Case Study: ItalianEatts - Enhancing Online Presence and Advertising Performance for a Small Business

Oct 6, 2024

3 min read

Disclaimer: "ItalianEatts" is a pseudonym used to protect the confidentiality of the actual small business restaurant.

Business Overview

ItalianEatts, a small Italian restaurant with a well-established retail presence, aimed to strengthen its online presence and drive traffic to its new in-house online store built on Wix. Relying heavily on platforms like UberEats and DoorDash, which charge up to 30% per order, ItalianEatts sought to reduce these costs and build customer loyalty. By creating an in-house ordering platform and launching targeted online ads, the business aimed to increase brand awareness, conversions, and customer retention—all while reducing reliance on third-party delivery services.

Marketing Goals

ItalianEatts set clear objectives to:

Boost impressions, clicks, and conversions on their online store while optimizing for cost per acquisition (CPA) and cost per click (CPC).
Optimize ad spending with a monthly budget of $700, or roughly $24 per day.
Experiment with ad types to identify the most effective strategies within budget constraints.

Strategy and Implementation

1. Platform and Campaign Selection

The ItalianEatts team developed an intuitive online store on Wix to offer a seamless ordering experience and maximize conversion rates. To evaluate the cost-effectiveness and engagement of different advertising options, they tested two types of ads: Sales Ads and Performance Max Ads on Google Ads, using Google Analytics to monitor performance metrics. Shopify was initially considered as an alternative but was dismissed due to its higher associated costs.

2. Keyword Analysis and Targeting

A comprehensive keyword analysis highlighted high-impact terms that were tailored to local audiences and Italian cuisine seekers. Based on this analysis, ItalianEatts refined ad content and applied location, time, and audience filters to enhance ad relevance and maximize return on investment.

3. Budget Allocation and Adjustments

With a limited daily budget, ItalianEatts faced frequent budget constraints. Ad settings were regularly adjusted to optimize spending, focusing on the best-performing ads. Prioritizing Sales Ads, which offered better control over keyword budgeting and targeting, helped them achieve lower costs per click (CPC) and acquisition (CPA).

4. Demographic Targeting and Ad Timing

ItalianEatts discovered that younger to middle-aged females—often family-oriented—were their most engaged demographic. To capitalize on this, ad campaigns targeted this audience during peak dinner hours to align with typical ordering times. This strategic targeting further helped ItalianEatts stay within budget while optimizing ad effectiveness.

Results

1. Ad Performance and Optimization

Sales Ads consistently outperformed Performance Max Ads, proving to be more cost-effective in terms of CPC and CPA. By focusing on Sales Ads, ItalianEatts leveraged enhanced targeting capabilities, allowing them to fine-tune location and timing filters for maximum impact. Sales Ads also provided greater customization for optimizing keywords, enabling ItalianEatts to capitalize on high-performing, locally-focused keywords like “Italian restaurants near me,” which delivered lower CPC rates.

2. Budget Utilization and Cost Management

Despite a limited budget, ItalianEatts achieved efficient ad spend management by reallocating funds toward ads yielding the best ROI. Through strategic keyword filtering, location targeting, and timing adjustments, they consistently reduced CPC and CPA. As a result, ItalianEatts effectively met its goal of cost-conscious ad spending while maximizing impressions and clicks.

3. Strategic Adjustments and Recommendations

By continuously refining their approach based on real-time performance metrics, ItalianEatts demonstrated agility in response to budget constraints. Going forward, they may consider slightly increasing their budget or further optimizing keyword targeting to expand their reach and engagement levels. Additionally, focusing on locally-relevant and intent-driven keywords will likely continue yielding high returns.

Conclusion and Takeaways

ItalianEatts successfully enhanced its online presence by adopting a structured, data-driven approach to online advertising. The case study emphasizes the importance of strategically selecting ad types, optimizing keyword targeting, and making regular adjustments to maximize ad performance within budget constraints. Sales Ads, in particular, emerged as a valuable tool due to their flexibility and advanced targeting features, helping ItalianEatts achieve a more favorable CPC and CPA compared to Performance Max Ads.

For businesses with limited budgets, this case underscores the need to prioritize cost-effective strategies, such as leveraging localized keywords over generic ones, which can quickly inflate costs. With a daily average CPC for Sales Ads around $1.30–$1.60—compared to $4–$5 for Performance Max Ads—ItalianEatts effectively stretched its budget further by concentrating on high-return keywords, location targeting, and controlled ad timing.

Further Actions

Moving forward, ItalianEatts aims to further boost ad performance by concentrating exclusively on Sales Ads, which consistently provide superior results. By improving marketing campaigns and building a robust customer email list, they plan to capitalize on cost-effective email marketing strategies for customer retention. As impressions and conversions increase, ItalianEatts will evaluate opportunities to raise their ad budget, enhancing both reach and effectiveness while continuing to drive organic traffic through Google search optimization.