Kylin Australia
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My Playroom
My Playroom is a one-stop educational toy store for the whole of Australia. From high-quality open-ended toys and learning resources to kid-sized adjustable furniture, My Playroom has everything you need for a playroom at home.
- Category SEM
- Industry Retail
+ 68.4%
+ 58.3%
- 33.8%
Data from September 2021 to September 2022
The Problem
My Playroom competes in the Australian educational toy market against a rival of comparable strength. Both were running sustained Google Ads campaigns for the same audience of parents, yet My Playroom’s sales ranking remained persistently behind.
The problem was not insufficient budget — the client was already spending a considerable amount. The problem was what that money was buying. Ads ranked poorly in search results and target customers barely saw them; spend and return were badly out of balance, with money going out and conversions failing to follow.
Our account audit traced the root cause to two areas. First, keyword targeting was off: the terms being bid on were disconnected from how parents actually search, covering industry-internal vocabulary rather than the words a consumer would type into a search box. Second, ad relevance was weak: copy was not closely tied to what the target audience cared about, so even when ads were served they struggled to earn a click. Low relevance simultaneously depressed quality scores, meaning the same positions cost more to hold — a self-reinforcing cycle.
The client’s brief was unambiguous: without increasing budget, raise the efficiency of existing ad spend and close the gap with the competitor.
The problem was not insufficient budget — the client was already spending a considerable amount. The problem was what that money was buying. Ads ranked poorly in search results and target customers barely saw them; spend and return were badly out of balance, with money going out and conversions failing to follow.
Our account audit traced the root cause to two areas. First, keyword targeting was off: the terms being bid on were disconnected from how parents actually search, covering industry-internal vocabulary rather than the words a consumer would type into a search box. Second, ad relevance was weak: copy was not closely tied to what the target audience cared about, so even when ads were served they struggled to earn a click. Low relevance simultaneously depressed quality scores, meaning the same positions cost more to hold — a self-reinforcing cycle.
The client’s brief was unambiguous: without increasing budget, raise the efficiency of existing ad spend and close the gap with the competitor.
Our Solution
A fixed budget means growth can only come from efficiency. Rather than expanding spend, our approach worked through audience, creative, landing page and timing in turn to raise the value of every click, then locked those gains in with a data process.
On that basis, we redrew the target audience profile using demographic and geographic data: the decision-makers buying educational toys are parents and grandparents, focused on age-appropriateness, material safety, educational value and storage. We restructured keywords accordingly, shifting budget away from broad toy category terms toward high-intent long-tail terms such as "open-ended toys", "Montessori materials" and "child-sized furniture", cutting wasted impressions at the source.
We also deployed the full range of ad extensions to expand the ad’s footprint: sitelinks leading directly to category pages, structured snippets listing product lines, and callouts covering delivery and promotions. With ads occupying more of the results page, both click-through rate and quality score improved together.
Structurally we subtracted rather than added, placing product detail, price, purchase button and current promotions above the fold and removing anything unrelated to the specific ad, so users were not left hesitating among too many options. Each ad displayed the core selling points of its corresponding product line, creating an unbroken path from what was searched, to the ad seen, to the page landed on.
Copy and visuals were adjusted for each phase, incorporating seasonal elements and reinforced with limited-time discounts and gift-with-purchase mechanics. Using real-time data from Google Analytics and the ads platform, we adjusted bids and budget allocation dynamically within each peak, concentrating a limited budget in the windows where conversion efficiency was highest.
Every adjustment was made on evidence rather than instinct. That discipline ensured optimisation was not a one-time project activity but a process that compounded over time.
Rebuilding the Target Audience and Keyword Structure
We began by dissecting the main competitor’s strategy — which terms they were buying, what angle their messaging took, and where they were sending traffic — to identify both the overlooked opportunity terms and the over-contested ones.On that basis, we redrew the target audience profile using demographic and geographic data: the decision-makers buying educational toys are parents and grandparents, focused on age-appropriateness, material safety, educational value and storage. We restructured keywords accordingly, shifting budget away from broad toy category terms toward high-intent long-tail terms such as "open-ended toys", "Montessori materials" and "child-sized furniture", cutting wasted impressions at the source.
Rewriting Ad Copy to Lift Relevance and Quality Score
Ad relevance affects more than click-through rate — it directly determines quality score, and higher relevance means the same ranking costs less. We wrote copy individually for each keyword group, ensuring strict correspondence between search term, ad headline and landing page, and front-loading the factors parents care about most: suitable age range, safe materials, and Australian local dispatch.We also deployed the full range of ad extensions to expand the ad’s footprint: sitelinks leading directly to category pages, structured snippets listing product lines, and callouts covering delivery and promotions. With ads occupying more of the results page, both click-through rate and quality score improved together.
