How We Scaled a New Ecommerce Brand From $0 to $369,000 in Under 90 Days With Google Ads

A new ecommerce brand came to Kraken Digital with essentially zero Google Ads history, minimal branded demand and only limited traction through Meta.

Within the first 60 days, we managed to generate approximately $266,000 in revenue. By the end of the first 90 days, that had grown to $369,000.

These results did not come from launching every campaign type at once. It came from building a simple acquisition structure, separating new-customer traffic from branded demand and introducing additional campaign types only when the account was ready.

Results Summary

·         $0 to $266,000 in revenue within 60 days.

·         $369,000 in revenue within 90 days.

·         87% of revenue attributed to non-branded search terms.

·         Expansion from Australia into the United States, United Kingdom and Canada.

·         Demand Gen introduced only after the core acquisition campaigns began reaching diminishing returns.

The starting position

This Ecommerce brand was almost completely new to Google Ads.

They had generated some early traction through Meta, but there was limited branded search demand and no established Google Ads conversion history.

Essentially, the account could not rely on brand recognition to produce revenue. The campaign structure needed to acquire customers who had not previously searched for or purchased from this business.

That distinction is critical as branded traffic is typically easier and cheaper to convert. However, in this account, only 13% of revenue came from branded campaigns. The remaining 87% came through non-branded terms. This means most of the growth was driven by people discovering the product through Google.

The challenge

The objective was not simply to generate sales.

The account needed to:

·         Acquire new customers profitably.

·         Avoid overstating performance through branded traffic.

·         Concentrate the budget on the strongest products.

·         Establish reliable conversion data.

·         Expand into new regions without weakening the core account.

·         Introduce broader campaign types only after high-intent demand had been captured.

Launching a broad Performance Max campaign would have introduced far too many variables into a fresh account.

That is why we built the account around the highest-intent opportunities first.

Step 1: Use non-branded Shopping as the primary scaling engine

The main acquisition campaigns were non-branded Shopping campaigns.

These campaigns excluded searches containing the brand name, allowing us to measure how effectively Google Ads was acquiring genuinely new customers.

The structure was initially divided by region:

·         Australia as the primary market.

·         The United States, United Kingdom and Canada as secondary expansion markets.

Most of the early budget remained concentrated in Australia because it was the strongest initial market for this business.

The Shopping campaigns also focused on the brand’s strongest product. For stores with larger product lines, Kraken Digital generally recommends starting with the top three to five products rather than placing the entire range into the initial acquisition campaign.

This gives Google clearer products signals and concentrates the available budget on the items that have the highest potential to convert.

Step 2: Separate branded traffic from customer acquisition

We created dedicated branded Search and branded Shopping campaigns.

The purpose was not to use branded traffic as the main growth strategy, but rather:

·         Protect searches for the brand name.

·         Prevent competitors from intercepting existing demand.

·         Keep branded revenue separate from acquisition performance.

·         Stop branded searches from flowing into non-branded campaigns.

·         Give the account cleaner attribution data.

Branded Search campaigns targeted exact-match versions of the company’s brand name.

A separate branded Shopping campaign captured branded Shopping demand. This required a more controlled setup, but it allowed branded and non-branded traffic to remain separated.

Step 3: Add non-branded Search to capture remaining demand

Non-branded Search campaigns were introduced to capture product-related searches that did not convert through Shopping ads.

These campaigns targeted relevant products terms using exact-match and phrase-match keywords, with branded searches excluded.

While Shopping was the primary source of revenue, Search had a critical use. It capture demand from customers who preferred text ads or used product searches that were not covered effectively through Shopping.

In this case, we treated Search as an additional demand-capture layer rather than the centre of the account.

Step 4: Use Performance Max as a controlled remarketing layer

Performance Max was added after the main acquisition structure was developed.

The campaigns focused on the brand’s strongest performing products and excluded branded traffic.

This was important because Performance Max can lean heavily into existing branded demand when it is left unrestricted. That may produce attractive reported returns while contributing less genuine customer acquisition than the account appears to show.

By excluding branded traffic, Performance Max could focus heavily on remarketing to visitors brought into the ecosystem by the non-branded Shopping and Search campaigns.

