Podcast Overview
“PPC doesn’t stand for pay-per-click anymore… it stands for ‘please, please convert.’”
Welcome to another practical and insight-packed episode of eCom@One with Richard Hill! In this episode, Richard hands the mic to two of our PPC pros, Alex and Eleasha, for a deep dive into what’s working right now in paid search for eCommerce brands. Drawing on years of hands-on experience across B2B and B2C accounts, they share actionable strategies on feed optimisation, campaign structuring, landing page testing and how to scale past revenue plateaus. Whether you’re running campaigns in-house, working with an agency, or just looking to squeeze more performance from your PPC spend, this episode is loaded with expert takeaways, plus why channels like Microsoft Ads might be your next secret weapon. Hit subscribe and get ready for a conversation that gets right to the heart of driving better returns and smarter growth in eCommerce PPC.
Time stamps:
00:00 Paid search tips for eCommerce
03:38 Starting out in the marketing field
07:35 Social media and branding strategy
10:23 Appealing to a younger market
13:27 Exploring diverse marketing roles
18:35 Optimising ad campaigns for profit
21:53 Changing product IDs impact feeds
23:48 Optimising Microsoft Ads Strategies
27:56 Trying Microsoft Ads for clients
31:57 Testing landing page effectiveness
32:46 Hitting the 3 million milestone
36:50 Book recommendation: Good Vibes, Good Life
Alex [00:00:00]:
Target roas, target CPA or maximise conversions. All the fun PPC questions who would be your sort of aspirational client to work with?
Eleasha [00:00:11]:
My dream client. They like build the anticipation so well.
Alex [00:00:15]:
I think they have a lot of hype around the new products that come out.
Eleasha [00:00:21]:
Gymshark, ASOs or marks and Spencers.
Alex [00:00:23]:
They understand their customer really well.
Eleasha [00:00:25]:
They're making so much noise in the
Alex [00:00:27]:
industry and when we're looking from a
Eleasha [00:00:28]:
strategy perspective, I think just seeing how quickly and how much you can help improve a business so something which really
Alex [00:00:36]:
moves the needle is splitting up an
Eleasha [00:00:40]:
account with lots of different campaigns of the same products is actually really effective. What would you recommend to businesses who have reached a plateau?
Alex [00:00:47]:
The reality of those numbers and really digging into the profit there is where you're going to go beyond that kind of 3 millimeter mark.
Richard Hill [00:01:00]:
Hey everyone, Richard Hill here. Welcome back to the Ecom at One podcast. Today I'm handing things over to two of our PPC team, Alex and Alicia, for a really useful conversation on what's working right now in paid search for E commerce brands. Between them, they've got years of experience across PPC working on both B2C and B2B accounts and helping clients grow through smarter campaign strategy. Now in this episode they get into feed optimisation, campaign structure, landing, page testing, scaling beyond a plateau big topic and why channels like Microsoft ads still deserve more attention than they often get. What stood out to me in this one? It's a very practical conversation. It's about the stuff that actually drives performance. Better profitability, better segmentation, better customer journeys and making sure your PPC strategy is doing more than just spending budget.
Richard Hill [00:01:52]:
So whether you're managing paid ads media in house, working with an agency, or just trying to get more from your e commerce marketing, this episode is packed with useful takeaways. Do me one quick favor. Hit that subscribe or follow button wherever you are listening so you never miss an episode. Let's dive in.
Alex [00:02:12]:
Hi, I'm Alex, head of performance here at Econ 1.
Eleasha [00:02:15]:
Hi, I'm Alicia. I am an account manager here at econ1 doing PPC.
Alex [00:02:19]:
Today we're going to be talking about what's working in the PPC industry across both B2B and B2C E commerce.
Eleasha [00:02:26]:
I have a joke for you that I heard about 20 minutes ago. I know it's bad, but like, I just want to tell you it.
Alex [00:02:32]:
Go ahead.
Eleasha [00:02:33]:
What does PPC stand for?
Alex [00:02:35]:
I'm guessing it's not paper thick.
Eleasha [00:02:39]:
It means please, please convert.
Alex [00:02:43]:
I mean, I have Already heard it. So that was a bit of a fake class. But yeah, no, that was great.
Eleasha [00:02:47]:
Pretend that I thought about that and actually. And somebody else told me that. But we are here to talk about ppc, which I thought was appropriate. So, ppc, how long you've been doing PPC for?
Alex [00:02:59]:
Yeah, so ppc, I've been doing it for about nine years now. So I started sort of, not completely in a completely different area. So I started in content and so I actually started working content writing straight out of uni in house somewhere and then worked in another agency and sort of learned PPC there and obviously now really specialised and honed into that area, Econ 1. And yeah, I've been at Econ 1 now for nearly two years. I've been a couple of weeks. So, yeah, it's gone really fast. I've actually. And yeah, we've seen some real good growth in the PPC area.
