Google, Snapchat or Instagram for my store?

It follows how people buy, not preference. A product searched for by name starts on Google because the intent exists before the ad, while a product bought by discovery starts on display platforms. In one account I ran, Google returned 7.6 and Snapchat 1.3 over the same period.

Do I need Merchant Center?

If you sell products, yes. It is what puts your products in search both organically and paid. I built it from zero in a lighting store that had none of the measurement stack, and shopping campaigns do not run without it at all.

How long before I can judge the result?

Search campaigns give a signal within two weeks because the demand already exists. Shopping needs product data completed first, and before that any judgement measures description quality rather than campaign quality.

Google Ads for Saudi e-commerce

My best month on Google spent SAR 3,040 and returned SAR 107,160 across 355 sales, at SAR 1.94 per sale. The difference is that Google catches people searching for the product by name, so the intent exists before the ad. All the work is in reaching that intent without waste.

107,160 SAR

on SAR 3,040 spend · 61:1 return · 355 sales · SAR 1.94 per sale

What I do on Google specifically

I build measurement before I run a campaign

I took over a lighting store with no Analytics, no Search Console, no Tag Manager, no Merchant Center and no ads account at all. I built all four, then started. A campaign running without measurement spends confidently on something whose result nobody knows.

I split shopping campaigns by category, not by product

In a game top-up store I ran four parallel campaigns, each on a category group. One returned 58:1 and another 2.8:1 inside the same account. A single campaign holding every product hides that difference completely.

I treat product descriptions as part of the campaign

I paused shopping ads in a lighting store despite strong impressions and clicks, because product descriptions were incomplete and sales were weak relative to the traffic. Google reads the description to decide who sees the product.

I use YouTube for conversion, not awareness alone

A marble company: the default channel for its category is Instagram, at 2.6 to 4.5 dollars per conversion. I ran a YouTube video campaign aimed at WhatsApp conversion and it produced 2,217 conversations at 0.55 dollars on average. YouTube is less advertising-crowded in the Saudi market for this category.

Accounts I have run on Google

Game top-up store · SAR 216,053 on SAR 4,981 in one month

A blended 43:1 across 1,696 sales in July 2023, with the strongest campaign returning 95:1. The best single month returned SAR 107,160 on SAR 3,040.

Read the full case

Perfume and oud chain · SAR 306,430 on SAR 40,109

7.6 return across 782 sales. This is the same account where Snapchat returned 1.3, so its budget moved to Google.

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Lighting store · SAR 295,176 on SAR 45,409

6.5 return across 511 purchases in six months, on an account built from zero with no measurement stack in place.

Read the full case

Marble company · 2,217 WhatsApp conversations on 1,216 dollars via YouTube

0.55 dollars per conversation on average and 0.42 in the best month, against 2.6 to 4.5 dollars on Instagram over the same period.

Read the full case

When Google is the wrong answer, and what failed

The highest returning campaign in one of my accounts is the one that got banned. I publish it because an outlier is a signal to investigate, not an achievement to display.

When the exceptional number is a violation, not brilliance

A search campaign in a game top-up store returned 95:1, the highest in the entire account. It was then banned because it bid on the word TikTok, a registered trademark. I contacted Google support and the reason was confirmed. The lesson is that a number far outside everything resembling it in the account gets investigated before anything is built on it.

When the intent does not exist in the first place

In the same account, a shopping campaign on other categories returned 2.8:1 and I stopped it. Google catches existing search, and when nobody looks for your product by name the platform does not create demand from nothing. That is where display platforms start, not Google.

Questions asked before running Google Ads

Google, Snapchat or Instagram for my store?: It follows how people buy, not preference. A product searched for by name starts on Google because the intent exists before the ad, while a product bought by discovery starts on display platforms. In one account I ran, Google returned 7.6 and Snapchat 1.3 over the same period.
Do I need Merchant Center?: If you sell products, yes. It is what puts your products in search both organically and paid. I built it from zero in a lighting store that had none of the measurement stack, and shopping campaigns do not run without it at all.
My campaigns get clicks but no sales. Where is the problem?: Usually after the click rather than in it. I paused shopping ads in a lighting store despite strong impressions and clicks because product descriptions were incomplete. A click landing on a page that does not convince is a cost, not a result.
How long before I can judge the result?: Search campaigns give a signal within two weeks because the demand already exists. Shopping needs product data completed first, and before that any judgement measures description quality rather than campaign quality.

Send me your store and your Google account

I will open the account and tell you what I see: whether the intent exists in the market at all, whether measurement lands, and where spend goes with nothing in return.

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