PARTNER
INDUSTRY
PPC
COMPANY SIZE
Freelance
HEADQUARTERS
USA

About

Hayden Merrill is a digital marketing freelancer specialising in paid media strategy, performance marketing, and scalable growth for consumer brands.
With over a decade of experience managing paid media programmes, Hayden builds data-driven advertising strategies across platforms including Google Ads, Meta and Microsoft Advertising, helping e-commerce brands scale profitable customer acquisition while maintaining strong return on ad spend.
He oversees strategy, execution and optimisation across Search, Social and Audience campaigns, working with brands to identify new growth opportunities and maximise advertising performance.

Why Microsoft Advertising?

Hayden was managing paid media activity for an American-made men’s clothing brand focused on scaling profitable ecommerce growth.

The brand had already built strong recognition within the 45–60 demographic, but there was a clear opportunity to expand into a younger segment of working professionals aged 20–50.

As Hayden explains: “We have had strong brand awareness from the 45–60 age demo’s but have been looking to increase our customer base with the younger working professionals.”

While Google and Meta were delivering results, third-party tracking data revealed:

  • High ROAS potential from Microsoft
  • Lower audience overlap compared to Meta and Google
  • Untapped incremental reach within high-income brackets


The opportunity wasn’t just diversification, it was structured expansion into a less saturated environment.

“We had been using a third party tracking tool over the past 2 years that has indicated high ROAS from Microsoft and less audience overlap with Meta and Google.”
Hayden Merrill, Digital Marketing Freelancer

Case Study

The Objective


The campaign launched on Microsoft Audience Network with several clear goals:

  • Increase brand awareness among men aged 20–50
  • Drive incremental conversions at an efficient CPA
  • Support and amplify existing Search activity
  • Increase Average Order Value (AOV) within the new demographic


As Hayden outlined: “The objective was to drive incremental conversions at an efficient CPA while supporting our overall paid media ecosystem.”

Success was measured by overall conversion lift and AOV among the target demographic.

The Strategy

Working alongside ClickTech, Hayden refined their Microsoft Audience structure to ensure performance was built intentionally, not passively.

Hayden explains: “ClickTech improved our audience structuring and budget deployment, tightening up remarketing and in-market segmentation. Their optimization recommendations across bidding and placements positioned us to scale while maintaining performance.”

Microsoft Audience Network was activated to support and amplify Search performance.

As Hayden describes: “We activated Microsoft Audience Network to support and amplify Search performance. High-intent users were captured through remarketing, while in-market audiences fueled new customer acquisition. Responsive display creative, mapped to specific Search themes, generated the highest engagement rates.”

Audience Network was not treated as an add-on, but as a structured amplification layer to Search.

Results & What Changed

Within six weeks, the campaign delivered:

  • +10% increase in purchases from the target demographic
  • +24% increase in Average Order Value
  • High-quality placements aligned to target income brackets


Reflecting on the results, Hayden explains: “We initially overlooked its [Microsoft Advertising] efficiency in producing strong conversion results. The major insight was that disciplined audience segmentation and intent-matched creative unlock performance.”

The results also shifted how Microsoft Advertising was viewed within the broader strategy: “We’ve moved from viewing Microsoft as a secondary extension of Search to establishing it as a foundational performance channel.”

The ClickTech Partnership

Hayden describes ClickTech as: “A true extension of our team,” he elaborates, “They helped us refine audience layering and budget allocation, ensuring our remarketing and in-market segments were structured effectively. Their proactive insights, detailed audits, and hands-on support sessions accelerated our execution and gave us the confidence to scale Microsoft Ads strategically.”
Hayden’s advice to other agencies is clear: “If you’re an agency already strong in Google and Meta, Microsoft Advertising can feel like an afterthought – but that’s a mistake. The incremental volume and efficiency are real, especially in high-intent search environments. The best way to successfully navigate making it a core platform is with ClickTech as a partner.”

Join the ClickTech Partner Program Today!