The Snug Rug Company X Accentuate Agency

• The internet is very noisy, especially for ecommerce brands like The Snug Rug Company during Black Friday.
• Driving traffic is hard
• When you’re a small business owner like Kara Walsh, learning Google is too time consuming and stressful.
• There’s so much to get right, and if you don’t it’s “dead money” 
• Some agencies outsource work, which dilutes the quality of communication and end result

• Ensure the website is ready for conversion success. Kara understood the importance of proof and building trust
• Set up eCommerce Google Ads the right way, from the start, launch, review and use data to drive decision making.
• We’re continuously reviewing and optimising your ads to improve the quality of your traffic
• Give it time. We recommend ad campaigns run for a minimum of 6 months so Google learns what a good lead looks like  
• Move your Black Friday offer to a time which reflects your customers’ search and buying behaviour. Don’t get lost in the noise

• Sales tripled during Black Friday - the best month since The Snug Rug Company began
• 10x conversion rate over a 6 month period
• There’s less stress and overwhelm. Kara can focus on what she does best - sales and marketing
• Now it’s about economies of scale. It’s a straightforward calculation to see if increasing ad spend makes it worthwhile. Accentuate’s management fee stays the same, regardless of how many sales you make

1. The internet is very noisy and driving traffic is hard

Kara set up The Snug Rug Company because she loved the Momomi Japanonese rug and wanted to share it with other families and bring it to the UK market. As an ecommerce company, traffic would be critical to success.  Kara said:

"It’s the easiest time in modern history to set up a business for a relatively low spend, but it’s as if everyone is saying ‘hello, look at me! Come to my website.The internet is very noisy and trying to drive traffic is really hard. It also has to be the right kind of traffic - people who are going to buy my rugs.” 

2. Learning Google is time consuming and stressful

Before starting The Snug Rug Company, Kara ran another company selling middle market children’s shoes in Asia. Kara was doing everything herself, including SEO, Google Ads and Meta. She didn’t want to do it all this time.  Kara said:

“I felt nervous when I started The Snug Rug Company because I knew it wasn’t simple. As a small business owner, learning Google is incredibly time consuming and it constantly changes. You really have to know what you’re doing to maximise the value. You can spend money thinking “I’m spending so it must be working”, but really it’s not converting. And there are so many different Google accounts: Ads, Marketplace, Shopping, Business, Analytics… You need to understand them all and they all need to be connected on the backend. You also need to make sure your products, listings and ads are all approved. It just takes one thing that doesn’t connect properly and suddenly your products aren’t approved. Then it’s completely wasted, dead money. It’s stressful and I don’t have time for that. I need to focus on sales and marketing.”

3. Outsourced work doesn’t cut it

Kara had also previously worked with marketing agencies, but hadn’t had a great experience.  Kara said:

“When you’re a tiny business and go to a really big firm, you’re swallowed up. You’re charged a lot of money and you don’t have that communicational connection. Some agencies will also outsource the work. I didn’t want that. In my experience, the moment someone outsources, it dilutes everything. The product you get in the end isn’t as strong. I really wanted a tight line of communication. I needed a team who cared about my business and really understood the data and how to drive the right traffic.” 

That’s where we came in. 

1. Ensure the website is ready for conversion success

Kara was passionate about her business, knew her product and margins and had a solid business strategy for scale and growth.

She also understood the nature of conversion. We drive traffic to her website, but in order to convert the lead, people need to trust your business and brand. 

Kara said:

“It’s my job to convert sales. I know potential customers are comparing products, looking at reviews and checking my company information. The Snug Rug Company brand and information is consistent across the website, social media, Google profile and Companies House.  I need to give them confidence and the understanding of what the product is and who I am. Accentuate can drive traffic, but without trust it doesn’t work."

2. Set up Google Ads the correct way, from the start

The first step was to set up conversion tracking and the structure and strategy of the ads. 

Shopping Ads - where most ecommerce brands want to be - are set up in the Google Merchant Centre account.

The Merchant Centre account had to be connected with The Snug Rug Website to pull through the products to the search results, which takes 24-48 hours.  We then manually check that all product listings are compliant, i.e. they have names, the picture is of good quality, there’s a price and they include all the attributing factors - colour, size etc. Most items have to have an EAN number too.  

Getting this right is critical. If information is missing, the product/ad won’t be approved and won’t show up in Google Ads. 

3. Launch, review and use data to drive decisions

Once the Google Ads have launched, we don’t just leave them. It’s not a “one and done” situation. There’s a strategy and plan. We’re continuously reviewing the data and refining the keywords so the quality of the traffic improves and the right people are coming to The Snug Rug website.

That’s the beauty of Google. It collects the data to show you if your assumptions about search behaviour are correct. Kara said:

“I might think “yes, my customers are definitely searching for a particular keyword when they’re not. They’re searching for others instead. The Accentuate team is analysing and reviewing hundreds and hundreds of keywords so I don’t have to.”

The data drives our decisions.

We’re often looking for low-hanging fruit - keywords which cost less to rank, but will generate as much volume.

We’re also looking at seasonality in searches so we can advise you on when to maintain and increase spend.

4. Give it time. (It’s worth it)

Pay Per Click isn’t a magic bullet or an overnight miracle.

We recommend Google Ad campaigns run for a minimum of 6 months for the best chance of success. It gives Google time to learn what’s a good lead for you and you should start seeing positive results.

That’s what happened with The Snug Rug Company. *If you’re not making money by the end of 6 months, it’s time to call it. It could be that your product isn’t currently suitable for Google Ads or your profit margins aren’t big enough to make it worthwhile against the spend.

Your audience might be too niche or local so not enough people are searching for what you do.

5. Move your Black Friday offers to reflect your buyers typical behaviour

Kara understood when people usually bought her products - payday weekends. Black Friday is the only time The Snug Rug Company offers discounts and Kara wanted to maximise sales. However, she didn’t want to get lost amongst other Black Friday offers so she moved hers to the start of November instead. The budget increase was managed in a very controlled way. We increased the ad budget a couple of days before the promotion to “warm up” Google and ensure that the best quality traffic was being sent to The Snug Rug Company website when it mattered most.

1. Sales tripled during Black Friday

The increase in ad budget worked and traffic surged on the Black Friday promo day. The Snug Rug Company tripled its sales - its biggest month yet. Kara said:

“It was everything I’d hoped for. It was a really successful Black Friday.” 

2. 10x conversion rate in 6 months

The Google Ad campaign started in May 2024 and conversions were 10 times higher in December 2024. 

Conversions doubled from September to December, reflecting the seasonal spending and the quality of traffic now going to The Snug Rug Company website.

3. Less stress and overwhelm for Kara

We understand it so Kara doesn’t have to. She can concentrate on what she does best.  Kara said:

“Accentuate are special because they make something that’s very complicated understandable and do it really well. Their communication is excellent.”

4. Now it’s about economies of scale

Kara is now in a position to benefit from economies of scale. 

She has been able to increase her profit margin quite significantly and, thanks to the data-driven decision making, focuses on the best selling rugs.  ROAS is £7.70. She knows the rate of return and cost of sale. Google is sending more of the right traffic to the website and our Accentuate management fee stays the same. 

It’s no longer guesswork. Kara can make a straightforward calculation and decide whether increasing her ad spend is worth it.  The more sales she makes, the money she makes.