Alex [00:03:30]:
And yeah, a lot of new clients on boarding in sort of the last 12 months. So, yeah, very exciting times. How about you, Alicia? How long have you been doing PPC for?
Eleasha [00:03:38]:
I have been doing PC for about five or six years now. I started out when I was in my early 20s, but I actually started out doing like journalism and I wanted to go down the journalism kind of feature writing route, but I think marketing in general was something that I kind of just fell into. I don't know if you feel the same. I guess you did go to uni? Yeah, but no, I didn't go to uni. In the end, I actually just kind of worked my. My way up and did some kind of internships and shadow people and kind of learn that way. And yeah, that's kind of how I ended up here. And I've been at Ecom1 for about a year and a half now and yeah, great team, great department.
Eleasha [00:04:17]:
Me and Alex are on the PPC team. Yeah, I do want to address something, though. No, we're not sisters, are we?
Alex [00:04:25]:
No, we have been approached a couple of times and people. Someone actually in the Mosaic building, which is a bit of a bold statement, thought we were the same person, which is completely wild. We are not the same person.
Eleasha [00:04:36]:
I'll take it as a compliment.
Alex [00:04:37]:
I will take it as a compliment. And we were actually at a networking event, weren't we, back in September, and someone actually said to us, you two could be mistaken for twins. And he actually got me to put your glasses on, didn't he? Just to kind of see the.
Eleasha [00:04:52]:
I think we're the PPC sisters.
Alex [00:04:53]:
We are. We do actually have that new tagline PBC sisters. And that is our brand at the agency.
Eleasha [00:04:58]:
I wonder if people do actually think that when we go to networking events together.
Alex [00:05:01]:
We probably do. I really think we're passing each other.
Eleasha [00:05:03]:
It's so nice that those twins have, like, chosen the same career and they've gone into the same workplace. It's so lovely.
Alex [00:05:10]:
Another interesting fact as well, actually. Me and Alicia actually went to the same secondary school, didn't we? And so Alicia is actually in a few school years below me, me. And I don't actually remember you from school. And just because I think there's that point in a time in school where you just don't really remember the people a few years below. And yeah, we obviously saw you working at another agency, obviously approached you, and then. Yeah, well, oh, my gosh, we went to the same secondary school. So, yeah. Small world, really.
Alex [00:05:35]:
In Lincoln, isn't it?
Eleasha [00:05:36]:
I do recognise, like, I think I'd seen pictures of you from, like, school and stuff like that, but I don't think I ever saw you.
Alex [00:05:43]:
Yeah, you. Yeah, you saw me and you thought you knew you're gonna be working one day. You're like, that's your aspiration in life.
Eleasha [00:05:51]:
So speaking of aspirations, let's dive straight in. So who would your dream client be?
Alex [00:05:58]:
Okay, so we're actually chatting about this early, weren't we? And in terms of who we would pick. So I definitely pick Loaf. So if anyone's heard of Loaf, they're like a homeware brand that sells, like, sofas.
Eleasha [00:06:07]:
Yes.
Alex [00:06:08]:
And something which I think they do really well with their marketing is like, their tone of voice. They get that really well, and I just think it's very, like, soft, and it kind of takes. Taps into the market really nicely. So something they do really well is their printed catalog. So they send them in through the post. And I think it's just so nice when people. Brands still do this because it's so much digital now. It's nice to actually receive something physical.
Eleasha [00:06:27]:
Yeah.
Alex [00:06:28]:
In the mail. So I think that's something that really stands out. And it's just like, really nice to have a little look and again, like, look through what, you know, their copy and what they're writing and just really nice tone of voice. And the products that they show are just. Just lovely. It's just nice to have that kind of nice touch there. What about you, Alicia? Who would be your sort of aspirational client to work with?
Eleasha [00:06:44]:
My dream client, I would have to say, is Tala. Tala is A kind of sportswear athleisure wear brand, a UK based brand. So they essentially, yeah, just, just kind of sell lots of sportswear and stuff like that. And I just, I love that brand. I think they've got a very good way of making a customer feel like part of their kind of growth journey.
Alex [00:07:14]:
It's kind of like a nice community as well. They have lots of community kind of channels and on their social channels as well, they really tap into that community and it's really tapping into kind of our generation and that kind of market and they, they tap into trends quite well and kind of jump on the back of that. I mean a lot of their items get out of stock quite quickly as well, don't they?
Eleasha [00:07:30]:
But they, they like build the anticipation so. Well, I think.
Alex [00:07:34]:
Yeah, definitely.
