Lindsey Komson

Featured Image by Jersey Mike’s

We see ads all the time in the middle of our social media feeds. Usually we scroll past them because they interrupt our scrolling, but what if I told you I looked up a page full of only ads?

Using Google Ads Transparency Center, I’m able to look up ads from any company, and see all the ads they’ve ever posted. I chose to look up ads from Jersey Mike’s. I was recently telling someone that Jersey Mike’s is better than several other popular sandwich places, so I wanted to see how they’re advertising that to potential consumers.

Of all the platforms I could’ve searched ads from, I chose YouTube. As a consumer, I know we’re all accustomed to pressing “skip” as soon as the button pops up on our screens. But if an ad is intriguing enough, it’ll prevent me from skipping it. I chose to analyze Jersey Mikes’ YouTube ads to see if they’re engaging customers through high-quality video production.

The one on the bottom middle had a distinct CTA, so I decided to analyze that one. Here’s the ad in full:

After watching the ad, it’s clear that there are two main objectives: generating awareness and driving conversions.

The “now open” CTA on the screen makes it obvious that the brand is trying to alert customers that a Jersey Mike’s is now open in the area. That covers engagement, and conversions would be driving people to make an order at their local Jersey Mike’s, whether that’s online or in person.

Visuals

The visuals on this ad are nothing short of beautiful. It features crystal clear footage of a Jersey Mike’s sandwich done the signature “Mike’s Way” (with the red wine vinegar they discuss in the video). This video gives a visual showcase of how they finish making a sandwich, down to the tearing of the ever-so-recognizable paper they use to wrap it up.

The CTA is visible on the screen throughout the ad – the “NOW OPEN!” copy taking up the top third of the screen throughout the entirety of the video. The copy and CTA are the same, which can be both a good and a bad thing. Obviously, it’s beneficial because the messaging is there – even if someone’s watching with no volume, they still understand the point of the ad. However, there’s nothing in the voiceover or on the screen that encourages people to take action.

Regardless of this, the format of the ad being a video significantly helps the company garner attention from consumers. Using a freshly-made sandwich throughout the ad resonates with the 5 senses and makes consumers hungry by showing how good it looks.

Targeting

In terms of targeting, there are a few avenues the marketers at Jersey Mike’s could go down. Considering the copy on the ad is “Now Open!” they might choose the geographical location of a new Jersey Mike’s and select people within a 20-mile radius. Even if people didn’t want to drive 20 miles for a sandwich, they could opt for delivery if they really wanted it that badly from the ad.

Additionally, they could put a retargeting strategy in place, allowing the ad to be shown to people who previously searched up Jersey Mike’s, or something like “sandwich places near me.”

Benchmarks

To discover the restaurant industry Google ad benchmarks, I referenced this Wordstream article by Susie Marino.

The CTR of 8.68% is on the lower end compared to other industries, and the CPC of $2.18 is as well. However, the conversion rate of 8.72% is among the highest. It’s not hard to get people’s attention with food ads and make them act based on the hunger that advertisers created.

Optimization

The ad is great visually, but I think there are two main optimizations that could be made in order to drive greater awareness and more conversions:

• Add a CTA in the voiceover – it currently ends with “authentic ingredients make a sub above,” but that doesn’t encourage anyone to do anything. By adding another line that says something like “Visit your local Jersey Mike’s today” or something similar, it will drive consumers to take the action wanted.
• Incorporate a popup at the end of the ad – the only popup during the ad is the “skip” button. Adding a popup towards the end with either the link to order online or a location of the nearest Jersey Mike’s would drive many more conversions.