How Hepsiburada Achieved 90% Cost Reduction with Google Ads Full-Funnel Strategy

In 2025, YouTube celebrates its 20th anniversary. CEO Neal Mohan highlighted the platform's growth and dominance in the US TV-streaming market. He also shared his expectations, including maintaining YouTube's cultural influence, as seen during the 2024 US election.

In the swiftly advancing digital era, consumer behavior has grown more dynamic. Owing to consumers' "4S behaviors" (streaming, scrolling, searching, and shopping), traditional marketing funnels are no longer efficacious. AI-driven Google Ads provide a comprehensive marketing solution, allowing brands to engage with consumers at every stage of their journey. Hepsiburada, a leading e-commerce platform, exemplifies the success of full-funnel marketing with Google Ads. By targeting awareness, consideration, and conversion stages, it achieved growth while keeping costs in check. Other brands can draw inspiration from its strategy and leverage Google Advertisement and AI tools to achieve similar success.

I. Understanding the Modern Consumer Journey

The modern consumer journey is no longer linear. Consumers fluidly move between the 4S behaviors—streaming content, scrolling through social media, searching for information, and shopping for products. This unpredictability challenges traditional marketing models, which often focus on isolated stages of the funnel.

AI is of crucial significance in tackling this complexity. Through the analysis of massive volumes of data, AI has the ability to forecast consumer behavior and provide personalized experiences on a large scale. Take Google Lens as an example; it handles over 20 billion visual searches each month, and one out of every four of these searches has commercial intent. Such a capability enables brands to engage with consumers even when the latter's intentions are conveyed via images instead of text.

Google and YouTube are particularly influential in shaping purchasing decisions. In Brazil, for example, Google and YouTube are trusted more than social media platforms during the purchasing journey. This reach, combined with AI-powered tools like AI Overviews, enables brands to engage consumers with relevant ads across multiple touchpoints.

Understanding this fluid journey is crucial for marketers. By adopting a full-funnel approach with Google Ads, brands can ensure they are present wherever consumers are, whether they’re watching a YouTube video, searching for a product, or scrolling through social media.

II. Hepsiburada’s Full-Funnel Strategy

Hepsiburada’s success lies in its holistic approach to marketing. Instead of optimizing individual funnel stages, the company developed a strategy that spanned the entire customer journey. This ensured a consistent experience, from awareness to conversion, while maximizing efficiency.

The use of customer data and AI technologies was essential to this strategy. Hepsiburada capitalized on first-party data to customize campaigns, enhancing targeting precision and conversion rates. Demand Generation (Demand Gen) campaigns were pivotal, presenting a varied ad inventory and formats tailored to distinct funnel stages. For instance, visual and video advertisements were employed to boost awareness and interaction, whereas shopping-enabled ads streamlined direct transactions.

Continuous testing and optimization were also critical. Hepsiburada experimented with different audiences, product groups, and creatives, refining its approach based on performance data. This iterative process allowed the company to achieve a 59% increase in ad click-through rates and a 90% reduction in click costs.

Beyond product promotion, Hepsiburada emphasized its brand story, building emotional connections with customers. By highlighting its values and solutions, the company strengthened brand loyalty and long-term customer relationships.

III. Key Tools and Techniques

Google Ads offers an array of AI-driven tools for efficient full-funnel marketing. Demand Generation (Demand Gen) campaigns serve as a prime illustration, combining visually captivating formats with advanced targeting features to enhance both brand awareness and conversion rates. Take Topkee, for instance; its approach to Demand Gen campaigns involves using TTO initialization settings to streamline the management of multiple advertising accounts. This enables precise budget allocation and data tracking, allowing businesses to optimize their campaigns across every stage of the marketing funnel, from raising awareness to driving conversions.

Creative and performance tools also play a vital role. Hepsiburada used Google’s Merchant Center to group products effectively, ensuring ads showcased the most relevant items. Similarly, Topkee employs TM settings to customize and track marketing activities, generating landing URL links with TMID for accurate performance monitoring. Lookalike audiences further improved targeting by reaching users similar to existing customers, a technique Topkee enhances through advanced keyword research and smart bidding strategies to maximize ad relevance and reach.

Visual and video ads proved particularly effective. YouTube’s reach and engagement capabilities allowed Hepsiburada to capture consumer attention and drive action. The platform’s AI algorithms optimized ad placements, ensuring maximum ROI. Topkee’s expertise in YouTube ads includes creating compelling video marketing plans that align with business goals, using Google Ads to target the right audience and deliver impactful brand stories. This approach ensures that ads not only attract attention but also drive meaningful engagement and conversions.

IV. Lessons from Other Brands

Hepsiburada is not alone in its success. Other brands have also leveraged Google Ads to achieve their marketing goals.

Tatilbudur: The travel brand used Demand Gen campaigns to boost traffic and conversions during a low-demand period, achieving a 72% increase in quality traffic and a 73% reduction in cost per click.
VitrA: The bathroom brand promoted its Root Collection using Demand Gen, resulting in a 17x increase in conversions and a 19% higher click-through rate compared to social campaigns.
FLO: The shoe retailer used YouTube’s Demand Gen campaigns to reach a young audience, achieving 10x more store visits and a 3x higher ROI.
Trendyol: By integrating Google’s Vision AI and Gemini, Trendyol improved product titles, leading to an 84% increase in conversion rates and a 99% boost in sales volume.

These examples underscore the versatility and effectiveness of Google Advertisement in diverse industries and scenarios.

V. Measuring Success and ROI

Measuring full-funnel strategy effectiveness hinges on key metrics like click-through, conversion, and cost per click. Hepsiburada's success demonstrates how focusing on these can cut costs while boosting engagement and conversions. Brand equity is crucial for long-term success. Kantar's research shows strong brands can charge double their competitors, highlighting the value of strategic marketing. Full-funnel strategies also offer resilience in uncertain economies. By nurturing loyalty and pricing power, brands maintain profitability.

Topkee's expertise in Google Ads, leveraging tools such as TTO initialization and TM settings, helps businesses achieve similar results with precise budget management and data-driven optimizations across all funnel stages.Topkee aids in enhancing brand presence through consistent performance tracking and targeted campaign adjustments.Topkee's remarketing and analysis services keep campaigns competitive and adaptable in changing markets. Overall, holistic, data-driven full-funnel approaches, supported by tools and expert services like Topkee's, are essential for enduring marketing success.

Conclusion

The lessons from Hepsiburada and other brands emphasize the significance of a holistic, AI-driven marketing approach, and Google Ads, with its advanced tools and extensive reach, presents a potent solution for maneuvering through the intricacies of the modern consumer journey. Marketers aiming to foster growth across the entire marketing funnel should contemplate adopting Demand Gen campaigns and capitalizing on AI-powered tools, as this approach enables them not only to attain short-term outcomes but also to cultivate long-term brand equity and customer loyalty. As AI continues its evolution, the potential for innovation in full-funnel marketing is vast, and brands that embrace these technologies will be optimally positioned to prosper in the constantly shifting digital landscape.