Eleasha [00:07:35]:
Also, I just think it's like so founder led. Like, I don't know Grace Beverly, but I feel like I know her just because of her presence on social media and the way that she sense herself on Tala. But yeah, they, they obviously have such a good kind of marketing team behind them because they've got the kind of, like you said, the tone of voice with Loaf, they've got it with, with Tala. So for example, like even just something small on their organic social posts, it's all in lowercase and it's, it's very like, you know, informal and casual. You just kind of, I don't know, it kind of just builds like a kind of like that trust essentially.
Alex [00:08:08]:
Yeah.
Eleasha [00:08:09]:
And you can, yeah, just kind of feel part of that, that growth journey. But I mean, I literally got like an email from them a couple of days ago that was like you asked and we delivered.
Alex [00:08:19]:
Yeah.
Eleasha [00:08:19]:
And that was the hook. That was all I needed, that hook. So I literally clicked on it. I was like, what do we ask for? Yeah, and it was pockets. It was, it was pockets in the hoodie. But you know what I mean? Like.
Alex [00:08:29]:
Yeah, yeah. I love that they, they.
Eleasha [00:08:30]:
Yeah. I think when you build a brand, you need to make sure that you've got your marketing right, otherwise it's just not going to work. And when you've got your marketing right, people will come back in again and again. You know, I don't need any more shorts, but I'm gonna buy some more shorts.
Alex [00:08:44]:
Do you know what I mean? I think they've really nailed like the repeat customer, like repeat purchases of their customers. They've really got a good customer portfolio there. So.
Eleasha [00:08:53]:
And I also like, they're making so much noise in the industry that I Don't see competitors doing quite as much. Yeah, I would say. And yeah, they've definitely got that kind of personal side, I think, in terms of how they connect with their customers and potential customers. So that's my dream client.
Alex [00:09:11]:
So, yeah. Tala and Loaf, if you're listening to this, then we'd love to work with
Eleasha [00:09:15]:
you if you want to go and work with us. Oh, yeah, I would say that's, that's my dream brand.
Alex [00:09:21]:
Which one could you not live without? So Google, Metro and Microsoft and why.
Eleasha [00:09:25]:
Yeah, I would say, I would say Google, like you said, you know, it's, it's, it's scalable, but, you know, it's such a kind of widespread market and a lot of people are on Google and yes, a lot of people are on Meta and Microsoft too, you know, but I think Google is just probably the one that I think will, you know, let's drive home. Alex, what could you not live without? Gymshark, asos or Marks and Spencers?
Alex [00:09:51]:
Oh, that's a good one. It's definitely got to be Marks and Spencer's. So, yeah, so I think just in terms of the food, the clothing, the homeware, everything they offer, I think the way they've tapped into the younger generation chapters the younger generation. So marketing to the millennial. So like myself, I'm Millennial, and they've really changed up their offering and like their clothing range and things like that. The clothes are so. Yeah, I mean, it was one of those where I used to think like, my grandma used to shop there when it was like Peruna. I don't know if anyone remember Peruna, the brand.
Alex [00:10:23]:
So it used to be very, it's still, still very much does target older demographic, but I think they've been really clever and been able to tap into that, Tapping into targets that younger generation. And I think as well, I, I don't know if this is true, but I think I might have heard that one of the old Topshop designers now actually works for Marks and Spencers. Hence why I could be wrong with that. Quote me on that. Might need a fact check. But, yeah, I think that's one of the reasons they've done really well as well, you know, being able to tap into that younger market and, you know, cover all of those different market audiences as well as all the, you know, they have a lot of hype around the new products that come out, the new food ranges and things, and it makes you want to go in and find like, you know, those speckled egg cookies they had in. I Never actually got to try any of those, but they were in Easter time. And I think seeing all of that on the socials, people want to kind of try and find them, see if they've got them in the local store and things like that.
Alex [00:11:13]:
So I, I think they just, they understand their customer really well and they're able to tap into the different, as I said, the different markets and different audiences there and they just do it really well. So yeah, that was, that's my reason for having to pick Margaret. Definitely. So another one for you, Alicia, then. Which one could you not live without? Target roas, Target CPA or Maximise Conversions. All the fun PPC questions.
Eleasha [00:11:35]:
Fun questions. Thank you. Target Roas. We kind of work predominantly with kind of retailers, so E commerce clients. So Target Rails is something that we definitely kind of really implement, I think. Maximise conversions. Yeah, sometimes it works. But I think just in terms of how things are going now, you know, things are a little bit more automated and you can kind of set the ideal kind of row asset because essentially that's what, that's what the client is.
Alex [00:12:03]:
Yeah, focus on.
Eleasha [00:12:04]:
I have just found that it works a lot better than, than other bid strategies. I would say that's the best.
Alex [00:12:09]:
Yeah. I think with us working with so many obviously predominantly E commerce businesses, all, you know, our clients want to drive for profit and things like that. So I think it works really well for what our client goals. Clients goals are and obviously the types of businesses we're working with. So definitely have to agree with you on that one.
