Paid ads · Australian ecommerce
Google and Meta ads for Australian ecommerce brands.
One senior operator. No account managers between you and the work.
Step Digital is a Melbourne-based ecommerce advertising consultancy run by me, Mark Tran. I manage Google and Meta campaigns for Australian online stores, including Shopify and WooCommerce businesses. You work directly with me on strategy, campaign management and reporting, month to month.
- On your real account
- You keep the plan either way
- Month-to-month management
$514k
ad spend, Google + Meta
$2.24M sum of attributed revenue
4.36x attributed revenue / spend
2 ad platforms
Revenue adds Google and Meta attribution; claims can overlap. Exact reporting dates are not recorded.
Read the case study →Brands I’ve worked on
A selection from 35+ Australian retail and ecommerce brands I’ve worked with, mostly during my years at Megantic.
Straight answers
How I judge whether your ads are working.
Good ROAS needs context.
A strong platform result can sit alongside flat store sales. I look at attribution settings, new and returning customers, margins and total revenue before deciding what to change.
The structure has to fit the budget.
I have managed national-brand budgets and accounts at $1,000 a month. A small account needs enough data in each campaign to support a decision. More campaigns do not automatically mean better control.
Platform reporting is one input.
I compare what Google and Meta attribute with what your store records. A difference can come from measurement rules as well as tracking problems. I explain the limits before drawing a conclusion.
If that’s the kind of reporting you want, we’ll get along.
Selected work
Results I’ll put my name to.
What I run
Is Step Digital a fit?
I work with established Australian ecommerce businesses selling physical products, with advertising already running or a plan to start. Shopify and WooCommerce stores are a regular fit. Pre-revenue stores and products without demonstrated demand are generally too early.
Budget and fees. There is no fixed minimum ad spend. I assess whether your budget, margins and management cost can support a useful test, usually starting on one platform.
Scope before commitment. I include ad copy, creative direction and recommendations. You supply the creative assets, or production is quoted separately. The quote sets out the platforms, setup work, fees and commitment.
Direct account access. You retain your accounts and data. I manage the work and reporting personally.
The cadence
What a month actually looks like.
No mystery, no ticket queue.
Week 1
I go through the account properly, not a quick skim of what Meta or Google shows up front. You get the changes I’m making and why, in plain English.
Ongoing
Budgets, bids, audiences and creative rotation managed continuously. You get a message when something changes materially, not a monthly surprise.
Every month
A report that leads with what happened to your revenue, then what I changed, then what's next. Written to be read, not to justify the invoice.
Any time
You can call or message me directly. There’s no one else to route through.
The free 15-minute audit
Fifteen minutes on your real account. Here’s exactly what you get.
01
Book a time
Grab a slot and drop in your store URL and roughly what you spend. That's all I need to prepare.
02
We look at your account together
Zoom, screen shared, your live campaigns on screen. I'll show you what's working, what's wasting money, and why.
03
You leave with a plan
The one change I'd make first, and the order I'd make the rest. Run it yourself, hand it to your current agency, or ask me to do it. All three are fine.
If I think we should work together, I’ll say so. If I don’t, I’ll say that too.
“His insight and depth of knowledge was extremely helpful, and the session was very practical and actionable. Highly recommend if you want clarity and real direction rather than just generic advice.”
From the accounts ·
Four decisions from recent account work.
Give a new campaign time to produce a readable result.
On a recent account I allowed ten days before routine optimisation. That was an operating decision for that test, not a universal attribution window. Conversion delay, purchase volume and spend limits matter; a tracking fault or overspend needs attention sooner.
Compare countries on the same campaign objective.
One account made New Zealand look much weaker than Australia, but New Zealand carried more traffic and lead-generation spend. Comparing sales campaigns narrowed the gap without making New Zealand viable. Segment first, then decide using comparable results.
Use the costs that actually reach the business.
Product cost alone did not capture one account's economics. Landed stock costs, shipping and a consistent tax basis changed the return it needed. I calculate the margin available for advertising after the relevant variable costs, then include management separately.
Decide who a discount is for.
For a recent acquisition offer I kept past purchasers out of the discount audience. That choice reflected the offer and the risk of training existing buyers to wait for a sale. Retention and clearance promotions can need a different approach.
Updated 26 September 2026. Client names left out on purpose; the context matters when applying these decisions elsewhere.
Work through the numbers.
Practical guides to the decisions behind an ecommerce ad account.
- Break-even ROAS for Australian ecommerce
Calculate the return your costs require, and the extra return needed to recover a management fee.
