Potato Recipe Interactions soar with USPB Online advertising

The United States Potato Board (USPB) Year-End Online Advertising Campaign results are in. The FY 2012 campaign was highly successful, building off momentum from the past two years. Total recipe interactions nearly quadrupled during this past year. That’s 212,712 online recipe interactions, and demonstrates highly qualified users were engaged with potato recipes in contextually relevant spaces.

“The objectives of the USPB’s online advertising campaign were to get ‘Linda’ to make potatoes as a side dish at least one more time each week in place of rice or pasta,” said Kathleen Triou, USPB Domestic Marketing Vice President. “We continued the previous year’s momentum using online advertising as an effective medium to deliver potato recipes to Linda when she is seeking dinner solutions by focusing on flavorful recipes, new usage ideas, the fresh and natural equities of potatoes and quick and easy preparations. We targeted recipe sites for maximum relevancy and also explored opportunities for high-impact programs and sponsorships.”

Several high impact placements on AllRecipes.com significantly boosted overall site and campaign success. Through sponsorships in the site’s The Daily Dish eNewsletter and the Recipe of the Day, a combined click-through rate (CTR) of 6.11% was attained. This resulted in 56,501 clicks to an AllRecipes branded page and 8,827 clicks to the USPB’s Potato Goodness Transform Potatoes landing page.

The most popular recipe on the Transform Potatoes landing page was Family Favorite Baked Fries, which contributed to half of all of the recipe interactions. Fiesta Potato Smashers, Grilled Pesto Potato Salad, Grilled Potato Kabobs with Lemon-Herb Drizzle, and Mediterranean Sun-Kissed Savory Salad are the other recipes featured on this site. Each of these creative executions, with the exception of the Mediterranean Salad, produced results at least double the industry standard which is just 0.10 percent CTR. Mediterranean Salad still garnered above average results of 0.14 percent CTR, driving significant traffic to the landing page.

During FY 2011, the campaign expanded from Better Homes and Gardens to the wider Meredith Network food and recipe-centric channels. This decision was substantiated with year-over-year results which increased significantly from 0.17 percent in FY 2011 to 0.23 percent CTR in FY 2012. The FY 2013 online advertising campaign will utilize the same approach. The WeightWatchers.com creative also drove highly successful results, validating the decision to expand the buy on this site also during FY 2011.

“For FY 2013, a new ‘Recipe Banner’ concept will bring new life to the ‘Many Sides of Potatoes’ online campaign and provide ‘Linda’ with new potato usage ideas,” Triou said. “This campaign will continue with successful media partners and expand to a mobile and social platform, implemented on TasteofHome.com. We will continue to align with the strongest editorial sections and reach ‘Linda’ when she is in the mindset of meal planning. All sites will be flighted to Linda’s Five Potato Seasons—the USPB’s Domestic Marketing campaign which is currently underway.”

For more information, please visit the USPB Domestic Marketing Table-Stock program online.

For more information on the USPB as the nation’s potato marketing organization, positioned as the “catalyst for positive change,” and the central organizing force in implementing programs that will increase demand for potatoes, please visit www.uspotatoes.com.

Source: United States Potato Board (USPB)