Shopping vs. Search: Google ads breakdown

A week 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 was completely different.

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

The potential to scale was massive.

Last month alone, conversions shot up by 88% compared to the previous month—while the CPA stayed well below target.

Canada was a whole different story.

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

It was the primary driver of performance.

The trend was clear:

U.S. consumers favored visual shopping experiences.

Canadian buyers, on the other hand, 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 the only way to do that is to let the data guide you.

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

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

This doesn’t mean don’t run one or the other, but let the data point you to where to invest your budget more aggressively.

It’s give and take.

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.