Do audience ads work?


How one freelancer saw a 70% uplift in performance with audience ads on Microsoft Advertising

Overview

Marko Klobucar is a PPC contractor based in Zagreb, Croatia, working to lower CPCs for a brick-and-mortar franchise. He has been part of the Diginius Agency Partner Program since February 2022 

The Challenge

Marko Klobucar, an experienced digital marketing contractor, was tasked with boosting lead generation for a large pet sales franchise in a highly competitive market. After more than a year of running Google Search campaigns, performance began to decline. Marko noted that relying solely on search ads over time leads to audience fatigue and reduced sales. 

To overcome this, he introduced Microsoft Audience Ads to reach new customers, attracted by their low cost-per-click and strong potential for engagement. As Marko put it, finding the most cost-effective way to drive traffic is key and paying just 20–30 cents per click was a clear win. 

The Solution

A client’s Search ads were fatigued, but they Needed to generate demand 

Hundreds of leads at a fraction of the CPC

After checking his tracking dashboard a week into the audience ad campaign, he was shocked. “When I first saw the numbers, I was like, jeez. I looked across the board and said: Oh, this is very good…” 

The results were almost immediate and absolutely impressive: 

  • Cost-per-clicks ranging from $0.20 to $0.45 in a tier-one market 
  • Over 150 calls per franchise in one month, many lasting 3–7 
  • minutes, indicating high purchase intent. 
  • 70% uplift in performance compared to expectations, with 
  • strong results across multiple franchise locations. 
  • Foot traffic to brick-and-mortar locations surged, especially 
  • from users exposed to remarketing and display ads 

Results

“When I first saw the numbers, I was like, jeez. I looked across the board and said:

Oh, this is very good…” 

Chester Yang

Chester Yang is the Microsoft Program Manager at Diginius with a background in economics and quantitative research.  

At Diginius, Chester focuses on nurturing partnerships with PPC agencies and integrating marketing and sales solutions.