From zero sales to $750k+ in revenue
A brand new sofa marketplace with no data and no sales. We launched Google Ads before their first order and scaled it to an 8.25x blended ROAS, while cost per order fell 39% and completed orders grew 5.9x.
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The background
Sofalistic is a UK marketplace for buying and selling pre-loved sofas. Sellers list their sofa, buyers browse hundreds of new listings every day, and Sofalistic takes a commission on each sale.
We partnered with Sofalistic in August 2024, before their first sale. They had tried running Google Shopping themselves for a month without traction. We've run Google Ads, Meta Ads, creative strategy and email ever since.
Growing both sides of a marketplace at once
The brief was to grow order volume. In a two-sided marketplace, that meant balancing listing growth with buyer traffic, because buyers need sofas to choose from and sellers need buyers to sell to. On top of that, we were starting from scratch.
Two audiences
Every pound of spend had to be split between acquiring sellers and acquiring buyers.
No baseline data
No established average order value or conversion history to bid against.
Constantly changing inventory
Hundreds of new products added every day.
A brand nobody knew
Sofalistic needed market presence in a mass market category.
Google Ads built on the numbers first
Before scaling spend, we built the financial and measurement groundwork. Then we launched Google in the order the data allowed.
The foundation
- Pre-launch analysis. Keyword research, competitor research and a full cost structure review.
- Breakeven targets. Target CPA and ROAS worked out from Sofalistic's own financials, so blended acquisition cost was tracked across every campaign.
- Custom dashboard. Marketing costs, variable expenses and fixed overheads, aligned to Sofalistic's financial KPIs.
- Funnel tracking. Full checkout funnel analysis showed where buyers dropped off, so we could fix it.
Bidding and feed
- Target CPA, then target ROAS. With no order value to bid against, we launched on target CPA to build baseline data, then moved to target ROAS once order values were established.
- A feed built for a live catalogue. Hundreds of new listings a day, so we optimised the listing process, not single products. Automated rules segment by brand, condition and key attributes.
- Search-led attributes. Number of seats, dimensions, colour and condition added to every listing, with the feed moved to DataFeedWatch for full control.
A layered campaign build
Capture high-intent searches and see exactly which terms convert.
Layered in once we knew the converting terms, so PMax had direction.
High-intent terms first, then retailer brands and wider categories.
Terms like “sell my sofa” to keep new listings coming in.
Keywords started on exact match, scaled to phrase, and used broad match only on proven high-intent groups. The seller search terms also became the starting point for our Meta creative.
Meta Ads: feeding both sides of the marketplace
Meta started as a supporting channel. Spend there is up 11x since launch. We launched with an 80:20 split in favour of sellers, because a marketplace with no sofas has nothing to sell, then shifted budget towards buyers as supply grew.
Sellers
Listing campaigns, run on CBO, drive a steady flow of new sofas onto the site.
Buyers
Advantage+ catalogue campaigns on target ROAS turn fresh inventory into buyer demand, with no manual updates.
Awareness
A low-cost reach layer puts Sofalistic in front of millions of people for very little spend.
Meta was judged on the same blended acquisition cost as Google, using breakeven targets worked out from Sofalistic's own financials.
Creative strategy: start from what the data already tells you
Every Meta concept started from something we already knew. The seller terms that converted on Google became the first ads, and review mining showed which misconceptions the next round had to fix.
Phase 1: direct response for listings
Bold static ads built around the top-performing seller keywords from Google Ads, with messages like “sell my sofa today” and “sell my sofa in 7 days”.
Phase 2: trust through the founder
Review mining showed many customers thought Sofalistic was a used furniture retailer, not a marketplace. Founder-led video took on each misconception directly.
The founder-led ads
From first sale to a marketplace still breaking records
From zero sales to $750k+ in revenue at an 8.25x blended ROAS. Since launch, ad spend has scaled 3.6x while cost per completed order has fallen 39%, and completed orders have grown 5.9x.
The growth hasn't slowed. Year on year, orders are up 46% on just 26% more spend, and the two strongest weeks in Sofalistic's history both came in the last month.
“We have been working with Vida Digital Marketing and they are incredible. Working with Zac on the account, he is extremely responsive, helpful and not to mention knowledgeable. Can't thank them enough for the work they have done and we look forward to keep pushing the boundaries and growing with them. Thanks Zac & team!”Marc Downer, Co-Founder, Sofalistic
From losing everything to a multi-million pound marketplace
Marc, Sofalistic's founder, sits down with Zac to talk through how he and his wife Carly built the business, and how paid advertising helped turn a second-hand sofa idea into a million-pound marketplace.
Book a strategy call
Sofalistic scaled because they knew their numbers and let creative do the heavy lifting. Pick a time below and we'll look at how that would work for your brand.
We look at your account together: feed, structure, campaign setup and margin data. We tell you what we find whether you work with us or not.
A written brief covering what we found, what we'd change and what the opportunity looks like.
If there's a fit, campaigns go live within 7 days of signing. There's no lock-in and no setup fee.
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