Fixings Store | Scalable Google Ads Engine | PPC

In parallel, we segmented our campaigns by key commercial metrics – average order value (AOV), profit margin, and product type. This segmentation ensured that budget allocation and bidding strategies were guided by each segment’s real revenue potential and profitability.

For example, products with higher margins or bigger basket values could justify a higher cost-per-click, whereas lower-margin items were kept on tighter budgets. By aligning campaigns with AOV and margin, we made sure every pound of spend was directed to areas with the best payoff. This commercially-led structure prevented overspending on low-value products and put the financial upside at the heart of our strategy.

Discovery Journey

Next, we tackled the problem of finding winning products and search terms as efficiently as possible. We launched a broad Shopping campaign as a discovery layer to cast a wide net across the client’s product range. The idea was to let Google’s Shopping algorithm surface which products and search queries would convert best, given we had no prior data.

Walking away from DeWalt and Makita, we used Shopping as discovery, surfacing niches such as Paslode (39.4 ROAS) and Spit (8.5 ROAS).

This Shopping campaign gathered valuable data on what sold. Once we spotted the early “winners” – products or search queries that generated profitable sales – we immediately moved to scale them up. We spun those winners out into their own dedicated campaigns, leveraging Google’s Performance Max (PMax) and targeted Search ads to maximise their reach.

In practice, the Shopping campaign acted like a scouting ground, and as soon as a profitable opportunity emerged, a PMax or Search campaign took it to the next level. This ensured we rapidly capitalised on successful products instead of leaving potential revenue on the table.

Kaizen

Kaizen is a Japanese term for “change for the better” or “continuous improvement. Much the same, this wasn’t a set-and-forget account – it required hands-on optimisation every single week. We combed through the search terms and product performance data regularly. If certain keywords, queries, or products were spending money but not converting, we cut them out quickly to stop wasteful spend. At the same time, when we found a product that was taking off, we broke it out into its own ad group or campaign (as mentioned, via PMax or a focused Search campaign) to give it more budget and attention as a bestseller.