The Impact of Non-Search Isolation for Instacart Advertising
instacart-non-search-impact
3 min

The Impact of Non-Search Isolation for Instacart Advertising

Ellie Edwards, October 22, 2021

With Instacart's Non-Search ad placements presenting the ideal opportunity for advertisers to increase market share and gain brand loyalty among customers who have already purchased their products, advertisers have leapt at the chance to optimize Non-Search placements.

Non-Search includes all browse placements on Instacart such as the Home page, Department or Aisle pages, on Product Detail Pages for similar items, Buy It Again, and Post Checkout.

Earlier this year, Perpetua launched a powerful feature for Featured Product advertising on Instacart: Non-Search Isolation. This feature is exclusive to Perpetua customers and offers advertisers the ability to isolate targeting and performance reporting for Instacart's Non-Search ad placements.

Since launching Non-Search Isolation, adoption has since increased to 71% indicating high demand for improved control and targeting over Non-Search ad placements.

At Perpetua, we have seen Non-Search contribute to over 50% total ad spend and attributed sales within Featured Product campaigns. ROAS for Non-Search is also greater, with ROAS 24% higher on average for Non-Search vs. keyword placements.

Users who utilize Perpetua's Non-Search isolation feature can expect greater ROAS for Non-Search ad placements as well as for their account overall.

  • ROAS for Non-Search ad placements is 25% higher among customers who isolate Non-Search targeting vs. those who do not

  • Overall account-level ROAS is 3% higher on average for those who isolate vs. those who do not (account level ROAS includes keyword + Non-Search performance)

Advertisers who opted into Non-search isolation, not only saw increases in Non-Search ROAS, but also experienced improved keyword ROAS.

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The % Variance calculated by taking average ROAS for advertisers who opted in to Non-Search isolation vs. those who did not. During 3 months post Non-Search Isolation, both Keyword and Non-Search ROAS are consistently higher on average for those who opted in.

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*"NS ISO ON" = Customer has Non-Search Isolation feature enabled

*"NS ISO OFF" = Customer does NOT have Non-Search Isolation feature enabled

Why is Non-Search Isolation so Impactful?

Within all campaigns, Instacart will automatically harvest keywords and it is not possible to turn this off. This is great for identifying net-new keywords, but makes it difficult for users of the native ads manager to segment performance and strategy by target type.

Non-Search Isolation at Perpetua

At Perpetua, users set a distinct Target ROAS for each segment including branded, competitor, category, and Non-Search. While the branded, competitor, and category segments relate solely to keyword performance, Non-Search ad placements are unique and controlled by one distinct bid price called the default bid.

Without Perpetua's Non-Search Isolation feature, Non-Search ad performance can make up the large majority of spend and sales within campaigns, meaning there is a high chance that half the budget you'd like to be dedicated towards a distinct keyword strategy, is actually being used up by Non-Search. This means with Non-Search isolation turned OFF, you're likely missing out on a large opportunity by not allowing sufficient budget to the keywords that matter most to your brand.

Perpetua eliminates this issue by allowing users the ability to funnel performance for Non-Search into a distinct campaign, while eliminating Non-Search spend in campaigns dedicated to keyword strategies (branded / competitor / category) which have diverse ROAS targets. This allows for segmenting of performance and strategy based on specific target types and improved control over budgeting and strategy for distinct keywords types.

To learn more about you can leverage Instacart Non-Search and get started with Instacart advertising, you can email us at hello@perpetua.io

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