In this case study we walk through how we solved the client's task of launching Google Ads campaigns aimed at running at a profit. We laid out our step-by-step actions, which led our specialists to find successful ad combinations for a profitable PPC display for the store.
Google Ads Case Study: Mattress Online Store, 448% ROAS
Background information
The client came to us with a newly launched online store selling mattresses. The store was monobrand and served as the official representative of one of the largest mattress factories in Ukraine.
The main task we faced was to find an advertising strategy that runs profitably with the potential to scale.
What was working:
a fully stocked product catalog;
solid usability on both desktop and mobile;
fast price updates when changes happened;
extra contact forms on the site;
well-built product cards;
good delivery and payment terms.
What needed work:
no campaign statistics (ads were being launched for the first time);
a small product range;
products were made to order.
After weighing up the pros and cons of the project, our team got down to designing the PPC launch strategy.
PPC launch strategy
Taking in all the input, we put together the following PPC launch strategy:
competitor analysis;
relevant campaign types;
setting up and launching the ad campaigns;
results analysis and campaign optimization.
Work stages
Competitor analysis
We kicked off the project with a detailed competitor analysis and a review of the ad campaign types they were using. We needed to see which Google Ads formats competitors were actively running.
At the time of the analysis, competitors were advertising their products through:
product ads (Google Shopping);
search ads;
product remarketing;
Gmail ads;
display ads.
High competition was clearly visible in both search and product ads. On search, all the ad slots were taken by competitors and the CPC reached 10-12 UAH. In product ads, the CPC was around 4 UAH.
Based on the competitor ad channel analysis, we defined a strategy for picking the right campaign types for the initial launch.
Relevant campaign types
The first task we set ourselves was to find a source of targeted traffic where the balance between competition and CPC would be optimal. We understood that running ads on the most competitive keywords made no sense, since other players had budgets far bigger than our client's. Simply put, if we launched ads on queries like "orthopedic mattresses" or "buy orthopedic mattress", the client would burn through the budget and not hit a positive ROI.
To solve this, we dug into the store's product range and realized that each mattress had decent search potential - users were searching for specific products by name.
This made it clear that product traffic was the optimal solution for our task.
So for the initial PPC launch, we picked the following campaign types:
dynamic search ads;
Google Shopping product ads;
dynamic remarketing.
Setting up and launching the ad campaigns
To put the strategy into action, the first step was to connect Google Merchant Center and pass product moderation.
We hooked up the tag for collecting the site's audience.
The next step was setting up the ad campaigns:
we configured search campaigns as dynamic search ads that were shown based on the product catalog;
in the product ads, we launched discounted products and bestsellers;
we launched product remarketing for discounted items once the site audience reached the allowable minimum.
Results analysis and campaign optimization
While the ad campaigns were running, we tracked traffic quality daily and used negative keywords to cut off users who clearly weren't interested in buying. We also tracked competition metrics and adjusted bidding strategies to hit optimal results.
All the data we tracked during active ad runs was used to optimize campaign settings with the goal of improving conversions.
Result
We successfully turned the store profitable. Going forward, we plan to expand the product ad campaigns, test Gmail Ads, and explore other paid traffic channels.