Fullstakk Marketing agency was assigned to deliver digital marketing to help build brand awareness for a Norwegian toy store. Another task was driving sales through Google Shopping campaigns. The customer's starting point was having no prior digital channel presence, as well as a low marketing budget. Those circumstances called for inventive methods to get the most out of the available resources.
After the campaigns had been running for a few weeks, we checked the numbers and saw that both CPCs and total ROAS did not meet the goals set up with the client beforehand.
#The CPCs on Shopping campaigns were reduced by 33% and total cost decreased by 52%.
Problem 1#
Minimizing the CPCs and cost per action to get the full potential out of the low marketing budget.
Solution:
Switching to DataFeedWatch’s CSS program to remove the 20% Google fee and drive results more efficiently with a lower cost.
Results:
The day after switching to DataFeedWatch’s CSS program we could already see a remarkable improvement in the data. The average cost per click had gone down from 2,2 NOK the day before the switch to 1,71 NOK the day after. This adds up to a total cutback of 23% from one day to another.
When entering the auction with Google’s own CSS, you pay a fee of up to 20% of your cost per click. When switching to DataFeedWatch, we saw that this was reduced by over 20% in just one day.
Looking and comparing the data from one week after the switch to one week prior, we could see that the new CSS had a positive impact on several parameters of the Shopping campaigns. The average cost per click was reduced by a total of 33% between the two weeks. The total costs decreased by 52%, giving us the room we needed to market more efficiently with a lower budget.
We started analyzing the campaigns from the time they began to the CSS switch, curious about what we could have saved by starting out with the low CPC. Taking the clicks that came before the switch into consideration and factoring in the new CPC, the results were stunning. We could have saved over 20 000 NOK (or about $2000) if we had started with the CSS from DataFeedWatch initially.
#The ROAS across the Shopping campaigns increased by 61% and the cost per transaction decreased by 48%.
Problem 2#
Getting more return on ad spend and minimizing the cost per transaction with a low budget.
Solution:
Using DataFeedWatch’s CSS program to help lower cost per transaction and maximize the ROAS.
Adjusting and trying to increase the target ROAS with automatic bidding from Google's own engine.
Results:
Before switching to DataFeedWatch’s CSS program we could see that the cost per transaction was high. The return on ad spend figures were also not satisfactory enough for the campaigns to be profitable. Many products came with minor margins because they sold for low prices. We needed a way to keep the revenue high and the cost per transaction low.
Just days after switching to the CSS program, we could see big changes in several metrics. This appeared across all the shopping campaigns running in the account. Just in a couple of days the total return on ad spend went from 4,77 NOK to 7,38 NOK. Meaning that for each dollar you put into Google ads, you get a total of 7 NOK back.
Analyzing and comparing the numbers from one week before to the week after, we could see the positive impact continue to rise across the campaigns. ROAS had an increase in total by 61%, while the cost per transaction decreased by 48%.
Before we switched to DataFeedWatch CSS, we had an average ROAS of 4,7 NOK, and a total cost per transaction of 153 NOK. Just one week after the switch the new numbers started showing, and these were a ROAS of 7,69 NOK and cost per transaction of 78 NOK.
By switching to CSS and adjusting the target ROAS bidding, we successfully increased the ROAS and lowered the cost per order at the same time.
Summary
Google's own CSS fee charges a commission of up to 20% for your shopping ad clicks. This means that when entering the auction with a $1 CPC, your real bidding power isn't $1 - it goes down to 0,80$. After switching to DataFeedWatch's own CSS, we were able to remove that fee and enter the Google ads auction with a lower CPC for our client.
This had an even bigger impact on the total costs, cost per transaction, and the return on ad spend. Our Norwegian toy store got an increase in several parameters, giving them the possibility to enter the auction at a lower price. All this was possible without losing revenue, and decreasing the average cost per order.
Now they have the opportunity to buy visibility for a lower price while getting more in return in the shape of more orders. For every dollar they spend on Google Shopping ads, they get an average of 7 NOK back. This gives us the opportunity to focus on growing the shopping campaigns further, while DataFeedWatch’s CSS program gets us into the auction for a lower CPC.
~ Case Study by Fullstakk Marketing Agency
