Industry: Model Railroading & Hobby Retail
Platforms: Facebook/Meta Ads, Google Ads
Timeframe: Feb 1 – Apr 30, 2025
The Challenge
A leading online store for model railroaders and hobbyists, was running paid media campaigns across Meta and Google—but results were underwhelming. ROAS was inconsistent, ad creatives were generic, and campaigns lacked strategic alignment. They turned to Paton Digital for full-funnel paid media management to scale profitably across platforms.
The Strategy
Meta Ads Overhaul:
We took full control of the Meta ad account in January and launched highly segmented campaigns based on product categories (e.g., locomotives, decoders, track kits). Offers like “5% Off Sitewide” and “50% Off Locos” were paired with urgency-driven creative and strong calls to action. Dynamic retargeting was rebuilt to capture cart abandoners and high-intent visitors.
Google Ads Optimization:
For Google, we deployed a three-pronged strategy:
- Branded Search captured high-converting brand traffic with an incredible 47.5% interaction rate.
- Non-Brand Search focused on competitive terms like “DCC decoders” and “N scale locomotives,” backed by optimized landing pages.
- Performance Max and Shopping campaigns were restructured to focus on bestsellers, using high-quality feed data and priority-based bidding.
We also reallocated budget toward top-performing campaigns while controlling CPCs, building a lean, performance-driven account.
The Results
Facebook/Meta Ads:
- Multiple campaigns achieved ROAS above 11x, with retargeting hitting 13.68x.
- Campaigns with budgets under $1,000 consistently returned over $5,000–6,000 in revenue.
- CTRs exceeded 2%, CPCs dropped as low as $0.20, and cost-per-purchase was highly efficient.
Google Ads (Feb–Apr 2025):
- $383,562.29 in revenue from just $19,048.60 in ad spend across all campaigns.
- Total ROAS across Google Ads: 14,656%.
- Performance Max alone drove $244,803.83 in revenue with a ROAS of 141.39x.
- Branded Search delivered a 343.3x ROAS, with an average CPC of only $0.23.
- Non-Brand Search brought in $88,458.15 with 511 orders and a solid 24.57x ROAS.
- Average Order Value (AOV) across all Google campaigns: $161.99.
These weren’t vanity metrics—they were real results. On a combined spend of roughly $22,000 across Meta and Google, the client brought in over $400,000 in tracked revenue.
Conclusion
Paton Digital’s full-funnel paid media strategy turned the client’s ad accounts into revenue engines. Whether it was capturing bottom-funnel brand traffic or converting cold audiences through Facebook, our approach delivered a true omnichannel impact.
If you’re ready to transform your paid media from a cost center into a revenue generator, let’s talk.