The Client
Kava.com is an online store selling kava, the traditional Pacific Island root drink, to customers across the USA. We have run their Google Ads since June 2023, growing monthly ad revenue from $2,494 to a best month of $34,427, with $704,725 in tracked revenue at a 4.5x return.
$2,494 in ad revenue in July 2023. $34,427 in August 2025.
The Challenge
Google Ads for kava and other wellness products has its own traps:
- A tiny, specialized market. Kava search volume is small, so the account can't buy its way out of waste.
- Curious searchers. Many kava searches come from people asking what it is or how it feels, not people ready to order.
- Price-sensitive reorders. Regular drinkers compare prices, so the ads have to win repeat customers, not just first-timers.
- A catalog with winners and laggards. Treating every product the same lets slow sellers drain the budget.
What We Built
1. Products Split by Performance
We split the catalog into three Performance Max campaigns: best sellers, potential winners and slow sellers, each with its own budget. The best-seller campaign alone produced $199,944 in revenue on $36,776, a 5.4x return.
2. Shopping That Keeps Selling
A standard Shopping campaign has run the whole time as a steady source of orders, with its own product groups and bids.
3. Remarketing and Cart Recovery
In 2025 we added Performance Max remarketing for past buyers and a dedicated cart-abandonment campaign. The cart campaign produced 491 orders on $4,707 of spend.
4. One Tight Search Campaign
In mid-2025 the Search side was rebuilt as one conversion-focused campaign, with a live ad copy test running beside it.
5. Daily Optimization via Ad Campaign Concierge™
Every campaign is reviewed daily through our proprietary Ad Campaign Concierge™ system: search-term cleanup against curiosity queries, budget moved toward the products that are selling, and bid adjustments by product tier.
The Results
- 2023 (June to December): $30,011 in ad revenue
- 2024: $246,241 in ad revenue at a 5.0x return, eight times the June to December 2023 total
- 2025: $283,079 in ad revenue at a 5.0x return
- Monthly ad revenue: from $2,494 in July 2023 to $16,479 in December 2023, past $25,000 by August 2024, and $34,427 in August 2025
Cheaper Orders as the Account Grew
In our first three months, an order cost $49 in ad spend. In 2025 it cost $15, across 3,774 orders.
Every Dollar Since We Started
$704,725 in tracked revenue and 9,381 orders since June 2023, on $155,744 in ad spend.
Key Takeaways
- Split the catalog by what sells. Best sellers, potential winners and slow sellers need different budgets.
- Win the reorder. Remarketing and cart recovery are cheap orders in a category people buy again and again.
- Filter out curiosity. In a small market, search terms from people who only want to learn about kava are the biggest waste.
- Specialty beverage Google Ads is a long game. Ad revenue grew eightfold from our first seven months to our first full year, then kept climbing.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much should a specialty beverage brand spend on Google Ads?
Kava.com spent $155,744 from June 2023 to September 2026, about $4,000 a month, and earned $704,725 in tracked ad revenue, a 4.5x return.
What return can a kava or wellness store expect from Google Ads?
Kava.com returned $4.96 per dollar in 2024 and $4.98 per dollar in 2025. Over the last 12 months to September 2026 it returned $4.39 per dollar.
Should an online store split products into separate Performance Max campaigns?
It worked here. The best-seller campaign returned $199,944 on $36,776 of spend, a 5.4x return, while the mid-tier and slow-seller campaigns each ran on their own budgets at 4.9x and 4.3x.
How much does an order cost from Google Ads?
In our first three months, an order cost $49 in ad spend. In 2025 it cost $15, across 3,774 orders.
About This Campaign
This account is managed daily through Ad Campaign Concierge™, our proprietary optimization system for e-commerce.
Industry: Specialty Beverage E-Commerce Platforms: Google Ads (Search, Performance Max, Shopping) Location: USA (online store) Account Duration: June 2023 to present (ongoing)
Revenue is website purchase conversion value tracked in Google Ads (the GA4 purchase action from June to September 2023, the website purchase action since). A second, duplicate purchase upload added in 2026 is excluded. Amounts in US dollars.