- Why Meta, Google and Shopify revenue differs
Separate attribution rules from tracking faults before drawing conclusions about your ads.
- Google Ads or Meta Ads for a small ecommerce budget?
Choose the first channel using demand, creative capacity, margins and a test you can afford.
Since 2017.
I started at WME running 45+ paid campaigns across a 90+ client portfolio, then spent four years at Megantic working on 100+ Australian ecommerce brands.
Half a million dollars in a year.
At Step Digital I ran one Australian ecommerce brand's paid across Meta and Google: $514k of spend in twelve months, $2.24M in attributed revenue back.
Both ends of the budget scale.
National-brand budgets and $1,000 a month. I'll tell you which tactics apply at your size and which ones don't.
Specialist, not generalist.
Paid ads and SEO only. I don't try to do everything.
Month to month.
30 days' written notice. A three-month commitment is optional when waiving eligible setup fees.
Six questions to ask any ads provider.
An independent specialist offers direct access to the operator. An agency can bring a wider team and cover. An in-house hire can stay close to day-to-day business decisions. Compare the actual scope and people behind each option. Here are my answers.
- Who will actually manage the account?
- At Step Digital, I handle strategy, campaign changes and reporting myself.
- How will we judge performance?
- I compare platform attribution with store revenue, margins and customer mix, and explain the limits of the data.
- What is included in the quote?
- The quote sets out the managed platforms and work. Ad copy and creative direction are included; you supply creative assets or production is quoted separately. Setup and implementation work is scoped before it begins.
- Who owns the account?
- You retain your advertising accounts and data. Access is granted through the platforms rather than sharing your password.
- What is the commitment?
- Management is month to month with 30 days' written notice. A three-month commitment can waive eligible setup fees; the quote makes that choice clear.
- What happens after launch?
- I manage the account continuously, explain material changes and report on results and next steps.
Client reviews
Reviews I can’t edit.
Pulled from my Google listing, where owners can’t change or remove a word.
“They didn’t just talk jargon - they explained the strategy clearly, kept us updated, and delivered results that mattered. Within a few months, we started ranking for keywords we’d struggled with for years, and our Google Ads ROAS has never been better.”
“The transparency, regular updates, and real business insights made it feel like I had a true partner, not just another agency. Since starting, I’ve seen real results.”
“We have a bricks and mortar business that needed to evolve into the complex world of ecommerce and Mark has been excellent in guiding us through that.”
The arithmetic
Do the arithmetic before you book.
Say you’re spending $10,000 a month and getting $3 back for every $1. That’s $30,000 in revenue. If 60% is left after product and other variable costs, $8,000 remains after ad spend, before management and fixed overheads.
A $2,000 management fee on that $10,000 of spend comes out of the $8,000. So the ads have to move you from 3.0x to roughly 3.33x for the management to pay for itself.
Not double. A third of a point.
This preserves the previous contribution after adding a fee, assuming spend and margin stay the same. It is a different question from breaking even. The fee here is an example, not a quote; your scope and account size determine the actual cost.Calculate your break-even and fee recovery
Worked example at $10,000 a month · not a quote
up from 3.0x
Questions before you book.
Is this a sales call?+
It's a working session on your account. Most of the 15 minutes is me showing you things in your own campaigns. If I think there's a fit at the end, I'll say so in one sentence, and you can take it or leave it.
Do you need access to my ad account?+
No. You share your screen on the call and we look at it together. If you'd rather grant read-only access so I can look before we talk, that works too, and I'll send instructions when you book.
We already work with an agency.+
Then use this as a second opinion. You'll get an independent read on the account and the one thing I'd push your agency to do next. Some of the most useful audits I've done are for brands that stayed exactly where they were.
What does it cost if we work together?+
Management is a monthly base plus an agreed percentage of total ad spend across the platforms I manage, calculated on spend excluding GST. Fees are quoted excluding GST and the exact scope and price are agreed on the call. Management is month to month with 30 days' written notice; a three-month commitment can waive eligible setup fees. The audit is free.
Do you do SEO as well?+
Yes. My roots are SEO, including national brands like Forty Winks and Musashi at Megantic. Paid ads leads; SEO comes in when it makes sense for your stage.
Why only 15 minutes?+
Because that's how long it takes to find the first meaningful fix on most accounts. Nobody needs an hour of introductions. If we need longer, that's what working together is for.
Get a straight answer on your ad account.
Fifteen minutes, your real campaigns, and the one thing I'd fix first.
Free, on your real account, no obligation.