Eleasha [00:12:25]:
Yeah, it's a good. Yeah, fabulous. Okay, so let's kind of go into some more questions then. So Alex, what is something that you believed early in your career that you've since changed your mind on?
Alex [00:12:36]:
Yeah, so this is a really good question. So I actually started out at university doing fashion and not really that related to what I'm doing now, but there was, there were obviously some kind of learnings around different marketing tactics and sort of very traditional marketing. Not kind of put into practice, more like your traditional marketing and things like that and kind of yet to kind of of build a bit of a brand for our dissertation and things like that and kind of work on the marketing strategy for that. So that kind of where it kind of played in. And I then went to work for a jewelry company and which is kind of the fashion link there as well and working in house there and actually started out doing content writing and I really thought when I came out of university that I would really want to hone in on content Writing and I really enjoyed like creative writing and things like that. And that was before obviously II was around. So it was actually using your brain. And so what's that like coming up to come up with these words.
Alex [00:13:27]:
And I remember having this like big spreadsheet of all the product descriptions that we had to write for these jewelry products and just like having like 100 product descriptions and it seems quite daunting but actually just using your kind of creative brain to write those descriptions as well. And so yeah, that was something which I really enjoyed at the time and then thought actually, you know, maybe I want to try if I can get working an agency. So I went to work for an agency for five years and it gave me the opportunity to tap into all the different areas of marketing. So I was, yeah, so I was doing PPC and remember Google Ads was quite new to me and doing Microsoft ads, doing SEO, so doing some learning more about SEO, how content writing fits with SEO as well as doing even some email marketing stuff as well, as well as marketing the agency itself as well. So doing like the organic social. So it was a very like covering off loads of different stuff. So it managed to. It allowed me to try out different areas and find my niche.
Alex [00:14:20]:
And I knew after sort of, I think even like maybe sort of three years at working in that position, finding that actually yeah, PPC was something that I really enjoyed and I kind of had a real shift in what I wanted to do. So obviously thinking I wanted to enjoy that content writing, but actually that switch to ppc, I found that I enjoyed kind of seeing those tangible results, seeing quicker results. And it feels quite rewarding to get those results for clients and know you're hitting the client's goals and helping them work towards their business goals. And so I think that's probably one of the main things I'd find with like, I've completely changed my mind on more on a kind of career level. But I think it's kind of helped me get to a point to where I am today in terms of obviously managing the department at Econ 1 and kind of honing in and sort of owning all of those kind of channels and the paid advertising strategies for all our clients and things.
Eleasha [00:15:09]:
So I think it's also just like so good that you've managed to have a hand in every single piece of marketing so that you can give that broader overview now that you are kind of heading up the, the PBC department. I think it's really good that you can, that you've had that experience essentially yeah. And yeah, like you said, like ppc, it's just like the winds are a lot quicker, aren't they? Yeah, yeah, I love that.
Alex [00:15:31]:
Yeah. What about you, Alicia? How did you like in terms of getting into ppc? Because I think we slightly touched on it by the Star. Is there anything you found, like when you first started out in the, the PPC space, is there anything that you thought oh gosh, this is different to what I expected or like what did you ever think you'd do any different?
Eleasha [00:15:49]:
I would say I'm similar to you in that I was more focused on
Alex [00:15:53]:
the content of course, because you didn't like the kind of more journalism journalism.
Eleasha [00:15:56]:
And then when I started at an agency I was doing a little bit of blog writing and stuff like that because of my kind of past experience with writing and feature writing and stuff like that. But yeah, I think honestly the same as you like just going into ppc, whether it was kind of Google or kind of Microsoft or meta like I found it very interesting even though it's not quite as a creative area as content writing, for example. I think just seeing how quickly and how much you can help improve a business, especially if it's like, for example, like a small business and you know how, how so quickly you can just take a little bit of budget and get so much.
Alex [00:16:38]:
Yeah.
Eleasha [00:16:38]:
For them and the client's really appreciative of that and that's. Yeah, that's really, really good. But also just like it's quite interesting how such little changes, for example, for example, like landing pages and stuff and things like that that you choose. I just think stuff, I think it has such a bigger effect than we actually realise. Like the customer journey is so important, isn't it?
Alex [00:17:01]:
Yeah, I think as well something that we've been doing a lot more as an agency is obviously working more. Like because we've got the experience, the SEO and the PPC side of things, we're able to optimise those landing pages to make them targeted. The PPC campaigns and seeing that uplifting results and kind of working together, kind of working those joined up campaigns is working really well for us and to obviously kind of work on that customer experience. What, what you know, some. I've seen plenty of accounts that we take on where they're just taking the ad to like the homepage, for example, it's not very targeted, it's not targeted as a search term, the keyword that we're targeting. And so being able to create these really tailored landing pages to really help with Conversion rates, overall performance. You know, we've seen a good uplift there, which is really nice to see.
