How a national meal kit service found 20,000 new clients using mover data

If you’ve ever moved—and chances are you have, since Americans move an average 11 times in their lifetimes—you know the scene. Someone asks “What’s for dinner?” but you haven’t had time to go grocery shopping and the delivery app is right there on your phone. Before you know it, it’s three day’s later, and the pizza boxes are moving in with you. Something’s got to give.

A national meal kit service hadn’t yet tried mover advertising, the angle was clear. “Movers want a home-cooked meal, [and] they don’t know the restaurants yet around their home,” explained Liz Cronin, vp of sales at Audience Town. A kit subscription would stop the takeout cycle in its tracks. After all, eating healthy is the best way to keep your energy up during this particularly stressful time, according to Moving.com. But it’s not always easy to plan. 

Audience Town’s wealth of mover analytics gave it a clear insight into what mover advertising grabs attention when it comes to meals. Movers are primed to spend, too: in general, movers spend 600% more than non-movers, on items ranging from home furnishings to food. 

The goal of the campaign, which would run in the first quarter of 2022, was customer acquisition, specifically having people submit their email for more information about the meal kit service.

From audience insights to action

One month in, the campaign was performing well. At a $17 CPA, the campaign was performing well below the client’s threshold. But with just a few creative tweaks, they were able to drop the CPA by 25%. 

The original creative was a rotating animation highlighting the ease of making meals, which caught the eye – but the offer was only visible to the viewer for three seconds. The brand logo figured prominently, but the mouth watering ingredients were missing. Most importantly, the copy didn’t mention moving either. 

The team updated the ads to speak to home movers' current stressors like coordinating packing and moving, and still having to feed their families, and changed to static creative with a persistent message. With these changes, they were able to achieve even better results: a $4 drop in cost-per-acquisition and a boost in CTR. Over the course of the campaign, the client saw 20,000 form-fills, which greatly exceeded expectations.