Google Demand Gen statics before Christmas: ROAS 1.18, 94.8% new
Commentary byROASArchiveOur analysis, not theirs@runtraffic ran Google Demand Gen before Christmas, with static image ads taking most of the spend, and reports a ROAS of 1.18 with 94.8% of buyers new to the brand, per a Northbeam table.
The ROAS is modest, but nearly every sale was a new customer.
- ROAS: 1.18 across all Demand Gen spend, as measured by Northbeam. Low on first purchase, and likely below break-even for many brands.
- New customers: 94.8%. Almost all buyers were new, which is the strength here.
- Conversions and the exact date range: not shared.
The change
Before
Any earlier Demand Gen setup or results are not shared.
After
Demand Gen campaigns ran in the run-up to Christmas, with static image ads taking the majority of spend.
Our reading: why it likely worked
Our interpretation, not the advertiser's claim.
- Demand Gen shows ads on YouTube, Discover and Gmail to people not searching for you, so it finds new buyers but at lower first-order returns.
- The value depends on what those new customers buy later. A 1.18 ROAS can work if repeat purchases are strong.
- Pre-Christmas demand likely helped, so the same setup may do worse in a quiet month.
Caveats: Self-reported campaign result on one ecommerce account in a seasonal window, with no control. The ROAS and new-customer share come from Northbeam, a third-party attribution tool, and cover all Demand Gen spend, not statics alone. Conversions, the date range and attribution window are not shared.
How to run this in your account
- Hypothesis
- If we run static ads in Demand Gen before a peak season, then we'll win new customers at an acceptable ROAS because buyers are already in a shopping mood.
- Primary metric
- New-customer ROAS
- Guardrails
- % new customers
- Blended MER
- Repeat purchase rate
- Who should try it
- Ecommerce brands with good repeat purchase or lifetime value going into a peak season. It may not pay if you need profit on the first order.
Questions
Does Google Demand Gen work with static images?
In this account, Demand Gen with statics taking most of the spend brought a 1.18 ROAS with 94.8% new customers before Christmas. Good for reach, modest on return.
Is Demand Gen good for new customers?
Here 94.8% of buyers were new. It looks better for finding new buyers than for first-order profit.