Eleasha [00:17:45]:
I think it's so interesting as a customer alongside doing this as, as, as your career is like one of my pet peeves is clicking on an ad and, and going to a category page. Yeah, that. Where I have to type in the product anyway. You know, when you're specifically looking for something.
Alex [00:18:04]:
Yeah.
Eleasha [00:18:05]:
And then you go to a kind of really general landing page. I'll kind of speak on it a little bit more. But we've kind of done some experiments recently which have been testing out like newly created pages like you said. So. Yeah, it just, it makes such a big difference and I think that's something that PPC offers.
Alex [00:18:21]:
Yeah.
Eleasha [00:18:22]:
So Alex, let's talk about feeds. Oh, I know. So from your perspective, what feed optimisations actually move the needle?
Alex [00:18:35]:
Yeah. At the agency in terms of the feed, we actually have like a feed expert in house. So we have a technical team and they work on the feed sort of on a daily basis, checking for any feed errors, things like that. But when we're looking from a strategy perspective, obviously we're looking at how we can optimise our clients feeds to get the most, for that, to be most efficient with their ad spend, get the most profit out of what they're promoting and things like that. So, and that's something that's always a core focus of what we do. So something which really moves the needle is profit margin data. So optimising your feed to have custom labels so you know, you might have that data of high, medium, low profit margin and that obviously relies on getting that data from the client to give you like even at a category level, a brand level, is this brand a high profit margin for you? Is it medium, is it low? Because then we can feed that data into our, you know, the client's feed and allow us to break down those campaigns really nicely and drive for profit across the account. And so for one example, if you know, you have a group of products or a brand of products that are a high profit margin and because you get, you know, the profit margin is better there, we'd be happy to accept a slightly lower ROAS on that particular campaign because it is more profitable for the client.
Alex [00:19:50]:
And then the same on the flip side, with a low profit margin group of products because they're not as profitable for the client, we would then have, you know, more higher margin ROAS targets there. And just because you need to, you need Google's algorithm to work harder with those Products because they are less profitable for the client.
Eleasha [00:20:07]:
Yes.
Alex [00:20:08]:
And it's something we've actually recently implemented on one of our new clients. They've onboarded in the automotive space and it's really helped with. With being able to segment the campaigns. And so when we first took on the account, it's literally just one catch all shopping campaign which when I see an account like that I'm like great, we've got so much we can do here because it's starting from quite. There's not much optimisation happening. So we know we can really work on campaign structure and really help drive profit for the clients. So yeah, that's always the nice clients to take on because you know you can really make an impact there. Yeah.
Alex [00:20:39]:
And it's kind of early days we're setting up that new structure but we're seeing some really good results already in terms of that campaign breakdown. And yeah, as I said, it relies on obviously a client providing that data and it can just be as simple as high, medium, low. Some of our clients give it based on percentage if they have that granular level of detail. But generally, yeah, high, medium, low worked really well getting that data and just feeding into the. Feeding into the client's feed.
Eleasha [00:21:04]:
Yeah, hugely. And I think as well, just something to mention is that when new clients come to us and I say we haven't really seen the growth, you know, it's been quite stagnant for a while and then you kind of look into it and there's just not a lot of campaign breakdown and there's so much that you can do, things that you can push into that have been working in the past. But you know, when you have a campaign with some best performers and some low performers in that the best performers are going to be taking up all that.
Alex [00:21:31]:
Yeah.
Eleasha [00:21:32]:
Kind of budget. But actually for example, splitting the. The underperformers into their own campaign, giving them their own budget. I have found, and I know you have as well as work so well. So I would. Yeah. Just yeah. Really reiterate the idea that like splitting up an account with lots of different campaigns of the same products is actually really effective.
Alex [00:21:53]:
Yeah, definitely. Something else we've just popped in my head actually is something which we've experienced with some of our clients recently kind of on the feed subject, which I don't think some of our clients, I guess if you're not, you know, you're not in the PPC space age today, you wouldn't be aware of it. But something we've spotted that some clients haven't realised the impact of is actually product IDs and changing product IDs and so actually has a real knock on effect on a feed. So say for example, if you Change your product IDs across your entire range and that's obviously embedded into the feed and pulls through to the feed, which it will, that reverts back, it just resets to the learning. And so it raises all that PMAX history, all that product ID history that you've got there. And we actually had a recent experience with a client that it happened to where they'd, you know, before working with us they had actually changed all their product IDs and they didn't realise the impact it had. So we're kind of, we're getting there but we're, we're having to rebuild backups. It's been too long now to reset.