Aligning Landing Pages with Ad Intent
What happens after the click determines conversion. We rebuilt the ad landing pages: compressing load time so information appeared within three seconds, with particular attention to mobile — the overwhelming majority of parents browse toy sites on a phone.Structurally we subtracted rather than added, placing product detail, price, purchase button and current promotions above the fold and removing anything unrelated to the specific ad, so users were not left hesitating among too many options. Each ad displayed the core selling points of its corresponding product line, creating an unbroken path from what was searched, to the ad seen, to the page landed on.
Seasonal Campaigns Built Around the Australian Retail Calendar
Toy retail demand concentrates heavily in specific periods. We built phased campaign plans around the key moments in the Australian market — Christmas, Children’s Day and school holidays — entering a build-up phase early to accumulate audiences, concentrating budget at peak demand, and pivoting to clearance and repeat-purchase messaging afterwards.Copy and visuals were adjusted for each phase, incorporating seasonal elements and reinforced with limited-time discounts and gift-with-purchase mechanics. Using real-time data from Google Analytics and the ads platform, we adjusted bids and budget allocation dynamically within each peak, concentrating a limited budget in the windows where conversion efficiency was highest.
Driving Optimisation Through a Data Process
We established a complete tracking and review framework: real-time performance monitoring, regular audits of operating parameters, and continuous A/B testing across copy, keywords and bidding strategies. Strong combinations received more investment; weak ones were diagnosed and either optimised or paused, so budget was never left draining into traffic that would not convert.Every adjustment was made on evidence rather than instinct. That discipline ensured optimisation was not a one-time project activity but a process that compounded over time.
The Result
Comparing September 2022 with September 2021, with advertising budget held constant: ad conversions rose 68.4%, conversion revenue rose 58.3%, and cost per acquisition fell 33.8%.
These three numbers only carry their full weight when read against that fixed-budget condition. Conversions growing 68.4% while acquisition cost fell 33.8% means the same money bought close to twice as many customers — growth driven entirely by campaign efficiency, with not a dollar of additional spend. That was precisely the client’s original brief.
The efficiency gain traces back to specific actions: restructuring keywords moved budget from broad terms to high-intent long-tail queries, cutting wasted impressions; strict alignment between copy and landing pages raised quality scores, making the same rankings cheaper to hold; and seasonal scheduling concentrated budget into peak demand windows rather than spreading it evenly through quiet periods. Together these show up directly as lower cost per acquisition.
It is worth noting that conversion growth (68.4%) slightly outpaced conversion revenue growth (58.3%), indicating a modest decline in average order value. This is consistent with the direction of the strategy — a meaningful share of the new traffic came from price-conscious parents not previously reached, whose first orders are typically smaller than those of existing customers. In a repeat-purchase category like children’s toys, the value of those new customers continues to be realised through subsequent orders.
Competitively, the structural improvement in advertising efficiency meant My Playroom no longer needed to win on budget scale in a head-to-head fight with its main rival, but could build a sustainable advantage on return per dollar spent.
These three numbers only carry their full weight when read against that fixed-budget condition. Conversions growing 68.4% while acquisition cost fell 33.8% means the same money bought close to twice as many customers — growth driven entirely by campaign efficiency, with not a dollar of additional spend. That was precisely the client’s original brief.
The efficiency gain traces back to specific actions: restructuring keywords moved budget from broad terms to high-intent long-tail queries, cutting wasted impressions; strict alignment between copy and landing pages raised quality scores, making the same rankings cheaper to hold; and seasonal scheduling concentrated budget into peak demand windows rather than spreading it evenly through quiet periods. Together these show up directly as lower cost per acquisition.
It is worth noting that conversion growth (68.4%) slightly outpaced conversion revenue growth (58.3%), indicating a modest decline in average order value. This is consistent with the direction of the strategy — a meaningful share of the new traffic came from price-conscious parents not previously reached, whose first orders are typically smaller than those of existing customers. In a repeat-purchase category like children’s toys, the value of those new customers continues to be realised through subsequent orders.
Competitively, the structural improvement in advertising efficiency meant My Playroom no longer needed to win on budget scale in a head-to-head fight with its main rival, but could build a sustainable advantage on return per dollar spent.
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