This account initially used feed-only Performance Max campaigns for greater control. Once the structure had proven to work, an asset-only Performance Max campaign was added to cover placements such as YouTube, Display and Search without duplicating the Shopping feed.

Step 5: Introduce Demand Gen after the core campaigns began to slow down

The initial Search, Shopping and Performance Max structure was capable of scaling to approximately $1,000-$1,500 per day in profitable spend in this account.

Only at this stage did we introduced Demand Gen.

We added Demand Gen when the higher-intent campaigns began approaching diminishing returns. The brand needed to create additional demand rather than continuing to push more budget into the same audience.

Winning Meta creatives were transferred into Demand Gen campaigns and used primarily across YouTube placements.

The campaign did not produce the strongest returns immediately. Performance improved over approximately two to three weeks as Google gathered data and refined delivery.

Creative testing was kept controlled:

·         Three to five creatives per testing batch.

·         Winning creatives moved into a separate scaling campaign.

·         New creatives continued testing in the original campaigns.

·         Vertical Meta assets were used initially.

·         YouTube-native horizontal creatives were recommended once winning angles were clear.

The final campaign structure

This was the structure that produced significant growth for this Ecommerce brand:

New-customer acquisition

·         Non-branded Shopping in Australia

·         Non-branded Shopping in international markets.

·         Non-branded Search campaigns.

Brand protection

·         Branded Search.

·         Branded Shopping.

Remarketing and additional reach

·         Feed-only Performance Max.

·         Asset-only Performance Max.

·         Demand Gen campaigns.

Each of these campaigns had a distinct role.

Shopping captured high-intent product demand. Search collected additional demand. Branded campaigns protected existing awareness. Performance Max supported remarketing. Demand Gen expanded the audience once the high-intent layers had begun to mature.

Why the account scaled

The account did not scale because of one campaign setting or bidding strategy.

It scaled because the structure gave Google clear signals.

The most important factors were:

·         New-customer traffic was separated from branded demand.

·         The strongest products received most of the budget.

·         Regions were separated according to market maturity.

·         Campaign types were introduced in sequence.

·         Demand Gen was added only after the account had proven its core acquisition model.

·         Creative testing remained controlled rather than overloaded.

·         Expansion occurred without abandoning the campaigns that were already producing profitable growth.

What ecommerce brands should learn from this

Brand-new ecommerce accounts do not need every available Google Ads campaign type on day one.

You need to build clear acquisition foundations.

For most new brands, that means:

·         Start with non-branded Shopping focused on proven products.

·         Add non-branded Search to capture high-intent demand.

·         Separate branded traffic into dedicated campaigns.

·         Introduce Performance Max once the account has reliable conversion signals.

·         Add Demand Gen when existing demand begins to reach its natural limits.

If ecommerce brands can follow one lesson, it should be:

Complexity should follow proven demand. It should not be used as a substitute for it.

Final takeaway

Kraken Digital scaled this brand from $0 in Google Ads revenue to $369,000 in under 90 days by keeping the early structure simple and focused.

Non-branded Shopping drove customer acquisition. Branded campaigns protected and separated existing demand. Search captured additional opportunities. Performance Max supported remarketing. Demand Gen was introduced only after the account had established traction.

The result was an account built around measurable new-customer growth rather than inflated blended returns.

FAQ

How much of the revenue came from non-branded traffic?

Approximately 87% of the revenue came from non-branded search terms, while 13% came from branded campaigns.

What was the primary scaling campaign?

Non-branded Shopping was the main customer-acquisition and revenue-driving campaign type.

Was Performance Max used from the beginning?

Performance Max was part of the broader structure, but it was used in a controlled role with branded traffic excluded. It was not treated as the account’s only acquisition campaign.

When was Demand Gen introduced?

Demand Gen was introduced after the Search, Shopping and Performance Max campaigns had established traction and began approaching diminishing returns.

How did Kraken Digital scale the brand from $0 to $369,000?

The account began with non-branded Shopping campaigns, supported by branded Search, branded Shopping and non-branded Search. Performance Max was used for controlled remarketing, and Demand Gen was introduced after the core campaigns began reaching diminishing returns.

Can every ecommerce brand achieve the same result?

No. Performance depends on product demand, margins, budget, market size, conversion rate, creative quality and operational capacity.

Author: Max Crakanthorp, Founder of Kraken Digital