology by advertising pre-orders for their complimentary products.

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The following companies were included in the competitive set for this analysis:

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From January 2020 to December 2022, the competitive set spent $82.4M on digital advertising. Burga’s Paid Search and Casetify’s Facebook spend led to the spikes in investment. 

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Casetify, Rhino Shield, and Burga saw increases in ad spend in the past 3 years, while OtterBox maintained its ad spend. Spigen saw an average yearly decrease in ad spend of -12%. 

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Paid Search saw a significant increase of +70% in the past two years, while Facebook maintained its ad spend. Display saw a significant decrease in ad spend of -69% in 2022. 

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Paid Search ($42.9M) saw the highest budget allocation across the competitive set, followed by Facebook ($18M) and Instagram ($13.6M). 

Twitter ($5.3K) and OTT ($1.4K) saw the lowest ad spend allocations from January 2020 to December 2022.

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From January 2020 to December 2022, the United States saw the highest budget allocation across the competitive set at $77.6M. 

All brands in the competitive set had a budget allocation of less than 2% towards Canada with exception to Casetify at 9%.

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From January 2020 to December 2022, Casetify spent $47.7M on digital advertising. 

70% of their budget went towards Paid Search ($33.3M), followed by Facebook at $6.4M.

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Casetify budgeted $25.7M toward Desktop Paid Search (77%) compared to $7.6M on Mobile Paid Search (23%).

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Paid Search Tactics

Casetify spent $33.3M on Paid Search from January 2020 to December 2022. September 2022 saw the highest ad spend of $2.5M*. 

Extremely Durable:

• In both ads, Casetify reinforces their case’s ability to protect a phone by using keywords such as “extremely durable”, “military grade”, and “9.8-foot drop protection”.

Free Shipping

• Casetify alleviates customer concerns about shipping costs by advertising their free worldwide shipping offer within the first sentence of their ad description.

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On Facebook, Casetify allocated 80% ($5.1M) of their budget towards Link Post ads, followed by Video Post ads at $819K.

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Facebook Tactics

Casetify spent $6.4M on Facebook from January 2020 to December 2022.

Art Partnership:

• Casetify’s partnership with the Louvre gave customers the chance to have fine art masterpieces on their phone case.

Branded Hashtag:

• Casetify created a branded hashtag for their partnership with the Louvre to track their campaign metrics (#LouvrexCASETIFY).

Focus on Louvre:

• Casetify leverages the Louvre’s popularity and status through its photos; using a backdrop of the Louvre for all its ad photos.

Spend: $157K | Imp.: 17.4M | CPM: $9.02‍

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From January 2020 to December 2022, OtterBox spent $29.4M on digital advertising. 

37% of their budget went towards Facebook ($11M), followed by Paid Search at $8.7M (30%).

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On Facebook, OtterBox budgeted 83% ($9M) toward Link Post ads followed by Video Post ads at $938K and Carousel Post ads at $858K.

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Facebook Tactics

OtterBox spent $11M on Facebook from January 2020 to December 2022.

Emojis:

• Both ads utilize emojis to create a more eye-catching ad and to connect with their audience through casual messaging.

Creative Hashtag:

• OtterBox uses the hashtag #HowILiveConnected in all their posts and encourages their customers & influencers to do the same.

Spend: $1.05M | Imp.: 110.6M | CPM: $9.49

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Spend: $461K | Imp.: 48.7M | CPM: $9.46‍

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OtterBox budgeted $6.1M toward Desktop Paid Search (70%) compared to $2.6M on Mobile Paid Search (30%).

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Paid Search Tactics

OtterBox spent $8.7M on Paid Search from January 2020 to December 2022. August 2020 saw the highest ad spend of $528K*. 

Antimicrobial:

• Both ads by OtterBox focus on their antimicrobial product feature and aim to provide a solution to their customer's top concerns.

Product Model Names:

• OtterBox’s most popular phone case models, ‘Defender’, ‘Symmetry’, and ‘Commuter’ are included in the ad description.

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From January 2020 to December 2022, Rhino Shield spent $4.1M on digital advertising. 

61% of their budget went towards Instagram ($2.5M), followed by Paid Search at $672K (17%).

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On Instagram, Rhino Shield budgeted 56% ($1.4M) toward Story ads, followed by Photo ads ($797K) and Link ads ($199K).

