# Marketing for Ecommerce Businesses

Source: https://dijitulmarketing.co.uk/marketing-for-ecommerce/
Updated: 2026-10-18

> dijitul marketing runs Google Shopping and Performance Max, Meta ads and Klaviyo email flows for UK online shops. We fix the product feed, tracking and consent first, then build campaigns around margin rather than revenue. Google Ads management starts from £150 a month + VAT plus ad spend, and email marketing from £95 a month + VAT.

Price: From £150 a month + VAT

## Problems this solves

- Performance Max spends most of the budget on a handful of bestsellers and branded searches
- Merchant Center keeps disapproving products for price or availability mismatches
- Google Ads and GA4 report different revenue and nobody trusts either number
- Your email list is growing but abandoned basket and post-purchase emails were never switched on
- Meta ads worked in 2023 and now cost twice as much per sale
- Sale messaging shows a 'was' price nobody can evidence

## Key facts

- Google Ads management from £150 a month + VAT, or 10 to 15% of ad spend if higher; ad spend is paid to Google
- Email marketing from £95 a month + VAT; automation flow set-up from £195 + VAT one-off
- Shopping and Performance Max both depend on a Google Merchant Center feed with accurate price, availability and GTIN data
- Since 6 April 2025 the CMA can fine businesses directly under the DMCC Act for drip pricing and fake reviews
- Google required Consent Mode v2 for advertisers using UK and EEA traffic from March 2024
- Gmail and Yahoo treat domains sending more than 5,000 messages a day to them as bulk senders, with SPF, DKIM and DMARC required
- Monthly, cancel with notice; no long contracts

## Start with the feed, not the ads

For an online shop, the product feed is the advert. Google Shopping and the shopping placements inside Performance Max are built from the data in Google Merchant Center: title, image, price, availability, brand, GTIN and product type. If those fields are thin or wrong, no bidding strategy will save the campaign.

Our first job on any ecommerce account is a feed audit. We look for disapproved and limited items, missing GTINs, titles that leave out the words people search for (size, colour, material, model number), and price or availability that does not match the landing page. Then we add custom labels so the account can be split by margin, price band, season or stock depth. Those labels are what let you put more money behind a 60% margin product than a 15% one.

- **Titles:** lead with brand, product type and the key attribute, not the internal SKU name.
- **Images:** clean product shots on a plain background for the main image; lifestyle images as additional images.
- **Custom labels:** margin band, bestseller flag, clearance, seasonal range.

## Shopping, Performance Max and Search: how we structure them

Most shops end up with a mix. Standard Shopping gives the most control and clearer search term data. Performance Max adds YouTube, Display, Discover and Gmail inventory and often finds extra sales, but it needs firm boundaries. Since 2025 Google has allowed campaign-level negative keywords in Performance Max, up to 10,000 per campaign, which makes it easier to stop it living off your own brand searches.

A typical structure we build:

- A brand Search campaign, so brand clicks are cheap and visible on their own.
- Performance Max split by margin label, each with its own target ROAS.
- A Standard Shopping campaign for products that need tighter control or are being tested.
- Non-brand Search for high-intent category terms where Shopping cannot show.

Bidding moves from Maximise Conversion Value to Target ROAS once each campaign has enough purchase data. We never promise a ROAS figure; we agree a target with you based on your margins and then report honestly against it. Full detail is on our Google Shopping ads and Performance Max pages.

## Email and SMS: the cheapest sales you will make

Paid traffic gets the first order. Email gets the second, third and fourth. For most shops on Shopify, WooCommerce or BigCommerce we recommend Klaviyo, because it reads browsing and order data directly and segments on it. Mailchimp or Brevo can work for smaller catalogues.

The flows we set up first, in this order:

- **Welcome series** for new subscribers, with the signup offer if you use one.
- **Abandoned cart**, usually two or three messages over 48 hours.
- **Browse abandonment** for known visitors who viewed a product but did not add it.
- **Post-purchase**: delivery expectations, care instructions, review request, cross-sell.
- **Win-back** for customers who have not ordered in a set period.

Under PECR you can email existing customers about similar products using the soft opt-in, provided you gave them a clear chance to opt out when you collected the address and in every message. Anyone else needs consent. If you send more than 5,000 messages a day to Gmail or Yahoo addresses, both providers require SPF, DKIM and DMARC on your sending domain and a one-click unsubscribe. Email marketing is from £95 a month + VAT and flow set-up is £195 + VAT one-off.

