How We Grew Sales by 1.5x in a Narrow Niche — No Extra Budget Required

Client

EAT ME AT is a manufacturer and retailer of plant-based meat and textured soy protein products.

Our goal

Increase sales volume in the B2C segment

Period of work

The client has been working with us since October 2023 until now.

The case study shows results for the period from February 5 to November 24, 2024.

Project details

• Narrow niche — interest in plant-based meat limits the target audience.
• Initially, the client offered just three products, which restricted cross-selling potential, made it harder to attract new customers at scale, and reduced ad campaign performance.
  • Google Ads algorithms (Maximize Conversions, tROAS, tCPA) received fewer signals due to the limited variety of ad creatives;
  • There was a lower volume of relevant search queries, which made scaling more challenging.
  • Campaign launches were followed by slower algorithm training.

The product range was later expanded to 9 items, providing more room for marketing activities The client distributes their products through several channels: B2B, B2C (via their own website), as well as through partner networks such as Silpo, Auchan, METRO, and others. Given the delivery limitations of frozen products by logistics companies, many customers choose to shop in partner stores rather than order online. In this case, we examine the testing of additional sales funnel stages to increase the number of end purchases over the long term. Given the specifics described above, a classic eCommerce strategy proved insufficient. For Google Ads' automated strategies to perform effectively, a stable volume of data is required — at least 50 conversions within 30 days, and ideally 100 or more. Hitting that number in a narrow niche is difficult, particularly at launch, which hampers algorithm learning and weakens campaign performance.

Experiment implementation

Considering the project’s nature and objectives, we ran a series of ad campaign optimization tests and are moving forward with additional experiments. This case highlights one of our effective experiments, where we focused on both macro-conversions and supplementary user interactions with the site. In July, we decided to test a new approach — adding goals related to the early stages of the sales funnel to our ad campaigns. Specifically, we selected the “add to cart” event. The first stage involved launching a test on selected campaigns with the aim of providing Google Ads algorithms with more signals by increasing the total number of conversions: During the second phase, we gradually transitioned the bidding strategy to “maximize conversion value” over the span of a month. To preserve the balance between micro- and macro-conversions, the value of the “add to cart” event was deliberately reduced manually. Another test involved focusing solely on the “purchase” goal; however, this led to a decline in performance, as the system lacked sufficient signals for proper optimization. Encouraged by the positive outcomes, we proceeded to the third stage, where our team scaled the strategy. As a result, we achieved a 47.76% increase in website purchases and reduced the cost per conversion by 36.75% (with no change in click budget) The conversion rate increased from 2.85% to 6.48%, marking a growth of 127.23%.

Conclusion

1. Step-by-step implementation of the experiment enabled us to evaluate its performance and prepare for expansion across additional campaigns
2. In our case, adding early funnel stages — particularly the “add to cart” event — to the primary conversion goals delivered positive outcomes.
3. This strategy may be of great use for niche projects where macro-conversions are scarce, as it improves the efficiency of automated bidding and maintains its effectiveness over time.

Project participants:

• Project manager: Oleksandra Nesina
• PPC specialist: Diana Kharytonenko
• Head of PPC Advertising: Galyna Lyman