E-commerce marketing: every channel, one set of numbers

An e-commerce agency has to do the maths, not just the ads

We are a performance agency in Aarhus, Denmark, and e-commerce is the core of what we do. As a Shopify marketing agency, we run Meta Ads, Google Ads, TikTok Ads, email marketing in Klaviyo and tracking as one setup, steered by blended ROAS and contribution margin rather than each channel's own numbers. For By Doodle Dog, a design and pets webshop, we have worked since March 2024, taken over all marketing and opened Sweden as a new market.

So we do not look at Meta on its own and Google on its own. We look at what the brand got back from every unit of ad spend across all channels, and at what was left once the product, the shipping and the ads were paid for.

The channels have to hand the customer on to each other

Many customers first meet a brand in a feed. Later they search for the product or for your name, and they buy once price, delivery and trust are in place. If they are happy, they buy again, and that is often where the profit is. The first order has to pay for the ad. The second does not.

So each channel has its own job. Meta and TikTok find customers who do not know you yet. Google catches the ones already searching. Email brings the customer back without a new ad. The channels should not compete for the same customer.

The order decides whether the growth can last

A classic mistake is to turn up the ads before the numbers are right. Then you scale the mistakes too. At By Doodle Dog we started with a financial overview, tracking and processes, and only then took over all marketing.

The order is not sacred. A brand with strong search demand can start on Google, and a brand with a new product nobody searches for yet starts on Meta. But tracking always comes first, because everything else is built on it.

Three numbers tell you whether marketing makes the shop money

Each ad platform shows its own ROAS, and they happily count the same sale twice. A purchase that started with a Meta ad and ended with a Google search can sit in both accounts. So we steer by numbers that come from the shop itself.

Blended ROAS tells you whether marketing pays for itself overall. Contribution margin tells you how high that ROAS has to be before it does. Repeat purchase tells you how much you can afford to pay for the first order. At By Doodle Dog we introduced POAS optimisation, so the budget follows profit, not just revenue.

By Doodle Dog grew in two markets with a small team

By Doodle Dog had a strong product and loyal customers, but the advertising was scattered, inventory was managed by hand and cash flow was tight. We stabilised the foundation, then took over all marketing as outsourced CMO and e-commerce manager.

Behind the numbers is one channel strategy, where Advantage+ prospecting on Meta and feed-driven Google Shopping work together across the customer journey. Google Ads delivered 91% more conversions year on year across the two markets, and Sweden was profitable by the second month.

Operations came with it: an app for purchasing and inventory with proactive reorders, customer service with a returns flow, and email flows in Klaviyo in both markets. Marketing that sells more than the stock can keep up with is not growth. It is just another fire to put out. Read the whole By Doodle Dog case.

Each channel needs its own craft

The two articles below cover the channels where most e-commerce budgets are won or lost: Google Shopping and Performance Max, and email in Klaviyo. How we build them, what we measure them on, and when they should wait. The other channels are on our service pages for Meta Ads, TikTok Ads and Tracking & Data.

• Google AdsEcommerce Google Ads agency. Shopping and Performance Max, bid by margin.Google is where the customer is already looking for what you sell. The fight is won in the product feed and in the margin, not in the bid strategy. At By Doodle Dog it runs in two markets.
• Email MarketingKlaviyo agency for Shopify brands. Flows that win the second order.The first order costs ad spend. The next one does not have to. This is how we build flows and campaigns in Klaviyo that turn one-time buyers into regular customers.

If you sell in a particular niche, two niches have their own English page, each built on our own case: marketing for beauty and skincare brands and marketing for food and beverage brands.

Graphics and automations come with it, and we build on Shopify

The ads are only as good as the shop they send traffic to. So we also work in the shop itself, and only on Shopify. If you need a new one, we build websites and webshops on Shopify, and a Shopify webshop takes 3 to 6 weeks on average. If your shop is on another platform, we move it with a Shopify migration, where every old URL is mapped before anything moves. In a performance partnership, the work in the Shopify shop is part of the deal. Shopify Unlimited is for brands that only want the tasks in an existing Shopify shop done, at 48 hours per task on average.

We do not sell design, video or automations on their own. They come with a performance partnership, because a test should not wait for a design. We are paid on results, and our fee follows your revenue. Read more about graphic design for the ads.