The challenge

Access Panels Direct (APD) operates in a highly competitive market where achieving a strong return on ad spend (ROAS) is critical to success. The company set an ambitious ROAS target across their PPC campaigns, a significant increase on previous benchmarks. 

Balancing revenue growth with a strict focus on ROAS proved to be challenging. While APD consistently hit its targets early in the year, a reduction in advertising investment to maintain ROAS resulted in a 32% revenue decline in the following quarter. The challenge was clear: APD needed a strategy to diversify paid channels, maintain ROAS, and unlock new revenue streams without sacrificing efficiency. 

The Broadplace approach

To overcome these hurdles, we introduced Microsoft Ads into APD’s PPC strategy to complement Google Ads performance, reach untapped audiences, and meet ambitious revenue and ROAS goals. 

• Google Merchant Center Integration: Imported APD’s existing Google Merchant Center into Microsoft Ads to seamlessly launch a Performance Max campaign featuring top-performing products. 

• A/B Testing for Optimisation: Leveraging our top-performing products to create product clones, allowed us to expand our otherwise smaller product feed by introducing variations of strong converting products. These clones featured optimised titles and descriptions with different keywords, along with image variations for split testing. This approach allowed us to maximise performance despite having a relatively small catalogue of core products.

• Non-Brand Search Campaigns: Imported proven non-brand Search campaigns from Google to Microsoft Ads, expanding APD’s visibility to Bing users. 
• Strategic Budget Allocation: Allocated just 7% of the total PPC budget to Microsoft Ads, while retaining Google as the primary channel. 

The results

The introduction of Microsoft Ads delivered impressive results despite the small budget allocation: 

• 16% of total paid revenue was generated from Microsoft Ads
• Achieved an extraordinary ROAS on Microsoft Ads campaigns, 2.5x what was previously achieved on Google

This strong performance relieved pressure on Google Ads, allowing us to scale Google investments confidently. By diversifying the channel mix, we:

• Increased overall PPC investment by 17% quarter on quarter
• Achieved a 24% increase in revenue compared to the previous quarter
• Improved overall ROAS by 5.5% while regaining market share

Diversifying into Microsoft Ads proved to be a game-changer for APD. With a strategic approach and data-driven execution, we unlocked new revenue streams, delivered exceptional ROAS, and achieved sustainable growth – proving that smart channel diversification can transform PPC performance.