The numbers, and the honest story behind them.
Every figure below comes from the client's own Shopify, Google Ads or analytics dashboards. Names are private; on a call I'll walk you through how each result was achieved. Every business is different, and your results will depend on your product, market and budget.
A salon-favourite beauty brand, taken online from zero
The starting point
Well known to salons across South Africa, with a list of past buyers, but no proper online store and no way to reach those buyers again.
What I did
- Built the Shopify store end to end
- Reactivated the salon and past-buyer lists by email and WhatsApp, with invoiced orders for salons
- Launched Google Ads and email automations for steady retail sales after the launch
The honest part
Most of the launch month came from salons ordering on invoice after the outreach, not from ads. The ads and automations are what kept sales coming afterwards.
R377k
in the first full month
R1.5M
in sales in the first 7 months
8.1×
return on Google Ads
~R175k
tracked from email, R128k of it automated
A packaging brand, built from nothing, with no customer list
The starting point
A new brand with no audience and no list. Everything had to be built: the store, the product range, logistics and a paid channel that pays for itself.
What I did
- Built the Shopify store and kept improving it
- Narrowed the range to the products that sell
- Built Google Ads into a steady, predictable channel
- Worked with the owner month by month until the business was profitable
The honest part
This wasn't overnight: it took 18 months of steady work. Some months run at 6×, some at 8×. That consistency is the point.
R0 → R717k
in sales, 811 orders
6–8×
Google Ads return every month (first-click)
~35
ad-driven orders a month at ~R140 each
~R200
to win a new customer (average order ~R885)
A social-first brand, given a second sales channel
The starting point
Built on social media, with sales depending on one platform. Google Ads was started to catch the people searching for the brand, and to find new customers who weren't.
What I did
- Held the top position on brand searches, so competitors couldn't take their customers
- Bid on competitor searches to win customers comparing alternatives
- Split brand searches from non-brand, so we measured what the ads actually caused
- Tested new search campaigns, cut the losers early and scaled the winners
- Caught brand traffic leaking into the non-brand campaign and fixed it
The honest part
Brand campaigns return 50×, but that's mostly people who already knew the brand from social media. The number we're proud of is 8.1× from new customers.
Delivered together with a partner agency.
R1.75M
in revenue from R125k in Google Ads spend
~14×
return on ad spend across the whole account, tests included
8.1×
on pure non-brand: new customers only
~7
months since launch