Overview

Helm & Oar is an ecommerce retailer specialising in premium ready-to-hang framed artwork from a global collective of artists. Their mission is to help customers design inspiring spaces through accessible fine art.

Webtopia partnered with Helm & Oar in January 2024 to support growth across both paid acquisition and lifecycle marketing. Our goal was to scale revenue beyond branded Google Ads campaigns while also increasing the contribution of email marketing through improved segmentation, automation and engagement.

Our team managed Google Ads campaigns including Performance Max, Shopping and YouTube while also overseeing email strategy, automation flows and campaign management. Bi-weekly strategy sessions ensured continuous optimisation based on performance insights.

The Strategy

Paid Media Growth

We restructured the Google Ads account to move beyond branded search and focus on incremental growth through non-branded acquisition campaigns. Performance Max and Shopping campaigns were used to reach new audiences earlier in the customer journey.

Key initiatives included:

Theme segmentation
Artwork collections were segmented into themes, allowing us to test different product categories and optimise campaigns around high-performing styles.

Dynamic promotions
We introduced collection-specific promotions informed by historical purchasing behaviour to drive urgency and improve conversion rates.

Automated bidding strategies
Target ROAS bidding within Performance Max was used to maximise conversion value while scaling non-branded traffic.

Lower-priced, high-engagement artwork was promoted to attract new visitors, who often later converted on higher-value pieces once they became familiar with the brand.

Email Marketing Optimisation

Alongside paid media, we redesigned Helm & Oar’s email marketing system to improve engagement and revenue contribution.

Key improvements included:

Advanced audience segmentation
Email campaigns were tailored to customer behaviour, ensuring relevant messaging across different segments.

Improved lifecycle flows
New automated flows were introduced to nurture subscribers and drive repeat purchases.

Data-driven tracking improvements
Apple MPP opens and bot clicks were excluded from tracking to improve data accuracy and allow better optimisation decisions.

These improvements also supported list growth and increased the effectiveness of both flows and campaigns.

Key Insights

Continuous testing revealed that only a small number of top-of-funnel themes initially generated profitable results. Through ongoing A/B testing, the number of high-performing themes increased significantly, improving campaign reach and efficiency.

Improved visuals and messaging, particularly around fast shipping and accessibility of artwork, helped increase click-through rates and drive higher engagement.

Insights from paid campaigns also informed email segmentation and messaging, strengthening the relationship between acquisition and retention channels.

The Results

Comparing January-March 2024 with the previous quarter:

• Ad Spend increased by 93% while maintaining strong efficiency.
• Platform revenue grew by 56% year-on-year.
• ROAS reached 3.12x.
• CTR improved by 35% through better visuals and messaging.
• Average Order Value increased by 35.82%.
• CPA decreased by 12.17%, improving acquisition efficiency.
• Marketing Efficiency Ratio (MER) improved dramatically, dropping from 42.33% in January to 15% by March 2024.
• On the retention side:
• Email-attributed revenue increased by 119%.
• Campaign conversion rate rose by 70%.
• Revenue per recipient for campaigns increased by 93%.
• Flow conversion rates grew by 120%.
• Revenue per recipient for flows increased by 193%.
• Opt-in rates also improved significantly, increasing by 230% during 2024.

Together, these improvements created a stronger multi-channel growth engine for Helm & Oar, combining scalable acquisition with high-performing retention marketing.