Case: Google advertising for Sofi (premium photo book printing)
Contextual Advertising
The company "Sofi" (mysofi.com.ua) specializes in the production of premium custom photo books. In November 2021, I was approached with a request to improve the existing Google Ads campaign. The advertising had been running for a long time: initially, it brought good results, but its effectiveness declined each year.
After analyzing the statistics, I discovered one of the main reasons. By 2021, the share of mobile traffic had significantly increased. Although the website was adapted for smartphones, the conversion rate from desktop visitors was almost 5 times higher. Just one adjustment to the advertising settings, taking this factor into account, could significantly improve effectiveness.
Due to the onset of full-scale war, work could only begin in September 2022. By that time, the advertising results had worsened even further. I analyzed the statistics for the past two years by age, gender, regions of Ukraine, devices, and ad display times. Based on the conversion rate for each segment, bid adjustments were made, allowing for budget redistribution in favor of the most effective audience.
Next, a complete analysis of search queries was conducted. The ads retained only the keywords that were already generating conversions, and exclusively in exact match. Additionally, a large list of negative keywords was compiled to maximize the exclusion of non-target traffic.
The next step was a complete redesign of the ads. After analyzing the offers of major competitors, I focused on the advantages that were most important to customers:
* Custom design.
* Manual photo processing.
* Urgent printing in 3 days.
* Premium quality of photo books.
Since photo books are most often ordered as gifts, when creating the ads, I studied customer reviews and used emotional calls to action related to preserving memories and bright emotions.
In the first month after launching the updated advertising campaign, the number of conversions increased by 16%, while their cost decreased by 14%.
Later, based on the manual bid management campaign, a campaign with the "Maximize Conversions" strategy and Performance Max was created. The latter had to be turned off later due to invalid conversions coming from unscrupulous sites in the Google Display Network.
As of July 2026, two search campaigns continue to operate effectively: one with manual bid management and the other with the automatic "Maximize Conversions" strategy. The majority of the budget is directed towards the automatic strategy, where the cost per conversion is usually lower. However, in my observations, higher quality leads often come from the manual bid management campaign. Additionally, excessive budget cuts for it usually worsen the results of the automatic strategy, so it is important to maintain a balance between them.
As of July 2026, the metrics are as follows:
* 40% of the budget — manual bid management.
* 60% — "Maximize Conversions" strategy.
* About 5000 negative keywords.
* Average CTR — 15%.
* Average cost per click — 14 UAH.
* About 30 conversions per month.
* Average cost per conversion — about 800 UAH.
This project demonstrates that with accumulated Google Ads statistics, systematic optimization of advertising allows for more inquiries and reduces the cost of customer acquisition.
After analyzing the statistics, I discovered one of the main reasons. By 2021, the share of mobile traffic had significantly increased. Although the website was adapted for smartphones, the conversion rate from desktop visitors was almost 5 times higher. Just one adjustment to the advertising settings, taking this factor into account, could significantly improve effectiveness.
Due to the onset of full-scale war, work could only begin in September 2022. By that time, the advertising results had worsened even further. I analyzed the statistics for the past two years by age, gender, regions of Ukraine, devices, and ad display times. Based on the conversion rate for each segment, bid adjustments were made, allowing for budget redistribution in favor of the most effective audience.
Next, a complete analysis of search queries was conducted. The ads retained only the keywords that were already generating conversions, and exclusively in exact match. Additionally, a large list of negative keywords was compiled to maximize the exclusion of non-target traffic.
The next step was a complete redesign of the ads. After analyzing the offers of major competitors, I focused on the advantages that were most important to customers:
* Custom design.
* Manual photo processing.
* Urgent printing in 3 days.
* Premium quality of photo books.
Since photo books are most often ordered as gifts, when creating the ads, I studied customer reviews and used emotional calls to action related to preserving memories and bright emotions.
In the first month after launching the updated advertising campaign, the number of conversions increased by 16%, while their cost decreased by 14%.
Later, based on the manual bid management campaign, a campaign with the "Maximize Conversions" strategy and Performance Max was created. The latter had to be turned off later due to invalid conversions coming from unscrupulous sites in the Google Display Network.
As of July 2026, two search campaigns continue to operate effectively: one with manual bid management and the other with the automatic "Maximize Conversions" strategy. The majority of the budget is directed towards the automatic strategy, where the cost per conversion is usually lower. However, in my observations, higher quality leads often come from the manual bid management campaign. Additionally, excessive budget cuts for it usually worsen the results of the automatic strategy, so it is important to maintain a balance between them.
As of July 2026, the metrics are as follows:
* 40% of the budget — manual bid management.
* 60% — "Maximize Conversions" strategy.
* About 5000 negative keywords.
* Average CTR — 15%.
* Average cost per click — 14 UAH.
* About 30 conversions per month.
* Average cost per conversion — about 800 UAH.
This project demonstrates that with accumulated Google Ads statistics, systematic optimization of advertising allows for more inquiries and reduces the cost of customer acquisition.