Alex [00:22:51]:
You wouldn't reset on those product IDs and change them back to what they were. Yeah, but we're having to just work with what we've got now. But I don't think it's one of those things that it's just sometimes goes unnoticed. But it has, it does have quite a bit big impact on performance. Essentially Google's thinking, well these are new, brand new products, brand new ideas. We're having to learn about these again. So, and that's something just to bear in mind and make sure when you're doing things like site migrations, migrating to a new website, you're retaining Those, those product IDs so you're retaining that PMAX history. So that's just something more to bear in mind if you kind of migrate into a new feed or a new website.
Alex [00:23:24]:
But yeah, it's really crucial part of like a overall PPC strategy. Really cool. Okay, over to you Alicia then. Okay, so just in terms of, I know with what you do in terms of your clients, you do have a couple of clients in the B2B E commerce space. And so it'd be interesting to know from you what in terms of what has worked really well and helped with driving for better results across what they do as a business.
Eleasha [00:23:48]:
Yeah, good question. I so with for example a certain B2B client that we've got, we actually run ads on both Google and Microsoft for them. And you know, while we're trying to kind of scale Google at the moment, something that I saw with the Microsoft account was it was, it was getting a little bit stagnant and it was just kind of bringing in consistent results. But it wasn't just, you know, quite where we really wanted it. So Microsoft as you kind of might know is, is, is. It's a platform that is used a lot by people at work, so employees at work. So when people are looking to buy things for the business they're usually going to kind of land on Bing for example. And you know if you're, if you're pushing things on Google you're not really, you're not being seen essentially.
Eleasha [00:24:35]:
So something that I tried actually recently and has actually worked quite well is running Microsoft ads just across office hours. So obviously you can kind of see a bit of a breakdown in terms of the reporting side on the hours that you see conversions and stuff like that. So what we actually saw with this account in the Microsoft account that were. We saw conversions coming in from around about 6 or 7am to around about 5 or 6pm so we actually changed the campaigns to just run across this time and ROAS has improved so. Well, I think that's just such a easy win really because yeah, people are, people are going to be at work looking for things for their business and that's where you're. Yeah, you're going to show up.
Alex [00:25:16]:
Yeah, I know that's really good. I think sometimes those kind of tactics get missed a little bit and they think actually digging into that data, particularly for the nature of their business, you can be a bit, a lot more efficient with your ad spend. And I know I've done something slightly similar on one of my B2B E commerce clients with they just don't really convert on a weekend so we've basically just switched the ad ad schedule off, off on the weekends. So we're not pushing on those times of day and those days of the week and just to kind of be more efficient and get the most where it is profitable. So that's definitely something I've seen work really well as well.
Eleasha [00:25:50]:
Yeah, 100%. What we've been looking into is having campaigns like I kind of said about kind of segmenting campaigns down is having a campaign for products that only show that only pass the cheapest variant down.
Alex [00:26:05]:
Yeah.
Eleasha [00:26:05]:
So we've got a client who has certain product types but a lot of different variants at different prices. And what we were finding was competitors which is showing up a lot cheaper because we were showing the more expensive variant for example. So what we did is create a new campaign for products that are just showing the very cheapest so same products but then it kind of just improves the click through rate and stuff like that. So I think that's something that I think B2B marketing should. Yeah. Really try and try and include in their, in their strategy, I think as well.
Alex [00:26:41]:
I know I've implemented a similar kind of structure on one of this client I mentioned earlier on the B2B E commerce space, but the VAT as well. So that's another issue. I know Google used to be not as strict on this, but you know of with like including that in your pricing and so they're really strict on this now. So having to be inclusive of that. I know there's probably some sneaky, sneaky businesses that are getting away with it, but you do have to include that in your pricing within a Google feed.
Eleasha [00:27:07]:
Yeah.
Alex [00:27:07]:
And to be that inclusive. So see that if some competitors are not being very inclusive and sort of getting away with it.
Eleasha [00:27:13]:
Yeah.
Alex [00:27:14]:
Then obviously this is important as well to kind of show you as the most competitive and things like that. So yeah, I found that's worked really well for my side of things as well.
Eleasha [00:27:21]:
100%.
Alex [00:27:22]:
Okay, fabulous. And then just in terms terms of the platforms that you work on most and which do you find most underrated? Which would that be out of time? The paid ads channels?
Eleasha [00:27:34]:
Do you know what? I do think Microsoft is good, especially for B2B, but I would just say that when you're setting up a Microsoft account and it's relatively new, it does take a little bit of time. So I think Google's a lot more faster moving with learning. Yeah, I think Microsoft does take a good kind of two or three months to kind of get its feet a little bit. I know you experienced that, didn't you?
