HOW SHUTTERFLY USED A SEARCH-POWERED CUSTOM ALGORITHM TO ZOOM IN ON NEW CUSTOMERS

Summary from the TLDR Marketing newsletter

Shutterfly's new customer ROAS grew from $0.31 to $1.49 between October and December by using a search-data-driven custom algorithm. Unlike traditional addressable tactics, the algorithm prioritized geographic regions showing early purchase intent but low Shutterfly brand recognition. This shifted ad spend away from major cities to smaller, high-potential markets. By optimizing weekly, the campaign improved both cost efficiency and customer acquisition outcomes without relying on traditional deterministic identifiers like demographics.