Helm & Oar is an e-commerce retailer specialising in premium, ready-to-hang framed artwork.
We onboarded Helm & Oar in January 2024 with the goal of scaling beyond branded Google Ads conversion campaigns, which had limited growth potential. A key challenge was the long customer journey typical of high-ticket items like artwork, which made it difficult to consistently achieve desired CPA and ROAS targets. Previous strategies had plateaued, and our goal was to improve key metrics such as Marketing Efficiency Ratio (MER) and Click-Through Rate (CTR).

We provided full management of Google Ads campaigns, including Performance Max, Shopping Ads, and YouTube, alongside the development of creatives tailored to specific customer segments. This was complemented by bi-weekly strategy sessions to refine tactics, adjust budget allocations, and identify new growth opportunities based on performance data.

We restructured our partners Google Ads account with a non-branded segmentation strategy, focusing on new customer acquisition through Performance Max and Shopping campaigns. The goal was to target users earlier in the funnel, driving incremental growth by strategically allocating budget and optimising CTR. We focused on promoting lower-priced, high-engagement artwork to drive traffic, leading to higher-value conversions as users became more familiar with the site.

Key Tactics:

• Theme Segmentation: Divided the client’s artwork into distinct themes, running tests to optimise performance across various stages of the funnel.

• Dynamic Promotions: Tailored offers for specific collections using real-time adjustments based on historical purchase data, creating urgency and driving conversions.

Automated Bidding: Used Google’s Target ROAS bidding within Performance Max to optimise non-branded traffic, maximising conversion value.

We tested 4-5 themes monthly, rapidly iterating and scaling successful ones while pausing underperformers. Creative optimizations included enhancing product visuals for the Shopping platform, particularly black-framed artwork, which significantly improved CTR. We also introduced audience signals in Performance Max, prioritising users with higher purchase intent, thereby increasing conversions for high-ticket items.

Early testing showed only two top-of-funnel themes were profitable, but by February 2024, continuous A/B testing revealed five high-performing themes. We improved CTR by 35% through better visuals and messaging, particularly around fast shipping. These insights helped us refine audience targeting and bidding strategies.

Comparison Period:
Jan 2024 - March 2024 vs. October 2023 - December 2023

Key Outcomes (January - March 2024):

• Ad Spend: Increased by +93.07% over the previous quarter.

• Revenue Growth: Platform revenue increased by +56.05% year-over-year.

• Return on Ad Spend (ROAS): Achieved 3.12x ROAS.

• Click-Through Rate (CTR): Improved CTR by +35% with optimised creatives and pricing strategy.

• Average Order Value (AOV): Increased by +35.82%, driven by better user engagement and upselling.

• Cost Per Acquisition (CPA): Reduced by -12.17%, improving ad spend efficiency.

• Marketing Efficiency Ratio (MER): Reduced MER from 42.33% in January to 15% by March 2024.