Overcoming Industry Competition with Effective eCommerce PPC Management

It’s an unfortunately well known fact that somewhere around 90% of online shoppers scroll right past the ads, and intentionally at that.
It’s equally well-known that even with experts managing an eCommerce PPC campaign, you can still only hope for an average click-through rate of about 2%.
Adding to this, there are industries that can’t advertise at all. Among those that can, there is often stiff competition, and the more competitors there are, the more you have to pay for your ads to get seen and clicked.
All for the hope of getting enough return to cover the cost of the campaign as well as the management fee.
But it can be done and eCommerce PPC management is something at which we excel – as will be demonstrated here.
About the Client, Industry, and Challenges Faced
The client in question is one that specializes in formulating clean supplements that are designed to improve holistic wellness, from pure ingredients sourced from all over the world.
If that sounds like a competitive market to you, you’d be right. There are 16 full pages of results for the keyword “clean supplements” alone.
Despite the interest in and high volume associated with qualified target keywords for this client, the competition was immense.
That, and the number of qualified competitors with good brand awareness and relatively high domain authority also squeezed the market even further.
Our approach for this client was multi-pronged, but it hinged heavily on audience targeting, keyword targeting and bid strategy, and a series of ongoing optimizations implemented after the campaign was launched.
Ad Campaign Proliferation and Optimization

One of the keys to our success with this campaign was the fact that we utilized so many different campaign types with an emphasis on maximizing return on investment.
One of the main drivers of success for this campaign was our utilization of a Pmax campaign that served ads across several channels, including Search, Display, Shopping and YouTube. The specific goal of this campaign was to maximize conversion value.
We automated audience targeting, without utilizing predefined segments, which enabled us to cut costs associated with targeting while boosting performance. The Pmax campaign utilized 83% of the total budget and returned an impressive ROAS of 7.8. That is to say, for each dollar this client invested, $7.80 came out of the campaign.
In addition, we ran a Dynamic Search campaign, targeting website URLs, and which automatically generated ad copy, with a campaign goal of improving ROAS. This campaign accounted for 9% of the total budget and generated a ROAS of 6.8.
We also ran a Branded Search campaign in tandem with the others, focused on increasing exposure for branded terms. Though this campaign only utilized 8% of the total budget, it delivered an unbelievable ROAS of 64.
All in all, this mix of campaigns was strategic and ensured optimal performance with a focus on conversions and ROAS, across a diverse group of channels, all while delivering performance among shoppers in various stages of the funnel. Moreover, the campaigns improved not only revenue, but also brand visibility – which brings up another element of success.
The Intangibles
While it’s easy to see how a high ROAS and revenue directly impact a company’s bottom line, what it’s tough to account for are the intangibles.
But doubtless, many online shoppers were exposed to this client’s brand and did not immediately convert.
It’s a well known fact that familiarity with a brand makes a lead more likely to convert, even if not immediately. The fact of the matter may be that some of the company’s organic conversions were assisted by our eCommerce PPC management efforts.
And that is another reason that a unified digital marketing strategy has the potential for such great efficacy.
With that said, let’s take a closer look at the data.
The Results: A High-Level Look at 2023 vs. 2022
If you take nothing else away from this case study, internalize the data shown above that illustrates the performance of this campaign from 2022 to 2023.
Though it tells a slightly different picture in terms of metrics than what has been shown so far, it is evident enough that from 2022 to 2023, clicks, conversions and conversion value all rose while the cost of conversions fell, indicating a higher net profitability for this client’s PPC campaigns.
We accomplished this in part, through a combination of active and passive optimization efforts, delivering an increase in conversions and revenue for the client – the bottom line in almost all eCommerce PPC campaigns.
Experience Effective eCommerce PPC Management Firsthand
There’s no guarantee of success in digital marketing for any business, regardless of the strategy pursued.
However, one way to hedge your bets is to work with an eCommerce PPC management company that has years of experience working in competitive verticals.
Agencies that fit the bill have worked with clients in those verticals and know what keywords to target (as well as which to avoid) as well as what campaign optimizations to make to maximize return while minimizing spend.
It’s easy to fritter away money on a PPC campaign, and not easy to generate a solid return. But that’s what eCommerce PPC management companies are there for.
This is just one example of success we’ve delivered for one of our clients over the years. To learn more about the measurable results we can generate for your business, see our full collection of case studies.