THE CHALLENGE                              

Nava, a young graphic designer based in Liverpool, UK, started on IMVU as a creator in 2012. As a graphics designer with a huge passion for British grunge and punk rock fashion, Nava revelled in the freedom to actually create and draw whatever style he wanted. 

“Any clothes I saw would fit together or ideas I could see in my head, I could put right on several hundred layers in Photoshop. That way I can bring together pieces from different ideas and make it my own style, the way I would wear it in real life. Each outfit has my own pizzazz to it!”  

Driven by the freedom to create whatever he wanted, whenever he felt like it, and inspired by the community of other Creators who shared his passion for creativity and making, Nava opened his store in 2017, selling clothing, outfits, avatars, accessories, hair, shoes, tops and bottoms.

Nava’s Store on IMVU

It wasn’t long before Nava realized he was just one store among tens of thousands on IMVU. Nava was proud of what he was making and knew his creations were good, but he needed a way to stand out. 

Relying on sales from people browsing or from promotions like shout outs and chat room posts wasn’t helping him build his business. To increase awareness of his shop Nava needed a mechanism to get found, connect with his customers, build his brand, and broadcast announcements.

THE OPPORTUNITY                     

Intended for established Creators who have actively grown their brand over time, the Creator Ad program is designed to help them take their IMVU business to the next level. 

The Creator Ad program is the highest-performing ad product on the new IMVU platforms that enables Creators to take charge of their business and reach an audience of their own choosing and size. With an increase in views and direct clicks to their shops, the ad product helps Creators customize their ad to demonstrate the style of their brand, promote their products, and ultimately drive an increase in sales. 

Each Creator Ad campaign includes a fully customizable Native ad unit, 100,000 impressions and weekly status reports that reveal visits and Click Through Rate (CTR). Creator Ads are displayed on the Discover Feed on IMVU’s mobile platform.

Nava’s Creator Ad  on IMVU

Link-clicks on ads drive viewers, GA and VIP users alike, to the Creator’s full catalog in the shop. Separate elements of each ad are fully customizable, and include the Creator logo, an attention-grabbing title, a hero image that features items for sale, plus a compelling 100-word description of what’s on offer. A call-to-action button takes viewers directly to their shop.

As Nava explains, “Unlike shoutouts on IMVU’s desktop website, Creator Ads give me the ability to present my store exactly how I want it. On the new Mobile platform where IMVU sees the highest growth, I can show what my brand represents and what I have to offer. With this tool I can be sure to reach thousands of people directly on IMVU.”

RESULTS                                       

Thanks to the Creator Ad program, Nava has connected with an entirely new audience, which has helped, “solidify NAVA as its own quality brand, professionally displayed amongst other Creators with exceptional skills.” 

As a result of his Creator Ad campaigns, which typically run for three weeks, NAVA is averaging a CTR of 2.2% with around 3,000 total clicks from 133,000 impressions. The Creator Ad campaigns have been instrumental in helping him build his already established business in terms of returning customers and reputation. 

The Creator Ad program is helping NAVA connect with new people.

“People I don’t usually see, people who may not be on Instagram or may not be browsing hashtags. I have also found returning customers this way, as well as new customers who may not have known about my store before seeing my ad, who are definitely keeping an eye on my store now. There are also of course those who will be more inclined to visit my store after seeing my name on an ad even if they don’t click the ad itself.”

Reports are delivered weekly to Campaign subscribers. Two of Nava’s Creator Ad Campaigns in this single report highlight which garnered the most clicks. 

“[CTR reporting provides a] feedback mechanism wherein I can compare the CTR’s from previous ads and see which one did better, which ad people liked better, and then determine ‘why?’ Of course each ad is different, but after several ad runs I’ll be able to analyze and fine tune my products and ads according to what people are more likely to click on, so I can make exactly what people want.” 

Finding and connecting with his audience is getting easier for Nava as well. 

“I continue to get messages from people who have found me from the ads, telling me ‘I love your products,’ That’s always a surprising and awesome experience.”

Download the Creator AD Case Study – Nava

More details about Creator Ads…

1. Typical Performance – the below graph shows the average performance of a typical Creator Ad campaign.

2. Click Through Rates and Followers (CTR) – CTR means “Click through Rate” and indicates what percentage of viewers click on an ad. The industry average for mobile CTRs is about a .38%. That means LESS than 1%. Many of the Creator Native Ads have performed far beyond our success benchmark of 1%.

3. Ads on Mobile – Creator ads appear on our mobile platforms, where half of our monthly users are active. Creator sales from our catalog by mobile users are significant and continue to grow at a rapid rate.

4. Tracking Details Defined

• Impressions – our Creator Advertising Program measures impressions, which means the number of people who see your advertisement. This program guarantees 100,000 impressions. This usually takes about one month.
• Stats we can track – our program can track impressions, number of clicks on your ad and Click through Rate.
• Stats we CAN’T track – at this point our program can’t provide information for each individual who saw or clicked on your ad (meaning details about the demographics of the users). We also cannot track the direct sales that resulted from your ad. Some of this information may be available in the future.

5. Campaign Length – Most campaigns run an average of 3 to 4 weeks, depending on the amount of other ads we also are running. The more ads that are running the longer it takes for your ad to reach 100,000 impressions. However, to maximize the engagement in your campaign, we only allow users to see your ads two times in a 24 hour period.

6. Dedicated Promotion – the ad Creatives are 100% by the Creator. IMVU does not add any additional messaging or graphic content to promote IMVU products within the Creator Ads.