The Client
Cardinal Bag Supplies is a security bag manufacturer in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, and we run their Google Ads, which grew yearly online revenue from the ads from $167,940 before us to $283,988 in 2025. They make locking and tamper-evident bags in the USA for banks, couriers, pharmacies, hospitals and government offices: bank deposit bags, locking document and courier bags, HIPAA-compliant medication bags and fire-resistant bags.
We took over their Google Ads in May 2022 from a previous agency.
$167,940 in 2021, before us. $283,988 in 2025.
The Challenge
Google Ads for security bags is a small market where every click has to count:
- Low search volume. "Locking bank bag" or "HIPAA medication bag" gets a fraction of the searches a consumer product does, so wasted impressions are expensive.
- Look-alike searches. "Bag" pulls in purses, luggage, backpacks, laptop bags and battery bags that Cardinal does not sell.
- Bulk business buyers. Banks, couriers and medical facilities order in quantity, so one good click can be worth hundreds of dollars and one bad month of tracking hides it.
- An inherited account. The previous agency left a negative keyword list that needed a full clean-up and a structure built around old Shopping campaigns.
What We Built
1. Performance Max as the Main Engine
We rebuilt the account around a Performance Max campaign fed by the full product catalog. It is the largest source of sales in the account: $385,227 in revenue on $54,269 of spend. Dedicated Performance Max campaigns for locking bags and medication bags followed.
2. A Brand Campaign That Protects the Name
A brand Search campaign keeps competitors off searches for Cardinal by name. It produced $304,929 in revenue on $7,982 of spend.
3. Search and Constant A/B Tests
Search campaigns cover mail bags, fire-resistant bags, medication bags and heavy-duty locking bags, and every major campaign runs with an A/B test beside it: dynamic search against keyword search, manual bidding against smart bidding. Winners stay and losers are paused.
4. Negative Keyword Clean-Up
We cleaned up the negative keywords left by the previous agency, then built shared lists against purses, luggage, backpacks, laptop and battery bags, while product words like locking, bank, courier, deposit and medication are protected from ever being blocked.
5. Daily Optimization via Ad Campaign Concierge™
Every campaign is reviewed daily through our proprietary Ad Campaign Concierge™ system: search-term mining, bid and budget adjustments, and budget moved toward the bag types that sell.
The Results
- 2021 (before us): $167,940
- 2022: $85,665 from May to December, our first eight months
- 2023: $202,450
- 2024: $231,187
- 2025: $283,988, 69% more than the last full year before us
- 2026 so far: $144,051 from January to September
What Improved
| Metric | 2021 (before us) | 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue from Google Ads | $167,940 | $283,988 | +69% |
| Average order | $330 | $776 | 2.4x |
| Revenue per $1 of ad spend | $8.48 | $9.26 | +9% |
| Revenue per click | $10.33 | $13.17 | +27% |
| Ad clicks | 16,259 | 21,560 | +33% |
| Click-through rate | 0.93% | 1.20% | +29% |
And against our own start, the first 12 months with us (May 2022 to April 2023) compared with the latest 12 (October 2025 to September 2026):
| Metric | First 12 months | Latest 12 months | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ad revenue | $154,663 | $200,208 | +29% |
| Clicks that became orders | 1.40% | 2.13% | +52% |
| Average order | $464 | $583 | +26% |
| Revenue per $1 of ad spend | $5.87 | $7.52 | +28% |
| Click-through rate | 1.02% | 1.68% | +65% |
| Revenue per click | $6.52 | $12.43 | 1.9x |
The account now sells bigger orders from better clicks. Blocking look-alike searches lifted the click-through rate, and shifting budget toward bulk locking and bank bags pushed the average order from $330 before us to more than $500.
Every Sale Since the Takeover
$947,341 in ad revenue and 1,502 online orders since May 2022, at $8.00 back for every $1 of ad spend.
Key Takeaways
- A profitable account can still grow. Cardinal was already selling through Google Ads. A cleaner structure took yearly ad revenue 69% higher.
- Order value is a growth lever. The average order went from $330 before us to $776 in 2025, so every sale is worth more than twice as much.
- Protect your brand name. A small brand budget returned more than $38 for every $1 by keeping bulk buyers from clicking a competitor.
- In a look-alike category, negatives are the strategy. Blocking purses and luggage keeps the budget on banks and couriers.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much should a niche B2B e-commerce store spend on Google Ads?
Cardinal Bag Supplies spent about $2,200 a month on Google Ads over the last 12 months ($26,637 from October 2025 to September 2026). Those 12 months produced $200,208 in online revenue, about $7.52 back for every dollar spent.
Can Google Ads grow an account that was already profitable?
Yes. Before we took over in May 2022, the account produced $167,940 in revenue in 2021 at $8.48 back for every $1. Under our management it produced $202,450 in 2023, $231,187 in 2024 and $283,988 in 2025, 69% more than the year before us, at $9.26 back for every $1.
What happens to order value when a B2B store's Google Ads are rebuilt?
For Cardinal Bag Supplies it more than doubled. The average online order was $330 in 2021, before us, and $776 in 2025, because the campaigns shifted toward the bulk locking and bank bag orders that banks, couriers and medical facilities place.
Is Performance Max or Search better for security and locking bags?
Both, with different jobs. Our main Performance Max campaign produced $385,227 in revenue on $54,269 of spend and is the largest source of sales. The brand Search campaign added $304,929 on $7,982 of spend by keeping buyers who search for Cardinal by name.
About This Campaign
This account is managed daily through Ad Campaign Concierge™, our proprietary optimization system for e-commerce.
Industry: E-commerce: Security & Locking Bags Platforms: Google Ads (Performance Max, Search, Shopping) Location: Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, USA (ships nationwide) Account Duration: May 2022 to present (ongoing)
Revenue is online purchase value tracked in Google Ads (the store's purchase conversion; add to cart, calls and contact clicks are excluded). 2021 figures are from the same account before we took it over. Amounts in US dollars.