Paperlike's 16.85% Google CPA Reduction: How Targeting Non-Branded Keywords Led to Higher Profits
The Challenge
After the iOS14 update, Paperlike, a tech brand that creates accessories for iPad users, was facing a significant issue: the cost per acquisition (CPA) on Facebook and Google Ads was climbing month after month. Despite their existing success, their marketing efficiency was dropping, and the increasing costs were unsustainable.
Upon diving into their advertising accounts, we uncovered some key challenges. First, there was a lack of testing with new creative formats, like user-generated content (UGC) and fresh ad creatives. Additionally, their audience testing was limited, and they hadn’t yet optimized their Google Ads strategy to target non-branded keywords. All of these factors were contributing to the rising CPA.
Our Solution
To address these challenges, our first step was to revamp Paperlike’s creative strategy. We took their existing assets and created a variety of video and UGC-based ads for Facebook, focusing on different stages of the customer journey. These new creatives were incorporated into a full-funnel Facebook ad strategy, which allowed us to quickly bring down the CPA.
Our creative team also went above and beyond, producing over 10 custom videos for Paperlike. Each video was designed to speak to specific parts of the marketing funnel, ensuring that each audience segment received the right message at the right time.
On the Google Ads side, we took a fresh approach. We stopped relying solely on remarketing and dynamic campaigns and began targeting non-branded keywords. This shift expanded the reach and helped lower the CPA on Google Ads as well.
The Results
The results were impressive. After aggressive testing and optimization in July, Paperlike saw a 17.5% increase in revenue in August, hitting €548,833.82. By September, revenue grew even further, with a 10% increase to €606,599.09, thanks to finding the best-performing creatives and audience segments.
Most importantly, the cost per acquisition on Facebook dropped dramatically—from €21.63 in May to just €14.45 by October 2021. This new lower CPA was maintained all the way through January 2022.
On the Google Ads side, we saw a similar story. After taking over their Google Ads account in October, we reduced the CPA by 16.85%, bringing it down from €6.21 to €5.16. At the same time, we increased their return on ad spend (ROAS) by 19.35%, climbing from 5.96x to 7.11x.
This version focuses on the problems Paperlike faced such as rising CPA, lack of creative testing, and poor audience targeting, and clearly explains how our solutions led to significant improvements.
