Alexander Diagan company sells wristwatches — from classic everyday models to limited-edition collections for true horology enthusiasts. Marketplaces are one of the brand's primary sales channels. This case shows how to turn advertising into a systematic tool for driving sales growth.
We've been running campaigns through VK Ads since 2025 and have launched over 60 campaigns in that time.
We chose VK Ads for several reasons:
- VK projects are home to our core target audience — people aged 30 to 65.
- It lets you flexibly segment users by socio-demographic and behavioral characteristics.
- You can drive traffic directly to product listing pages on marketplaces.
- VK Ads has an accessible entry threshold for testing hypotheses, and you can quickly scale the ad combinations that deliver the results you need.
Each campaign is dedicated to a specific watch model, with the selection driven by seasonal demand. For example: ahead of International Women's Day, the focus shifts to women's models; before Defender of the Fatherland Day, men's watches take priority; and in the run-up to New Year's, we spotlight gift-worthy and unisex items.
We also give promotional support to:
- High-margin products;
- Watch models with excess stock in the warehouse;
- New catalog items that need advertising to gain traction at the launch stage.
For our VK Ads campaigns, we use a website as the promotion object and drive users to the product page on either the Ozon or Wildberries.
In our price segment — and for a product that isn't an everyday essential — running separate campaigns for each model works really well. This approach lets us showcase the unique features and value of a specific item, use video reviews, and highlight details, materials, and its fit on the wrist. All of this builds audience trust and boosts conversion rates.
When users click through, they land on the product page, where the marketplace's own mechanisms kick in: reviews, store rating, photos, videos, and the "frequently bought together" section.
In this case, we will talk about the promotion of women's watches "Venus".
Campaign goals
The campaign goal was to boost sales of the Venus watch model on Wildberries by driving targeted traffic from VK Ads.
Key performance indicators (KPIs):
- Click-through rate (CTR) above 1–1.5%.
- Cost per click (CPC) from the ad to the product listing page under 10 ₽.
Mechanics
Campaign period covered in this case: December 16, 2025, through February 27, 2026. The campaign is still running.
Structure: 1 campaign, 8 ad groups, and 8 ads.
Target action: Clicks on ads.
We used the "Min price" bidding strategy as we sought to drive as many clicks to the marketplace product page as possible. The actual cost per click stayed within a comfortable range for us, so there was no need to set a "Limit price".
It was important for us to flexibly manage costs during the hypothesis testing process, so we optimized spend at the ad group tier and used daily budget caps. This approach gives us full control over the ad economics and allows us to adapt to market conditions in real time.
Targeting
Let's walk through our audience targeting setup using four ad groups as examples.
- Group 1: key phrases
Geography: Russia.
Demographics: men and women aged 28 to 50.
Key phrases. Examples: "women's wristwatches," "buy women's watches," "women's watch catalog." The search period is 15 days.
Placements: automatic selection.
Details: we promoted women's wristwatches, but in two of the ad groups we didn't narrow the audience by gender, since men frequently purchase watches as gifts for women. We opted for a 15-day search period on the assumption that buying decisions for accessories and gifts aren't always made instantly.
- Group 2: competitor audiences
Geography: Russia.
Demographics: men and women aged 28 to 50.
Competitor audiences. The list was compiled using a parser.
Placements: automatic selection.
Details: the group was aimed at users who have already been interested in similar products.
- Group 3: interests
Geography: Russia.
Demographics: men and women aged 28 to 50.
Interest — "watches, jewelry & accessories".
Placements: automatic selection.
Details: this ad group targets women interested in accessories and fashion. In the ad creative, we positioned the wristwatch as a style element.
- Group 4: interests
Geography: Russia.
Demographics: men and women aged 28 to 50.
Interest — "fashion & style".
Placements: automatic selection.
Details: This is an audience segment with a more deliberate approach to style and curating their look. The ad creative emphasized the design and aesthetic appeal of the watch model.
The key phrases and the audience of competitors proved to be the most effective. The campaign is still running, and both of these targeting approaches are delivering steady traffic at a manageable CPC, which makes them our priority for scaling.
We tested the "Interests" targeting to broaden our reach and identify additional growth opportunities. These ad sets are performing within our KPI targets, but maintaining a competitive CPC over the long term has proven trickier here than with the "Keywords" and "Competitor audiences" groups.
Ad creatives
We used both static creatives and video reviews in our ads. A watch is not a basic necessity, but an accessory, so our job wasn't just to list features. We had to convey its value and show it in context. Video formats are perfect for that.
The texts of the ads were prepared according to the principle of combining rational and emotional triggers, highlighting style and aesthetics on one hand, and functionality and reliability on the other. On the eve of the holidays, they emphasized that this is a ready-made gift in a gift box.
Results and future steps
Let's share the results of the promotion.
- 14 953transitions to the product listing page
- 2,91%average CTR
- 1,79 ₽average CPC
- by 20%sales of the Venus model increased (YoY)
VK Ads has become a steady channel for driving qualified traffic for us, not just a source of clicks. In the future, we plan to:
- Scale the most effective "audience + creative" bundles.
- Advertise new collections.
- Use video creatives more actively, as they show a high level of engagement.
- To test narrower audience segments to promote premium watch models.
Alexander Diagan's team:
"VK Ads gives us the flexibility to manage promotions for individual products and precisely test audiences. For our product, the ability to launch campaigns for specific items and manually optimize them on the fly is especially important. The platform delivers stable traffic and transparent unit economics, which allows us to use it as a systematic sales growth tool".