Study Finds Sweeping KPI Improvements With Switch To Google Shopping Campaigns

The August deadline for converting your Google product listing campaigns (PLA) to the new Shopping Campaigns structure — before Google does it for you — is just a few months away. A new study from CPC Strategy suggests it’s worth making the switch sooner rather than later.

CPC Strategy expected to see management efficiencies, but the team was surprised to see key metrics improve by simply making the move to Shopping Campaigns.

Average revenue, orders and ROAS all increased without making additional feed optimization efforts after the switch.

Average orders ticked up just over 4 percent. Those orders were acquired much more efficiently as ad spend fell by 29.7 percent and conversion rates rose by an average of 15.8 percent. Revenue rose nearly 34 percent and ROAS increased by 25 percent under Shopping Campaigns. Traffic was off by only about 1 percent.

New Features Give Marketers More Information

CPC Strategy credits the new features available in Shopping Campaigns with the performance boosts. For advertisers that already have optimized campaign management and feed structures in place, the added tools provide more granular detail to inform campaign optimization efforts.

“The new features like Bid Simulator and competitive metrics such as impression share really help managers make more effective and informed bid modifications. Additionally, the new product-level reports available in the Dimensions tab help influence more efficient product group structure and bid modifications as well,” said Jon Gregoire a marketing specialist at CPC Strategy.

The study comprised 48 advertisers, all of which had actively optimized feeds and PLA campaigns, and compares campaign performance from the three weeks before the switch to the three weeks after the switch to Shopping Campaigns.

You can download the full study here.