The Challenge

The dealer was alternating between branding and offer campaigns, toggling one off to run the other. The result was a fragmented strategy where branding never had enough runway to build meaningful audiences, and offers were landing cold on people who didn't know the brand yet.

The Shift

We moved to a dedicated, always-on branding campaign running alongside offers instead of competing with them. Branding now runs 24/7 to identify and tag new households, while a separate offer campaign closes the loop with people who've already been introduced to the brand.

The Results

Retargeting share exploded.

February (Toggled): 2.7% of total spend on retargeting - $86.95 total, $3.11/day

March (Always-On): 11.3% of total spend on retargeting - $123.34 in two weeks, $8.22/day

The retargeting ad group is now 4x more active because the branding campaign is feeding it a constant stream of new households.

- Higher-quality reach. February's static approach hit the same people with deals repeatedly. March's branding campaign is optimized for reach, specifically finding households that haven't seen the brand yet.

- No more cold offers. Instead of showing a deal to someone who's never heard of the dealer, the branding campaign warms them up first.

- Stable efficiency. CPM held steady at $12, even with much more sophisticated retargeting. More precision without a premium price tag.

Why It Worked

Running branding continuously let the platform's algorithm focus on a single goal: finding unique households most likely to respond. No more splitting attention between conflicting campaign objectives. The branding campaign became a lead generator for offers, consistently filling the retargeting pool with warm prospects.

Bottom Line

The data proves the model. By running branding all month, we quadrupled the share of budget going toward following up with interested households. Every branding impression now feeds directly into a measurable retargeting pipeline, turning awareness into action.