## Pricing claims and reviews: the 2025 rules

The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 gave the CMA direct fining powers from 6 April 2025. Two areas matter for shop advertising. First, drip pricing: if a fee is unavoidable, it belongs in the headline price, and law firms advising on the Act note that character limits in digital ads are not generally a reason to leave it out. Second, fake reviews: buying, writing or selectively hiding reviews is now banned outright.

In practice that means sale prices in ads and on site need a genuine reference price, mandatory charges need to be in the price we feed to Google, and any review widget or seller rating must be fed from a source that collects reviews honestly. We check these as part of the account set-up rather than waiting for a disapproval or complaint.

## Tracking you can actually trust

Ecommerce reporting goes wrong in predictable ways: the purchase tag fires twice on refresh, PayPal returns are counted as referrals, or GA4 is set up but the Google Ads conversion is still the old one. We set up the GA4 purchase event with value, transaction ID and items, import or link conversions properly in Google Ads, and add Meta's Conversions API so Facebook and Instagram ads are not relying on the browser pixel alone. Consent Mode v2 is configured with your cookie banner so the ad platforms receive the correct consent signals. Conversion tracking set-up is £145 + VAT one-off, and a Looker Studio dashboard that puts Google, Meta and email revenue side by side is also £145 + VAT one-off.

## What you get

- Merchant Center and feed audit with a prioritised fix list (titles, GTINs, product types, custom labels)
- Shopping, Performance Max and Search campaigns split by margin band using custom labels
- Conversion tracking with purchase value, Consent Mode v2 and Meta Conversions API
- Klaviyo or Mailchimp flows: welcome, abandoned cart, browse abandonment, post-purchase and win-back
- Monthly report showing spend, revenue, cost per order and new versus returning customers
- A written test plan for product page and checkout improvements

## FAQs

### How much ad spend does a small online shop need?

There is no fixed minimum, but Shopping and Performance Max need enough conversions each month to learn. As a rough guide, a budget that buys only a handful of sales a month will be slow to optimise. We look at your average order value and margin and suggest a starting budget before you commit. Ad spend is paid directly to Google, separate from our fee.

### Should we use Performance Max or Standard Shopping?

Usually both. Performance Max can reach more placements and often finds extra sales, while Standard Shopping gives tighter control and clearer search term data. We split products by margin and use each campaign type where it does the best job, then move budget based on results.

### Klaviyo or Mailchimp for our shop?

For Shopify and most growing shops, Klaviyo, because it segments on browsing and purchase data out of the box. Mailchimp is fine for a small catalogue and a simple newsletter. Both have free plans limited to 250 contacts and around 500 sends a month. Our Klaviyo vs Mailchimp comparison goes into detail.

### Do you run Meta ads for shops as well?

Yes. Paid social on Facebook and Instagram is from £150 a month + VAT plus ad spend. For shops we usually run catalogue ads from your product feed, a prospecting campaign and retargeting, with the Conversions API in place so purchases are reported accurately.

### Can you guarantee a return on ad spend?

No, and you should be wary of anyone who does. Results depend on your prices, margins, stock, site and competition. We agree a realistic target with you, set the campaigns up to work towards it and report against it honestly every month.

### Do we have to sign a long contract?

No. Our management is monthly and you can cancel with notice. You keep ownership of your Google Ads, Merchant Center, Meta and email accounts throughout, so nothing is lost if you leave.

## Prices and contact

Prices (all from, + VAT; ad spend separate): Google Ads management £150 a month; Paid social (Meta, LinkedIn, TikTok) £150 a month; Social media management £125 a month; Email marketing £95 a month; Marketing automation set-up £195; SMS marketing £75 a month; GA4 set-up £95; Conversion tracking £145; Data Studio (Looker Studio) dashboard £145; Conversion rate optimisation £195 a month; Content marketing £195 a month; Consultancy, audits and strategy £45 an hour. All prices are "from" and exclude VAT. Ad spend is separate and paid directly to Google, Microsoft, Meta, LinkedIn or TikTok. Paid media management is from £150 a month or 10 to 15% of ad spend, whichever is higher. You own every ad account, pixel, audience and email list we set up. Contact: https://dijitulmarketing.co.uk/contact/ · 01623 650333 · info@dijitul.uk