How Google helped Eberjey expand their cozy empire

When co-founders, Ali Mejia and Mariela Rovito, met in 1996, the sleepwear and lingerie market catered more to an onlooking audience than the wearer. Ali and Mariela took advantage of the void in the market by introducing their luxury loungewear. They made their mark, sustaining Eberjey’s growth and success for 25 years.

Eberjey initially started as a wholesale business. Now, it’s 50% online and includes four brick-and-mortar locations. When Eberjey pivoted, Ali and Mariela turned to Google. The Eberjey team used Google Ads to drive site traffic and Google Business Profile to connect with in-store shoppers.

Santana Lopez, VP of Marketing, sees the benefits of Google Ads first-hand. Things really picked up in 2018, when they invested more into Google Ads. That year they saw a 177% increase in revenue from Ads alone. Half of their online business comes from Google Ads. Santana has this to say:

“What we find most impactful about Google Ads is it allows us to reach our customer wherever they are in the customer journey. We’re right there at the top of the search engine result page. It’s a seamless experience for them to click through, get to our site and ultimately bring home a pair of our soft pajamas. By the end of this year, Google Ads will have reached over 75 million customers. Our revenue from Google channels grows at an average of 145% year over year.”

It’s not just the amount of traffic, but the quality, too. Santana explains, “Google allows you to target people who are interested in your product. Thus, you get more qualified traffic, higher conversion rates and lower bounce rates. And it’s just the level of intent and qualified customer that you don’t really get from any other channel.”

In addition to Ads, Eberjey uses Google Shopping, Google Search, and Smart Bidding. For the past two years from Q3 to Q4, Eberjey increased their budget by roughly 150% between all their Google marketing tools. As of late, Google Shopping is one of their biggest acquisition channels. The team has seen year over year revenue growth of around 100%.

When Eberjey first entered the market, they focused on women’s wear and it paid off. Google Analytics identified their market as primarily women. Over time, new audiences emerged. The team noticed that “not only are women shopping the site, but men are as well.“ Kristin Dian, VP of Digital and E-commerce, expands “That helped inform some decisions we made about launching our new men’s line, how we were gonna market it to them, and how we merchandise it on the site.” Later on, Eberjey expanded their line to include the whole family. Santana mentions “we wanted to make sure we were reaching all our customers, not just women.”

Google Analytics is vital for the Eberjey team to stay up-to-date on their performance. Santana says, “It’s the measurement that we live and breathe on. We’re always looking at that in real time. Every second of the day it’s pulled up to see how all of our channels are doing.” Kristin agrees, “It’s extremely important for a business to have an online presence and as with any digital store, it’s open 24/7. Having access to digital tools at any time of day or night is critically important. The two tabs I always have open on my computer at any time are Shopify analytics and Google Analytics.”

The end of year holidays are a big deal for most businesses; Eberjey is no exception. In Q4 of 2021, they attributed 25% of their revenue to Google Ads. Santana expands, “During Q4, the majority of Google Ad revenue comes from branded search, which makes sense because our pajamas are extremely comfortable and a popular gift.” She says the increased demand for pajamas is organic for that time of year and Eberjey wants to make sure that they’re showing up to meet that demand. She continues, “That means heavily investing in Google Ads, making sure that we have prospecting channels in full swing and really preparing our site for all of the influx of traffic.”

The Eberjey team is ready for Q4 2022. They’ve planned in advance and increased their Google Ads investment. Kristin adds that they begin site prep as early as April. She says, “We make sure we have the photography that we need and all the merchandise is going to be in on time. We’re prepared to have the biggest holiday season ever for 2022.”