Top Digital Advertising Channels For Swimwear Brands in Q3 2022

Key Takeaways

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The brands in the competitive set invested $645K to run digital ads during the high summer season (May – July) of 2022, which is 41% more than during the same period last year ($456K).

Channel Identification

• Brands allocated 54% of their total ad budget to Paid Search ads and 28% to Facebook. 
• In 2022, brands in the competitive set increased investment in video ads — $76K was invested in TikTok, $18K in YouTube, and $10K in OTT (over-the-top videos). The companies didn’t run ads on any of these platforms in 2021.
• Display ads saw the lowest CPM at $2.8.

Advertising Trends

• Almost all advertising channels (excl. Facebook and Instagram) already received more investment in the first seven months of 2022 than during all twelve months of 2021.
• Peak season months (May – July) saw a +41% increase in digital ad spend. 

Ad Creatives

• 79% of all Facebook budget was invested in link ads.
• The brands primarily highlight the inclusive fit of their pieces, promote the pieces that are back in stock and offer free bikini promotions with swimsuit purchases.
• Andie Swim is the only brand that runs Display and OTT (over-the-top) video ads.

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The following companies were included in the competitive set for this analysis:

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During the seven months of 2022 (January – July), the competitive set spent the same amount of digital advertising dollars as during the whole of 2021 (January – December). Looking into the high summer seasons (May – July), the brands in the competitive set invested $645K in 2022, which is +41% more than during the same period last year ($456K).

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Andie ($1.3M) invested the most advertising dollars in digital advertising amongst the competitive set. All brands except for Andie invested more into digital ads in 2022 YTD (Jan – July). Monday Swim and Left on Friday saw spend increases of +144% and +210% respectively.

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In 2022, brands in the competitive set increased investment in video ads — $76K was invested in TikTok, $18K in YouTube, and $10K in OTT (over-the-top videos). The companies didn’t run ads on any of these platforms in 2021. At the same time, Paid Search spending increased by +16%, while Facebook and Instagram decreased by -36% and -35% respectively.

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From January 2021 to July 2022, the competitive set invested $2M into digital advertising. Paid Search and Facebook saw the highest spending of $1.1M and $568K respectively, followed by Instagram ($224K).

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All brands in the competitive set invested in Paid Search advertising. Andie Swim is the only brand that ran ads on all three platforms (Paid Search, Facebook, and Instagram) and spent the most advertising dollars on each.

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Up to July 2022, only two brands ventured into TikTok, Left on Friday invested $57K in this platform, and Monday Swim spend $19K. 437 and Andie Swim ran display ads, while Andie Swim also invested $16K in YouTube ads. 

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Andie Swim is the only brand that invested in both Video Display Ads and OTT (over-the-top videos).  

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Andie Swim spent the most advertising dollars on Paid Search in the competitive set ($751K), followed by Left on Friday ($116K), 437 ($97K), and Monday Swim ($95K).

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Andie Swim targeted 1K different keywords which resulted in 360K website visits. The brand used only one keyword per ad, where two of the top three keywords were branded ones — ”Andie swim”. Other tactics include: focusing on fit (“first class fit experts to find your perfect fit”), customer reviews (“1000+ 5-star reviews”), and inclusivity (“XS – XXXL”, “Sizes 0-26”).

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From May 2021 to April 2022, Facebook saw a total spend of $483K and an average CPM of $7.5 across the competitive set. Andie Swim saw the highest investment at $429K, which is 89% of the total competitive set spend. The brands primarily ran link posts (79%), targeting such metropolitan areas as Charlotte (7%), St. Louis (7%), and Washington, DC (7%). 

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All top three Facebook ads were by Andie and advertised back-in-stock pieces. The copy aimed to ignite the sense of urgency saying that “they won’t last long”, and to “act fast”. The copy highlights the perfect fit — ”coverage, compression, and support exactly where you want it”.

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Andie Swim invested $123K in Instagram ads, which is 83% of the total competitive set spend. The brands in the competitive set mainly ran Story ads (77%), targeting mostly Dallas (9%) and New York City (9%).

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Instagram ads had an average CMP of $8.7. The top video ad by Andie featured positive customer reviews, providing social proof. Additionally this ad promoted its Wanderlust collection drop.

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Left on Friday and Monday Swim are the only two companies in the competitive set that run ads on TikTok. Both brands ventured in this platform only in 2022. Left on Friday invested $57K into TikTok between January and July 2022, and Monday Swim spent $19K on this platform. 

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Left on Friday invested 40% of its TikTok ad budget to grab users’ attention with the ad promoting perfect tan lines. 

Monday Swimwear invested 87% of its budget to introduce a new Power Blue Shimmer color.

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437 invested $23K to run Display Ads, which is 95% of the total competitive set spent between January 2021 and July 2022. 

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The brands primarily ran display ads on desktop devices (80%), investing 65% of the total display ad budget on yahoo-based websites (yahoo.com — 38%, att.yahoo.com — 22%, and finance.yahoo.com — 5%).

437 ran display banners leveraging the same visual and communicating that these are luxe must-have pieces. 

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Andie Swim invested $16K between January 2021 and July 2022 in YouTube ads, which is 91% of the total competitive set spend. 

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Andie and Monday Swim saw an average YouTube CPM of $16.0 and distributed all ads on desktop devices. 91% of the YouTube video ads were 15-seconds long. 

Andie invested $16K to highlight the perfect fit of their swimsuits that fit and support any body type in the top and bottom.

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Andie Swim invested $11K between January 2021 and July 2022 to run video display ads. 100% of the spending was targeted to desktop devices, with 56% focused on refinery29.com.

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Desktop videos saw an average CPM of $6. The top video ad ($6K spend) was a beach story highlighting that Andie was designed for women by women and the brand understands how the pieces should fit and support different bodies. Two other videos introduced Andie 24/7, the new intimacy line.

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Andie Swim also invested $10K between January 2021 and July 2022 to over-the-top videos on Hulu. It’s the only brand in the competitive set that leverages this advertising channel.

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Andie used the same video ad the brand also leveraged in YouTube ads, where it focused on communicating the perfect fit of its pieces.  

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*Ad spend includes Facebook, Instagram (USA only), Twitter (USA only), Display, YouTube, Search, TikTok and OTT.

*Spend is a directional approximation and does not include retargeting, or behavioural targeting.