Alex [00:27:56]:
Yeah. So we set up a client just brand new onto Microsoft ads in January 2025 and we actually they've reached quite a nice scaling point with Google Ads and Meta and obviously we work them on SEO as well, but they reach a real scaling point that. Right. What other channels can we look at? And I recommended Microsoft Ads and there's always a bit of a risk when you recommend a new channel to a client because there's always that risk it's not going to work. And then they're like, oh gosh, well, you recommended this. It's not worked. So what's the answer there? So there's always that slight risk, but yeah, really happy with that, with the way that's gone. So in the last sort of 12 months, from January 2025 through to December 2025, we generate, generate an additional well over 100 grand extra in revenue and the rose is about 5.
Alex [00:28:40]:
So really, really good to be able to achieve those results for them and they kind of to be profitable. They're at like a four row mark. So really happy that we're able to exceed their kind of. They have target ROAs there and just generate that extra additional element of revenue for them. Yeah. And they're able to be more visible across other. Other platforms obviously like Bing and be able to be visible against competitors there. So being able to find the opportunity for them and for it to be able to work is what's really rewarding.
Alex [00:29:10]:
I guess it just goes back to the point about PBC being that rewarding, being rewarding for the client and being able to get this results and it's really great.
Eleasha [00:29:18]:
I would say as well just if for a business that is thinking about doing Microsoft ads and is a little bit kind of unsure, it's just having a look in your analytics and see how many people do come through Bing organically and just seeing if there's that, that search volume there. I think that's honestly I just think it's a whole new door that can be open that can generate such, you know.
Alex [00:29:42]:
Yeah.
Eleasha [00:29:42]:
Great revenue additionally to. To what you're running already in Google.
Alex [00:29:46]:
So.
Eleasha [00:29:46]:
Yeah, I'd say that's a really. Yeah. Maybe not so underrated but I would say that's. That's something that I do think that B2B businesses should be really pushing into.
Alex [00:29:57]:
Yeah, I think as well like although it's predominantly targeted to be like very B2B like it's often the default search engine of any business's laptop. A lot of businesses laptops anyway and things like that. But actually this client I mentioned that we scaled on is B2C so and there is definitely a place for both B2B and B2C and I think it's about like you say Alicia, looking at analytics data, seeing how much traffic you get through that area.
Eleasha [00:30:21]:
Yeah.
Alex [00:30:21]:
Also seeing what just as simple as going on Sping. It seems so simple but just going on spin and seeing what competitors are on there. Is that what sponsored they've got running on search and shopping and seeing the opportunity there.
Eleasha [00:30:32]:
It's a lot less competitive I'd say
Alex [00:30:33]:
as well on Bing because yes, definitely
Eleasha [00:30:35]:
people aren't spending a lot on Bing
Alex [00:30:37]:
to Google Generally the average CBCs are lower and things like that. So even to test out on a smaller budget just to see how it goes is always the way to go. You know, just scaling, starting on a smaller budget and then scaling up depending on how the performance goes. Definitely. So Alicia, you mentioned earlier about one of These tests you've run across one of your PPC clients. Can you tell me a bit more about that?
Eleasha [00:30:58]:
Yeah. So essentially it's testing out different landing pages and I've done it over the kind of past, kind of two or three years anyway. But yeah, I think like I said, it's just you've got to be really careful about what landing page you choose because it can make or break a campaign.
Alex [00:31:16]:
Yeah.
Eleasha [00:31:17]:
So for example, recently I did this with a search campaign. I used a category landing page which was already being used and then I sent the other 50 of traffic to a kind of top picks page. So like it showed the products, but it was like our top three and it was, it was a more interactive, it was more kind of personable and relevant landing page and it just is so much better.
Alex [00:31:41]:
Especially when potential customers need a bit more help on recommended products. They don't just want to go to a category page. They might be a bit overwhelmed. Like, gosh, what product do I go for? I'm not really sure. Having those kind of really tailored bestsellers, recommended products, that kind of thing. I think, yeah, that really taps into everything.
Eleasha [00:31:57]:
True. And also like I, I've done a test before where we had 50 people going to an open form. This was legion. And then 50 to a page that gave you information and then you have to click next to go to the next page where there is the open form. And honestly, just something as simple as that. The, the results were like crazy. Like everyone was converting on the open form and there was barely any people going from one page to the next. You kind of want to just shorten that journey as much as possible, don't you? So, yeah, I would just say test as much as possible, but landing pages are so underrated in terms of making sure that they're optimised and you're sending them to the right pages.
Alex [00:32:35]:
Yeah, so yeah, definitely. Agreed.
Eleasha [00:32:37]:
Fabulous. I have a question for you then, Alex. What would you recommend to businesses who have reached a plateau in scaling beyond the three million pound mark?
