Revenue up 175% on Google Ads
A loyal customer base and high repeat purchase, but Google kept spending on the wrong products. Revenue up 175% year on year, with ROAS up 28% at the same time.
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Google Ads: great products, but spend on the wrong ones
The Skinny Food Co had high repeat purchase rates and a loyal customer base, but Google wasn't delivering consistent, profitable sales. A lot of spend was going to third-party products. They were easy to sell, but the margin was low compared to Skinny's own range. The catalogue was also running on titles and descriptions pulled straight from the store with no tested structure.
Own range first, then bid on margin
The first step was prioritising Skinny's in-house products. Then we rebuilt the account so budget followed profit, and simplified Search to focus on new customers.
Own range first
We moved budget from third-party products to Skinny's in-house range, with custom labels by margin so Google bid harder on the products that make money.
Optimised titles
Moved the catalogue into a feed tool, optimised the titles and descriptions, then tested them properly.
A simpler structure
Search rebuilt around categories and third-party brands, with customer lists used to weight towards new customers.
Incrementality testing
Used geo holdout incrementality testing to measure the incremental uplift of branded search across different tactics.
More spend, better returns
Spend went up 114% and revenue went up 175%, so ROAS improved 28% while the account scaled. Google is now a profitable channel across the UK and Europe.
What drove the improvement
Fix where the money goes
- Prioritised in-house products over low-margin third-party ones.
- Margin-based bidding on Shopping using custom labels.
- Feed moved into a management tool, with optimised titles and descriptions.
Simplify Search
- Tested a simpler structure built on categories and third-party brands.
- Customer lists used to push harder on new customers.
Test brand
- Ran geo holdout incrementality tests on branded search.
- Measured the incremental uplift across different tactics.
Meta Ads: £1m+ spent finding new customers
We ran Meta end to end for Skinny: creative strategy, finding creators, writing scripts, briefing statics and buying the media. The goal was new customers, in a category where every feed is full of discounts and the average order is small.
Ad sets split by motivation
New ads went into ABO, new customers only, with email lists and site visitors excluded. Ad sets were split by product and angle, and every ad got 4 to 6 times target CPA before we judged it.
Winners moved by post ID
Proven ads moved into Advantage+ Shopping by post ID on around 20% of spend, and a reach campaign put the best ones in front of more people on around 10%. Once the hit rate held, testing moved to CBO in late 2024.
The business before the dashboard
No pausing ads after one bad day. When numbers dipped, the first check was the business: a promo running, stock low, conversion rate moving. Ads sent people to collection pages, so they kept running when single products sold out.
Creative strategy: products first, then people
Skinny had over 600 products. We picked the few worth advertising from two years of Shopify data, margin, repeat rate and search demand: coffee syrup bundles, barista shots, sauce bundles and low-calorie pasta. Then we went looking for how real customers talk about them.
Listen before you write
YouTube reviews and their comments, Reddit, Mumsnet, ad comments and Google search terms. People kept saying "cheat day", so it became an angle: reimagine your cheat day, with sauce poured over cake.
Three reasons people buy
Guilt-free treats, managing weight and cutting sugar. Each one got its own hooks, statics and ad sets, so spend showed us which was pulling hardest. Ads about what you get to enjoy beat ads about what you give up.
New ads every month
5 to 10 UGC videos and around 30 statics a month, all briefed and scripted by us. Every video got 3 to 5 hooks on the same body. Creators started on tight scripts and earned looser briefs once they showed they could deliver.
The angles that won
We kept the creative deliberately different: street vlogs, reviews, product shots, skits, motion graphics and split screens. Variety gives Meta more to work with. Here are six that won.
The coffee shop swap
Filmed outside Costa, phone in hand. Flavoured syrup adds calories to every drink, so the ad shows sugar-free syrup pods that go in your bag, at around 7p a serving.
Tastes like the real thing
One creator, straight to camera, product in hand. Goes at the belief that diet food tastes like cardboard, using a zero-calorie maple syrup.
Three reasons to try
No face at all. The syrup range lined up on tiles with a three-point list over the top, so the product does all the talking.
The late-night fridge raid
A scene, not a review. It opens on a moment everyone knows: standing at the fridge, looking for something sweet.
The guilt-free POV
Text-led and built in the edit, no creator. A POV caption written for people losing weight, with the chocolate range on screen.
Diet food vs this
Two halves of one screen: the miserable diet version on one side, the Skinny version on the other. The contrast lands before anyone speaks.
“It's been great to work with Vida, they're very knowledgeable and this is advantageous when looking to scale your business. Anything PPC/SEO/Ads etc then it's definitely worth a conversation.”
James Whiting, Co-Founder, The Skinny Food CoBook a call
Pick a time below. 30 minutes, no pitch deck, and you'll leave with a clear view of where your Google Ads budget is going.
We look at your account together: feed, structure, campaign setup and margin data. We tell you what we find whether you work with us or not.
A written brief covering what we found, what we'd change and what the opportunity looks like.
If there's a fit, campaigns go live within 7 days of signing. There's no lock-in and no setup fee.
