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PPC Case Study: How The Honest Company Leveraged In-Market Audiences to Boost Conversions

  • Writer: Robson Chimenge
    Robson Chimenge
  • Apr 9
  • 3 min read

Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising remains one of the most effective digital marketing tools for instant visibility and targeted lead generation. With platforms like Google Ads and Meta Ads evolving rapidly, staying current with what's working (and why) is critical. In this article, we explore a real-world case study of The Honest Company—a personal care and baby products brand—that harnessed the power of in-market audiences in Google Ads to drive meaningful results.


We’ll provide a deep dive into the study, followed by our take on its relevance to Zambian marketing contexts and insights for agencies and clients alike.


The Case Study: The Honest Company and In-Market Audiences

The Honest Company, co-founded by actress Jessica Alba, wanted to reach parents actively looking for baby products online. Rather than using broad demographics or interest-based targeting alone, they focused on in-market audiencesthrough Google Ads.

What Are In-Market Audiences?

In-market audiences are users Google identifies as being “in the market” for a particular product or service based on their browsing and search behavior. For instance, someone who has recently searched for diapers, baby lotion, and feeding bottles may be placed in the “Baby Products” in-market segment.

Objective: Increase conversions for their baby product line by more accurately targeting potential buyers.

Strategy:

  • They used Google’s in-market audience segments to target users actively researching baby products.

  • Applied custom intent audiences built from keywords and URLs that potential customers visited.

  • Focused on performance metrics like click-through rate (CTR), conversion rate, and cost per acquisition (CPA).

Results:

  • Achieved a 30% increase in conversions.

  • Improved return on ad spend (ROAS).

  • Greater efficiency in reaching new customers versus broader targeting strategies.


Our Take: Why This Matters for Zambian Brands

1. Relevance to Local Agencies and Brands In-market audiences might sound like a feature only available to brands in the U.S. or Europe, but they're very much available in Zambia too. Google Ads supports localized targeting, and for industries like retail, automotive, education, and insurance, in-market audiences offer smarter ad spend.

Most Zambian businesses still use basic demographic or interest-based targeting. This case study shows the importance of behavioral targeting: reaching people based on what they're actively considering to buy—not just who they are.


2. Impact on Agency Strategy For agencies like ours—Foresight Analytix—this is a call to evolve beyond impressions and clicks. Campaigns need to be performance-oriented with clearly defined conversion goals. With many Zambian SMEs hesitant about spending on digital ads, demonstrating ROI is the best way to build trust.

We’ve seen similar success using intent-driven targeting in e-commerce and education campaigns locally. For example, we helped a university reach prospective students by targeting users researching “colleges in Zambia” or “affordable degrees in Lusaka.” This led to a 45% increase in student sign-ups from Google Ads alone.


3. Implications for Clients Clients should expect more than visibility. They should demand performance. If you’re a Zambian brand selling online or pushing services like insurance, property, or education, PPC campaigns must go deeper than “boosting posts.”

Ask your marketing team or agency:

  • Are we using in-market audiences?

  • How are we tracking conversions?

  • What’s our ROAS?


4. What Needs Further Research?

  • How effective are Google’s in-market audiences in lower-data markets like Zambia?

  • Are there notable performance differences between Google Ads and Meta Ads in this context?

  • Can local platforms (like ZamFind or Tigmoo) adopt a similar behavioral targeting approach?

These are the kinds of studies we at Foresight Analytix want to lead or support.


Conclusion

The Honest Company’s success with in-market audiences reminds us that PPC isn’t just about pushing ads—it’s about pulling the right people into the funnel at the right time. Behavioral targeting is the future of performance marketing.

For Zambian brands and agencies, it’s time to embrace precision and performance. At Foresight Analytix, we’re not just placing ads—we’re solving problems, one click at a time.


Explore More:

  • Google Ads Help: In-Market Audiences

  • Think with Google

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