How to fix an unscalable Google Ads structure (fast)

A brand challenged us to beat their 13.6x ROAS

This brand came to us 3 months ago for help with their Google Ads.

Unlike most brands, they weren’t looking for a fix.

They had already crushed it with a 13.6x ROAS.

But they wanted more…

"How can we push this even further?"

For brands performing at this level, we have to carefully consider whether to take them on.

Because if an account is fully optimized, there’s not much we can do to help them.

And we don’t want to charge our partners just to make a few tweaks per week.

If we step in, it’s because we see a clear path to scale.

When we audited their account, they were doing a lot of things right.

Good copy. Highly optimized product feed. Effective use of keywords.

But then, we spotted a major bottleneck:

Their campaign structure wasn’t built for scale.

Their pMax campaigns drove a big part of their revenue.

But the way they set them up was holding them back.

They had branded and prospecting traffic mixed together in the same campaigns.

That’s a recipe for inefficiency.

Why?

Because Google’s algorithm favors easy wins

Branded traffic converts faster, so it gets prioritized.

That leaves prospecting traffic starved for budget and attention.

But new customers are what will scale your Google Ads, not people searching for your brand.

So immediately, we worked to rebuild their campaign structure.

But it’s not an easy task…

Since this brand’s doing well, one wrong move could wreck their results overnight.

We couldn’t just rip everything apart and start over.

It’s like renovating a house.

We must find a way to build onto the existing structure without tearing everything down.

So instead of a drastic overhaul, we used data from their current campaigns to guide our changes.

Here’s what it looks like in practice…

Before, they had 4 pMax campaigns with mixed traffic.

To gain more control, we split things up.

First, we turned their two best-performing campaigns into prospecting.

We excluded branded traffic and let them focus on finding new customers.

Then, we converted the other two into dedicated brand campaigns.

We could’ve stopped there, but we saw an opportunity to squeeze out more revenue.

So we launched Standard Shopping Wall campaigns.

These captured the shoppers that the prospecting pMax campaigns missed.

Finally, we wanted full control over our branded traffic.

To do that, we introduced Branded Standard Shopping campaigns.

The end goal?

Shift branded traffic away from pMax and let Standard Shopping take over.

In November, pMax handled most of the branded shopping revenue.

By December, that had completely flipped to Standard Shopping.

Exactly what we aimed for.

Now, their Shopping structure stands on 4 pillars:

  • Branded pMax

  • Prospecting pMax 

  • Branded Standard Shopping

  • Prospecting Wall Standard Shopping

This setup gave us what we needed to scale:

  1. Full control to squeeze revenue from branded campaigns

  2. A clear path to scaling by prioritizing prospecting

With this structure, we delivered exactly what the brand was looking for...

In just 1 month, we increased their revenue from €217K to €317K.

Their ROAS jumped from 13.65x to 15.3x.

After auditing 300+ brands, we keep seeing the same pattern:

Even if your ads are performing well, there’s always hidden potential.

You might have a structure that works, but it’s quietly capping your growth.

To break through, you need to transition to a setup designed for scale.

One that extracts every ounce of profit from your spend while opening the door for more.

If done right, this transition doesn’t have to take long.

By tapping into the data you already have, you can scale fast while staying efficient.

And it allows you to generate more revenue with a higher ROAS in a short time time.

Jackson

Founder and CEO of Echelonn.

How we can help:

  • Get a free Google ads audit: For brands spending more than $20k/mo. or making over 1 million annually, we’ll identify the key bottlenecks in your account, and turn it into a free 90-day scaling plan. Click here.

  • Get a 1-time Google ads buildout: For brands that are new to Google or looking to add another revenue model WITHOUT a retainer. We’ll do a one-time buildout over 30 days for you to profit from day 1. Click here for more info.

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