B2B Construction & Building Materials
Turning Google Ads into a revenue-led growth channel.
A UK construction materials supplier needed a more commercially intelligent approach to paid search. By moving from CPA-led optimisation to ROAS bidding based around product value and margin, the account achieved a 573% return on ad spend.
Return on Ad Spend
The Challenge
A conversion was not necessarily a profitable conversion.
The business sold a wide range of construction and rendering products online, with significant differences in average order value and profit margin between product categories.
Google Ads activity had historically been managed largely around acquisition cost. That provided a useful efficiency metric, but it did not adequately reflect the commercial value of the sales being generated.
A lower-cost conversion could represent a relatively small, low-margin transaction, while a more expensive conversion could produce considerably greater revenue and profit.
The opportunity was to move beyond simply asking “How cheaply can we generate a sale?” and instead focus the account on “Where does advertising generate the strongest commercial return?”
The Strategy
Rebuilding optimisation around revenue and profitability.
The account was developed around four connected areas: bidding strategy, product profitability, Shopping feed quality and ongoing campaign optimisation.
Moved away from CPA-focused bidding
Campaigns were transitioned towards ROAS-based bidding so that Google could optimise around conversion value, rather than treating every transaction as having the same commercial importance.
Structured activity around product margin
Product categories were assessed according to their commercial value and profitability, allowing different areas of the account to operate against more appropriate return targets.
Improved the Shopping product feed
Product titles, descriptions and feed structure were reviewed and refined to give Google stronger product data and improve matching against relevant, high-intent searches.
Directed spend towards stronger returns
Search terms, product performance, budgets and revenue data were continually reviewed so that investment could be concentrated on the campaigns and categories producing the best commercial results.
CPA measures the cost of a sale.
ROAS measures the value it returns.
For an ecommerce business with substantial variation in order value, that distinction can materially change where advertising budget should be invested.
From CPA to ROAS
Optimising for the value of the transaction.
Under a CPA-led approach, two conversions can appear broadly equivalent if they cost roughly the same amount to acquire.
In reality, one order may contain substantially more revenue and margin than another.
Moving towards ROAS bidding enabled conversion value to play a much greater role in Google's automated bidding decisions.
The objective was no longer simply to generate the maximum number of conversions at an acceptable acquisition cost, but to generate the strongest return from the available budget.
Profit-Led Segmentation
Different product categories required different commercial targets.
A single return target across an entire product catalogue can hide important differences in profitability.
Campaign structure and optimisation were therefore aligned more closely with the commercial characteristics of different product groups.
Higher-margin categories could justify different bidding behaviour from products operating on tighter margins, helping the account make more commercially sensible decisions about where incremental advertising spend should go.
- 01 Product value considered alongside acquisition cost
- 02 Categories assessed against margin characteristics
- 03 ROAS expectations aligned to commercial value
- 04 Budget prioritised towards stronger-return areas
Google Shopping
Better campaign performance starts with better product data.
Google Shopping relies heavily on the quality of the information contained within the product feed.
The feed was reviewed and optimised to improve how products were described and structured, helping Google better understand the catalogue and match products with relevant searches.
Work included improvements to product titles, descriptions and feed organisation, alongside ongoing assessment of individual product and category performance.
Stronger feed data also supported the wider profitability strategy by making it easier to organise and optimise product groups in line with their commercial performance.
The Result
A more commercially intelligent Google Ads account.
The revised approach generated a 573% return on ad spend while moving the account away from acquisition cost as the dominant measure of success.
By combining ROAS bidding, margin-led product segmentation, Google Shopping feed optimisation and ongoing Search and Shopping management, advertising decisions were increasingly aligned with the actual financial value generated by each area of the product catalogue.
Equivalent to £5.73 in tracked ecommerce revenue for every £1 invested in Google Ads.
Performance Marketing