Growing the ROI of a young e-commerce company

A premium-grade golf ball reseller, this e-commerce company sources pre-owned golf balls from collectors across Europe and primarily sells to a niche market of dedicated golfers.

Their challenge was maximising reach and engagement while contending with seasonal fluctuations and limited offline engagement.

Prior to our involvement, they were running some Google Ads but had no tracking in place and had never ventured into social media advertising.

We implemented a strategy designed to capture high-ROI customers and tailor marketing efforts to peak interests:

Analysed and Reallocated Ad Spend: By tracking Google Ads performance, we discovered they weren’t achieving expected ROI with PMax ads and were limited in audience expansion. We ran Google Ads for a few months and, seeing limited returns compared to social, recommended diverting budget toward high-performing social ads—a switch that resulted in significantly improved ROI and audience reach.

Social Media Targeting and Remarketing: We launched a dual-phase social ad strategy:

Cold Audiences: Eye-catching, user-generated-style video content showcased golf action shots, like putting, chipping, and scenic drone footage, to capture broad interest. By tracking video watch duration, we were able to identify and create warm audiences based on video engagement, tailoring future ads to those who showed high interest.

Warm Audiences: Using tracking data, we segmented audiences by brand preference, allowing us to deliver personalised ads for specific models (e.g., Titliest, Srixon) to past buyers. We implemented an “ad exclusion window” for recent buyers to avoid redundant marketing (marketing to those who had just purchased), we optimise budget allocation, and re-engage customers once they were likely to need a fresh supply.

Seasonal and Event-Driven Campaigns: To address seasonality, we developed ad campaigns that aligned with major golf tournaments and the active golfing season. By increasing ad spend by 10-12% during tournament finals and targeting localities near event venues, we achieved a disproportionate boost, with conversions rising by 20-25% in these periods.

Our data-driven strategy significantly increased their ad performance, engagement, and seasonal sales:

ROI on Social Ads: Social media ads generated a minimum of 7.1 times ROI, with some targeted model campaigns yielding up to 12.3 times ROI. Video content proved particularly effective in attracting new audiences and engaging existing ones, expanding reach, and providing a steady stream of high-intent customers.

Reduced Ad Waste: The 28-day re-engagement period prevented redundant ads, maximising budget efficiency and ensuring ads reached customers when they were most likely ready to buy again. It made sure we weren’t showing ads to customers who had just bought a few days ago. It meant we didn’t spend on ‘dead ads’, and it meant customers didn’t get bored of seeing our ads.

Seasonal Revenue Boost: Tournament-aligned campaigns led to a marked increase in sales, with ad spend increases of 10-12% driving 20-25% higher conversion rates during high-interest weeks. This approach allowed us to smooth out some seasonality and increase visibility during peak interest.

Through our tailored, data-driven approach, we helped this e-commerce business optimise ad spend, increase their reach, and turn new customers into loyal repeat buyers.