Achieving a good ROAS is becoming trickier than ever – these Shopify apps make it easy to reach the right people at the right time
Ad costs are higher than ever, but targeting is getting less and less focused. As a result, many brands are facing a decline in Return On Ad Spend (ROAS). New iOS 14 updates let consumers opt-out of handing over their data, which means less access to information about them that can help merchants target ads.
Practically speaking, it means wiener dog owners are less likely to see ads targeted to their specific interests – seriously! (And niche small businesses end up wasting their limited advertising dollars on the wrong people.)
It’s not just Apple doing this. Google is on the same path and plans to limit cross-app tracking are in the not-too-distant future. All these changes sent Facebook, in particular, scrambling. One key option for Shopify stores is to set conversion sharing with Facebook to tap their newer Conversions API. But the overall fix is more than just a few settings.
With these developments, how can you still reach the right people using ethical marketing tactics and achieve a good ROAS?
There are plenty of Shopify ecommerce marketing apps that attempt to serve the right ads featuring the right products to the right people. (Update: And just for you Shopify Plus users, Shopify Audiences was launched.)
Here are some of the best that work with all versions of Shopify:
Popular and new Shopify and ecommerce digital ad targeting apps
1. Shopify Audiences
A ShopifyPlus exclusive, Shopify Audiences runs right from your Shopify admin to help you easily create audiences for improved targeting and performance. Some users claim a ROAS as high as 6x or more!
Price: Shopify Audiences is included in Shopify Plus. Starting at $2,000/month or a variable fee for higher volume businesses.
2. Clever
Clever lets you target people who might be searching for your products across the Google Adwords network. The app also optimizes your Google Shopping Feed by developing Smart Shopping campaigns for your product catalog.
Price: Free for a basic account, $29 month for pro plan and $49 month for Premium.
3. AdRoll Advertising and Marketing
AdRoll is one of the top advertising apps for Shopify stores. It allows you to attract new audiences and convert site abandoners. It uses powerful AI technology to optimize your ads, leading to a higher ROAS, as seen with this brand.
Price: Free to install. Paid plans start at $25/month
4. Easy Facebook & Instagram Ads
The automated advertising platform from Easy Facebook & Instagram Ads allows you to create and run Facebook, Instagram and Google ad campaigns more quickly. It comes equipped with powerful retargeting features and on-hand PPC experts.
Price: Free to install. Paid plans start at $14.99/month.
5. StoreYa
StoreYa uses AI and automation to optimize your Google Shopping ad campaigns to attract more highly qualified customers. It can advertise your business through a range of channels including Gmail, YouTube, Google, Facebook and Instagram.
Price: Prices start at $120/month for a basic account.
6. AdScale
AdScale helps you create relevant customer segments through key purchase data and use this information to run campaigns on Facebook, Instagram and Google.
Price: Prices start at $149/month
7. Lookalike Audience Builder
Lookalike Audience Builder gives you the chance to grow your audience and target new niches with targeted customer email addresses. You can use the email addresses and additional data to serve laser-focused ads on Facebook and Instagram, or to send direct email marketing campaigns.
Price: Prices start at $29/month or the starter plan.
8. Enhencer
Enhencer creates audiences through powerful AI capabilities and makes it easy to target those that are most relevant to increase your conversion rate and ROAS. In this way, Armine managed to increase the ROAS of their Facebook catalog campaign by more than nine times.
Price: Prices start at $49/month
9. Easy Retargeting
Easy Retargeting lets you create and manage multiple ad campaigns from an easy-to-use dashboard. The on-hand experts are available to help, giving you the best chance at optimizing your ads and driving up your ROAS.
Price: Free to use. 15% of ad spend.
10. Automated Retargeting Ads
Automated Retargeting Ads from Meazy is a specialist retargeting platform that allows merchants to access powerful technology to reach highly-targeted audiences with a high purchase intent. It knows when to target shoppers, where they like to receive communications and which products they are most interested in.
Price: Free to use. Pricing based on web visitors and audience size per “strategy.”
11. Adwisely
Adwisely is an all-in-one advertising solution that lets merchants create multiple campaigns for different channels in one central place and measure their success. Style Purch managed to increase their ROAS to 400 percent using the platform.
Price: Prices start at $19/month for the lite plan.
12. Pencil
Pencil is a creative AI platform that generates advertisements for your brand. They take into account your branding, assets, and data to generate creative ad ideas that are designed to win. With just 5 steps, who knew creating beautiful ads could be so easy?
Price: Free for the first 3 ad/mo, $10/ad after that (Pay-as-you-go plan).
13. Preflect
Preflect lets you tap into AI-powered recommendations to create and optimize ads that perform better. See their nice collection of video testimonials from stores users.
Price: Starter plan at $99/mo.
Sustainable Business Strategy: Increase ROAS Despite New Data Limitations
The new data limitations from Apple and Google could mean ecommerce brands will struggle to get the ROI they want from paid ecommerce marketing. The Shopify advertising apps we’ve outlined in this article help collect relevant data and insights and use them to create highly targeted campaigns that can increase ROAS and conversion rates, as well as enhance your customer retention strategy.
Looking for digital advertising alternatives? How about something free?
Check out GoodCarts today. It’s a new approach powered by post-purchase, cross-promotion – that delivers new, passionate customers.