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Instagram Tactics

Rhino Shield spent $2.5M on Instagram from January 2020 to December 2022.

Healthy Materials:

• This ad by Rhino Shield highlights how the company uses healthy materials free from harmful chemicals. 
• Rhino Shield lists out the specific chemicals they avoid using, such as BPA, BPS, BPF, phthalates, lead, and mercury.

Creative Series:

• This ad by Rhinoshield focuses on the launch of their phone cases that are creatively designed.

Spend: $102K | Imp.: 11.6M | CPM: $8.79

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Spend: $38.7K |Imp.: 5.2M | CPM: $7.44

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Rhino Shield budgeted $639K toward Desktop Paid Search (95%) compared to $33K on Mobile Paid Search (5%).

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Paid Search Tactics

Rhino Shield spent $672K on Paid Search from January 2020 to December 2022. July 2020 saw the highest ad spend of $109K*. 

Standardized Drop Test:

• Rhino Shield uses the words ‘US military’ in their ad copy to try and associate their phone case with the positive traits of the military such as reliability and rigor. In their ad description, Rhino Shield shares that their phone case not only meets, but surpasses the US military drop test standard. 

Latest Models:

• Rhino Shield makes sure to include the latest and most popular phone models in their ad description.

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From January 2020 to December 2022, Burga spent $1.5M on digital advertising. 

47% of their budget went towards Instagram ($690K), followed by TikTok at $634K (43%).

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On Instagram, Burga budgeted 73% ($507K) toward Story ads, followed by Video ads ($82K).

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Instagram Tactics

Burga spent $691K on Instagram from January 2020 to December 2022.

Focus on Aesthetics:

• Burga focuses on the aesthetic beauty of phone cases in this ad through messaging like “you will get loads of compliments on your phone case”. 

BOGO Deal:

• Burga incentivizes their customers to make a purchase by offering a limited-time deal (Buy 2 get 2 free).

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TikTok Tactics

Burga spent $634K on TikTok from January 2020 to December 2022. 

Unboxing:

• Burga participated in the "What I ordered vs What I got" trend making the content seem organic rather than an ad. These unboxing videos help a customer visualize what the product will look like before it arrives.
• In this video, Burga takes it further by putting a clip of the product on their website before the clip of the product being unboxed.

Matching Set:

• In this video, Burga showcases an order where a customer purchased an entire matching set for their laptop, headphones, and phone.

Views: 79.8K | Total Engagement: 2.2K | Eng. Rate: 2.8%

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Views: 53.2K | Total Engagement: 1.3K | Eng. Rate: 2.4%

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From January 2020 to December 2022, Spigen spent $622K in digital advertising. 

74% of their budget went towards Instagram ($462K), followed by Facebook ads at $86.8K (14%).

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On Instagram, Spigen budgeted 45% ($207K) toward Photo ads, followed by Story ads ($178K), Video ads ($50K), Carousel ads ($24K), and Other ads ($3K).

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Instagram Tactics

Spigen spent $463K on Instagram from January 2020 to December 2022.

Release Hype:

• Spigen capitalizes on the hype surrounding the release of new technology by advertising pre-orders for their complementary products and directing people to their link in bio.

Latest Products: 

• Spigen stays on top of the trend by releasing compatible cases for brand-new products like the Galaxy Buds.

Spend: $15.4K | Imp.: 1.8M | CPM: $8.56

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Spend: $14.1K | Imp.: 2M | CPM: $7.05

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On Facebook, Spigen budgeted 55% ($1.3M) toward Link ads, followed by Carousel ads ($124K), Status ads at ($6.4K), Video ads ($2K), and Photo ads ($2K).

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Facebook Tactics

Spigen spent $87K on Facebook from January 2020 to December 2022.

Practicality:

• Spigen advertises the practicality of its car charger by stating how it can charge “two devices fast at once”.

Discount:

• Spigen offers a 25% discount promotion on their ad to incentivize customers to click.

Spend: $3.9K |Imp.: 496K | CPM: $7.86

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Spend: $3.8K |Imp.: 483K | CPM: $7.86

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*Ad spend includes Paid Search, OTT, Facebook, Display, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Twitter, and Snapchat.

*Data not available for OTT, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter in Canada.

*Spend is a directional approximation and does not include retargeting, or behavioural targeting.

*Data collection for TikTok and Snapchat began January 2022.