Alex [00:32:46]:
Yeah, great. That's a great question. So, yeah, I think with that, I think when E commerce brands have hit that 3 mil mark, they've got really good at one channel. So I think it might be like, you know, they got, they've got really good at PPC and that's how they've kind of reached that, that ceiling point with that 3 mil mark. And so I think that's when we kind of see that kind of a bit of the performance go to a bit of a Halt there. And so I think it's really looking at what other channels can you tap into. Is there any untapped opportunities that you need to hone in on and really look at your whole kind of channel mix there and just to kind of help with scaling. I know it kind of touches back on the point of Microsoft ads, but it might be more like TikTok ads is better for your business, better suits for your demographic.
Alex [00:33:28]:
Look at that as additional channel. Obviously it's, it's one of those, it's a top performing search engine now. I think it's up there, don't quote me on these numbers but I think it's up there with like second to Google or something. Obviously you've got YouTube as a search engine as well but that might be more suited to you. So obviously different channels are suited to different businesses and so that's something to really look at.
Eleasha [00:33:46]:
Also I, I don't think Tick Tock is the as a demographic I don't think it's quite as young as we realise. So yeah, whatever kind of business that you're in, the chances are that you probably will do quite well on Tick Tock. Yeah, especially things like TikTok shop actually.
Alex [00:34:03]:
Yeah, definitely. I think something as well, just aside from the channels is obviously, I think a lot of businesses are really obsessed with obviously acquiring new customers constantly, which is great. You always need new customers. There's also that retention piece as well. So how can you actually retain your existing clients? They buy one thing once and they keep purchasing throughout the year and then so forth. You'd be able to retain that client and look at that kind of lifetime customer value and kind of tapping into other areas of kind of loyalty schemes. Obviously post purchase flows, obviously tapping into email marketing as well. I think being able to retain is so, so important as well.
Alex [00:34:39]:
Obviously they both have their place. But acquiring and retaining, I think obviously like I say businesses do obsess over acquiring new customers. We always want new customers. But actually retaining as well has, you know, is even, you know, sort of, they're sort of hand in hand really in terms of acquiring and retaining. Really.
Eleasha [00:34:56]:
Yeah. And also like kind of going back to what we were saying before is sometimes you don't really know what you need until you've seen it. So like that clean, you know, you know, if you are in some sort of remarketing journey, whatever. If I see, if I see on for example Tick Tock but they're pushing a certain new hoodie, I'm like wow, I didn't know I needed that. Yeah, I want that. And so I'm gonna go to Google, I'm gonna type in Tala.
Alex [00:35:18]:
No, exactly. Yeah. Just finally on this as well. I think looking at your profit margins as well, I think sometimes on the face of it, you might look like you're being profitable, but I think you need to get really granular and look at each SKU of how much profit you're actually making out of each sku, especially when you take into account like ad spend, platform fees, you know, returns, and sort of everything else that you have to pay for as a business. Actually looking at that granular detail, I know sometimes the numbers can be a bit scary when you dig into the detail, but kind of just looking at the reality of those numbers.
Eleasha [00:35:49]:
Yeah.
Alex [00:35:49]:
And really digging into the profit there is where you're going to, you know, go beyond that kind of 3 mil mark and really grow your business.
Eleasha [00:35:56]:
Push into.
Alex [00:35:58]:
Yeah, definitely. Great. Okay, so I think we're getting towards the end now. I know with these podcasts we always end with a book recommendation. So, Elliot, what would you recommend to the audience?
Eleasha [00:36:10]:
I have just read a book called Let Them by Mel Robbins.
Alex [00:36:17]:
I've heard of that one.
Eleasha [00:36:18]:
I loved it. It was so good. I think she's so inspirational. Essentially the book is kind of about. It's maybe not really so business related, but it's. It's just essentially understanding that you can't control certain things, certain people's actions and opinions and stuff like that and actually just essentially just letting them. Yeah, so, yeah, kind of focusing on your own piece and your own personal freedom and stuff like that is. It was so good.
Eleasha [00:36:46]:
Yeah, I would really, really recommend it. So that's my book recommendation. What about you?
Alex [00:36:50]:
Yeah, so kind of on a similar theme. Mine's not a direct business book, but it's called Good Vibes, Good Life by Vex King. I've heard this one. And it's kind of left very focused on like letting go of what's not working. So teachers about rejections are if you get rejected, it's basically more about redirections in life. So kind of seeing the positive on that. And I think a lot of his principles and what he teaches can be really applied to day to day business life. So, yeah, definitely recommend that one.
Alex [00:37:18]:
Well, thank you so much for today, Alicia. It's been lovely chatting and we do sit next to each other in the office, but it's great to just sit down and chat about these things in more detail. So, yeah, 100.
Eleasha [00:37:28]:
Yeah, thank you too, Alex.
Richard Hill [00:37:32]:
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