Practical strategies for modern paid media: Lampenwelt’s Data-Driven approach

Ecommerce has had a wild ride over the past few years—think of it like an unexpected rollercoaster. We saw the dizzying heights during the pandemic, followed by the rapid decline as things shifted back offline. Now, companies like Lampenwelt, a key player in the lighting industry under the LUQOM GROUP, are figuring out how to steer their paid media strategies in this new reality. During a podcast episode of Growing Ecommerce, Stefan Huss, Head of Performance Marketing at Lampenwelt, shared some practical tips and strategies that any ecommerce leader can implement to navigate this tricky landscape.

From Boom to Bust: Realign your marketing strategy for resilience

As Stefan pointed out, the post-pandemic ecommerce world isn’t just a return to normal; it’s a whole new ballgame. When growth slowed, Lampenwelt took advantage of the downturn to make some structural changes:

• Shop system & ERP overhaul: They revamped their backend systems, including a major shift in their shop and ERP software. The downtime presented the perfect opportunity to clean house, streamline processes, and prepare for future growth.
• Preparing for the next wave: With a marketplace expansion on the horizon, the company is positioning itself for the next upswing in consumer demand. If your brand is experiencing slower growth, take the time now to make foundational improvements that could pay off when the market rebounds.

Key takeaway: Don’t just ride out the slump. Use it to your advantage. Restructure, refine, and set up for smoother operations so you’re ready to scale up when the market shifts again.

Understanding your customer journey: Go beyond basic attribution

Lamp bulbs aren’t exactly an impulse buy. With a customer lifetime value spread over long intervals, Lampenwelt faced unique challenges in understanding how their audience interacted across various channels. Stefan highlighted some strategies they implemented to improve insights and optimize spend:

• Adopt Multi-Touch attribution (MTA): Instead of relying on last-click attribution or Google Ads’ standard data-driven models, they moved to a custom multi-touch attribution approach. This helped them understand the role of various touchpoints in the customer journey. For instance, MTA revealed that while PMax often underperformed due to a lack of transparency, affiliate channels were being undervalued.
• Invest in Cross-Channel attribution: Lampenwelt worked on breaking down silos by integrating data from multiple platforms, like Google, Meta, and affiliates. This provided a clearer view of how each channel contributed to the final sale, helping them reallocate budget more effectively.

Pro tip: If you’re still relying on basic last-click models, it’s time to step up your game. The right attribution model can help you identify which channels are overspending and where there’s untapped potential.

Prepare for a cookieless future: Why Marketing Mix Modeling (MMM) matters

With third-party cookies on their way out, Lampenwelt turned to Marketing Mix Modeling (MMM) to get a holistic view of their marketing efforts. MMM isn’t about replacing MTA; it’s about complementing it to make sense of cross-channel impacts when cookies fail.

• MMM helps identify cross-channel effects: By leveraging historical data, they can measure the impact of different marketing channels even without granular user-level tracking. It’s especially useful for larger brands that run campaigns across multiple touchpoints.
• Use MMM to optimize budget allocation: When ad platforms continue to take more control (think PMax, Meta’s Advantage Plus), MMM gives you back some of the reins. It helps you allocate budgets based on actual cross-channel performance rather than just what Google Ads tells you.

Reality check: If you’re only using Google Ads’ built-in metrics, you’re missing out on the big picture. Start incorporating an MMM strategy to take your analysis beyond individual channels.

Integrating profit data: Aim for profit, not just ROAS

One major shift Lampenwelt made was integrating profit margins directly into their ad accounts. This isn’t just about optimizing for revenue but ensuring that every euro spent on ads delivers actual profit.

• Feed SKU-level profit data into ad platforms: By sending profit margins back into Google Ads via their attribution tool, Lampenwelt could switch from traditional ROAS targets to Profit on Ad Spend (POAS). This way, their campaigns optimized for the true bottom line.
• Maximize value by testing different bidding strategies: In their trials, they set POAS targets in some countries and tested maximized conversion value strategies in others to see which delivered more profit. The results? It’s still early days, but so far, the tests indicate better efficiency in attracting high-value customers.

Tip for your team: Think of ROAS as just one piece of the puzzle. By tracking profit directly, you can align your ad spend with the true value generated for the business.

We have published an in-depth article on the advantages of profit bidding optimization here.

Tackling Performance Max: Make it work for you

Let’s face it—Performance Max (PMax) is both a blessing and a curse. It’s highly automated, but with that automation comes a loss of visibility and control. Lampenwelt’s approach involved a bit of trust mixed with a lot of caution:

• Keep your campaigns consolidated: Instead of over-segmenting, they stuck with a few well-structured campaigns to ensure more data per campaign and more reliable machine learning outcomes. They grouped campaigns based on business logic, like seasonality (indoor vs. outdoor), rather than arbitrary divisions.
• Leverage additional attribution data for better control: Because PMax is notorious for obscuring which touchpoints contribute to conversions, Lampenwelt leaned heavily on their attribution model to cross-check Google’s data. They aimed to understand where PMax was potentially cannibalizing traffic from other channels.

Bottom line: PMax is here to stay, but don’t let Google run away with your budget. Use consolidated structures and complement PMax insights with external attribution to make smarter decisions.

The final word: Be proactive, not reactive

The key lesson from Stefan Huss’s experience? Progress over perfection. Start integrating advanced strategies, even if you don’t have all the answers. Implementing new tools like custom attribution models or integrating profit data can seem daunting, but the alternative—sticking with outdated methods—could cost you dearly in a fast-evolving market.

Don’t get left behind: As the paid media landscape becomes more complex with AI-driven automation and privacy changes, steering your campaigns proactively is a must. By following Lampenwelt’s example, you can make smarter, data-driven decisions that align your ad spend with real business outcomes.

Listen to the full podcast episode below:

For more episodes, tune in on Spotify.