CASE STUDY: Boosting Sales for an Online Cigarette Store in Canada Using Google Ads
Category
Google Ads Case Study
Market
Canada Tobacco eCommerce
Role
PPC Strategy, CPC Optimization, CRO
Timeline
Background: The Client & Their Challenge
A Canadian online tobacco retailer was facing declining ROI on Google Ads due to strict advertising regulations, weak Quality Scores, and landing pages that were not optimized for purchases.
Main challenges:
- ❌ High Cost per Click (CPC) due to competition and ad policy restrictions
- ❌ Low ad relevance resulting in poor Quality Scores
- ❌ Decreasing conversion rates as landing pages were not optimized for purchases
- ❌ Compliance issues causing ad disapprovals
They needed a Google Ads strategy that could:
Sales Growth
Increase sales while reducing CPC
CPC Reduction
Improve ad relevance and Quality Scores
Compliance
Stay compliant with Canadian tobacco advertising laws
The Challenges – Why Their Ads Weren’t Performing
- 🔹 Limited targeting options: Google restricted direct tobacco-related audience targeting
- 🔹 Ad approval issues: many ad copies were rejected for violating policies
- 🔹 High competition: major brands dominated bidding on high-intent keywords
- 🔹 Landing page inefficiencies: high bounce rates due to unclear CTAs
⏳ We had 60 days to improve their ad performance and sales!
Our Google Ads Strategy for Online Tobacco Sales
We implemented a 3-step approach to optimize their Google Ads performance:- ✅ Used policy-compliant language to avoid disapprovals
- ✅ Implemented high-intent keywords such as “buy cigarettes online Canada”
- ✅ Excluded restricted terms that triggered ad disapprovals
- ✅ Shifted to Target ROAS bidding
- ✅ Lowered CPC by 19% by refining negative keyword lists
- ✅ Focused on long-tail keywords to reduce competition
- ✅ Improved CTA buttons and simplified checkout process
- ✅ Added trust signals such as secure checkout, customer reviews, and delivery guarantees
- ✅ Reduced bounce rate by 21% by optimizing mobile experience
Results After 60 Days
📊 Key Metrics Before vs. After Our Optimization
| Metric | Before | After | Improvement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sales Revenue | $48,500 | $65,475 | 🔼 35% |
| Cost per Click (CPC) | $2.30 | $1.86 | 🔻 19% |
| Conversion Rate | 3.2% | 4.5% | 🔼 41% |
| ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) | 2.5x | 3.8x | 🔼 52% |
- ✅ Sales increased by 35%
- ✅ CPC reduced by 19%
- ✅ Higher click-through rate and better ROI
Sales Increased by 35%
CPC Reduced by 19%
ROAS Improved by 52%
Want to Increase Your Online Sales for Cigarettes & Tobacco?
If you run an online tobacco store in Canada and struggle with Google Ads performance, we can help.
We specialize in compliance-friendly ad strategies that reduce ad costs while driving more conversions.