Shopping vs. Search Ads: Which is better for ecommerce?

A few days ago, our team made an interesting discovery in one of our partners’ accounts.

This brand sells in both the U.S. and Canada.

But the way people shop in these 2 regions is completely different.

In the U.S., the branded Shopping campaign is crushing it.

The potential to scale is massive.

Conversions shoot up by 88% compared to the previous month, while the CPA stays well below target.

But Canada is a whole different story.

Here, the branded Search campaign blows Shopping out of the water.

It’s the primary driver of performance when it comes to branded traffic.

What this means is…

U.S. consumers favored visual shopping experiences.

On the other hand, Canadian buyers leaned towards search-based buying.

2 markets. 2 opposite buying behaviors.

This is why for Google Ads, you can’t just repeat what worked in one scenario and expect it to work everywhere.

Buying behavior is not universal.

Many brands ask us which campaign types they should run.

But that’s not the right question to ask.

Google Ads isn’t about finding the best tool for every case.

No magic funnel works for all brands, in all markets, at all times.

It’s more about finding the best tool for your specific scenario.

And you don’t have to choose between Search or Shopping.

It’s not one or the other.

You run both, and then let the data tell you where to invest your budget more aggressively.

For this brand, we’ll keep pushing hard on Shopping campaigns in the U.S.

But in Canada, we’ll double down on Search.

Because we know 1 thing for certain:

The data never points you in the wrong direction.

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 our E-commerce Growth Toolkit: Get access to our free resources and tools including the Product Feed & GMC Optimization Checklist, YouTube Shorts Ads Playbook, and 12 Plug-and-Play Dashboards. Click here.

P.S. Got a friend interested in Google ads? Share the love and send them our way.

If you’re that awesome friend, you can subscribe here.