Case Study: Carrot-Top | Boosted ROAS & Reduced CPA by 40% with AI-Powered Automation

(Source: Carrot-Top）

As digital advertising became a critical driver of business growth, Carrot-Top faced mounting challenges—inefficient ad management, rising acquisition costs, and slow campaign insights that hindered optimization. In pursuit of a smarter, more agile approach, the company decided to adopt Shirofune, an AI-powered advertising automation platform.

 

By leveraging Shirofune’s real-time data insights, automated budget management, and seamless cross-platform integration, Carrot-Top significantly improved its advertising strategy—optimizing ad spend, enhancing efficiency, and driving stronger performance.

Carrot-Top initially outsourced its digital advertising to external agencies, while a small in-house team oversaw operations.While this setup appeared efficient, it soon became clear that it had significant inefficiencies.

A key issue was the delay in receiving performance reports, which often arrived one to two weeks late. This lag prevented Carrot-Top from reacting swiftly to market changes, optimizing underperforming campaigns, and adjusting budgets before wasting ad spend.

"Some agencies start strong, but after six months, they go into ‘cruise control’—sending reports without truly aligning with our business goals. We needed real-time insights and agility, not just static reports."

— Ted Seward, VP of Sales & Marketing

This inefficiency extended beyond budget constraints. Even minor campaign adjustments—such as modifying ad copy, refining targeting, or tweaking bidding strategies— required agency approval. 

With agencies managing multiple clients, these requests were often deprioritized, resulting in  long response times and missed opportunities. Without real-time optimization, Carrot-Top experienced daily financial losses, unable to react swiftly to performance fluctuations.

Carrot-Top’s customer acquisition cost (CPA) increased dramatically from $1.75 to over $29, placing significant pressure on profitability and ROAS. This surge was largely driven by intensified competition from major retailers such as Amazon, Walmart, and The Home Depot, which increased bidding pressure on key search terms and raised CPCs.

As these e-commerce giants expanded their digital presence and advertising budgets, Carrot-Top found itself competing not just with regional flag suppliers, but with large corporations with virtually unlimited ad budgets.

Ted underscores the challenge:

"Without careful management, Google Ads can quickly deplete budgets. Many small businesses waste ad spend often without realizing it. We needed a solution that would enable us to make strategic, proactive decisions."

Without a centralized advertising management solution, optimizing campaigns across platforms became challenging, leading to budget inefficiencies, slower decision-making, and missed opportunities for growth. These obstacles made it harder for Carrot-Top to maximize ROI and scale its advertising efforts effectively.

（Example of improvement suggestions provided by Shirofune)

(Example of a unified dashboard managing campaigns across multiple platforms)

（Example of Shirofune's Main Page)

In addition to its powerful features, Shirofune was easy to set up. Shirofune makes switching from an ad agency effortless with its incredibly simple initial setup. Just log in, link your ad accounts, set KPIs and budget, and import existing settings—all in a few clicks. No prior experience or knowledge of ad management platforms is required to complete the onboarding process. Since no complex onboarding or training was required, the marketing team was able to start optimizing campaigns right away. 

 

To assess its effectiveness, Carrot-Top conducted a 90-day trial, comparing Shirofune’s AI-driven optimizations with its traditional agency-managed approach. The impact became clear within weeks—Shirofune delivered faster, more efficient, and cost-effective advertising outcomes, minimizing wasted ad spend and improving ROI.

Following the successful trial, Carrot-Top decided to fully integrate Shirofune into its advertising operations, while collaborating closely with its agency to ensure long-term efficiency and profitability.

Before implementing Shirofune, Carrot-Top relied on agency-generated reports that arrived  weekly or biweekly, causing delays in campaign optimizations. This lag prevented the team from quickly identifying underperforming ads, leading to missed seasonal trends and ineffective budget adjustments.

Additionally, managing budgets manually in Excel led to inefficiencies. Budget overruns were typically identified only at the end of the month, leaving little opportunity for corrective action. Even when dashboards were available, system failures often went unnoticed until it was too late, delaying necessary adjustments.

“We tracked everything in Excel, but by the time we realized we had overspent, the money was already gone. Even when the dashboard stopped working, no one reported it immediately, making it impossible to react in real time.”

With Shirofune’s AI-driven automation, Carrot-Top is now able to monitor ad performance in real time and quickly adjust budget allocations. Instead of rigid monthly allocations, budgets are dynamically distributed across B2B and B2C campaigns, ensuring resources are allocated to maximize ROI.

(One of the Shirofune Features: Budget and Bid Automation）

Ted remarks "Shirofune's real-time automation has revolutionized our strategy. We no longer rely on outdated reports. Now, we can instantly shift spend to the best-performing campaigns, minimize wasted ad spend, and optimize in real time."

(Carrot-Top’s Shirofune Dashboard)

This greater flexibility has helped Carrot-Top reduce CPA by 40% and improve profitability across both peak and off-seasons. With AI-driven insights and automation, Carrot-Top ensures optimal utilization of every ad dollar, maximizing performance in real time.

Shirofune significantly reduced the manual effort required for campaign management, freeing up Carrot-Top’s team from time-consuming tasks such as adjustments, report reviews, and agency coordination. By automating routine tasks, the team was able to concentrate on high-value initiatives such as creative development and more frequent A/B testing.

The cost savings were just as impactful. CPA dropped by 40%, ensuring each advertising dollar delivered maximum impact ROAS in the off-season improved from 2.7 to over 5.0, ensuring sustained profitability even throughout slower seasons. Additionally, Shirofune gave Carrot-Top greater control over ad performance, enabling better cost efficiency and decision-making.

“Shirofune has given us full control. We’re now able to make data-driven decisions instantly, rather than waiting for agencies to respond. It’s like having a dedicated marketing analytics team working behind the scenes 24/7.”

By eliminating inefficiencies, optimizing budget utilization, and automating time-consuming tasks, Shirofune enabled Carrot-Top to scale its advertising strategy without introducing complexity or inflating costs.

Carrot-Top is enhancing its advertising efficiency and campaign optimization using Shirofune’s AI-powered automation. By leveraging real-time data and automated budget allocation, the company can dynamically adjust ad spend, ensuring that high-performing campaigns get priority while underperforming ones are either optimized or scaled down.

Shirofune’s automation also enables continuous A/B testing, allowing Carrot-Top's marketing team to experiment with multiple ad creatives, visuals, and bidding strategies more frequently. This shift has improved campaign agility and cost-efficiency, helping Carrot-Top react faster to market trends and maximize ROAS.

"With Shirofune, we’re no longer guessing. We now have the data and automation to fine-tune every campaign on the fly, ensuring we’re always reaching the right audience with the right message at the right time."

With Shirofune as the core of its digital advertising strategy, Carrot-Top is well-positioned to achieve sustained growth and efficiency. The company has successfully improved short-term metrics such as CPA and ROAS. However, it acknowledges that long-term success depends on optimizing LTV rather than solely reducing acquisition costs.

Traditionally, advertising performance was measured only up to the lead acquisition stage. As a result, marketing teams focused on acquiring low-cost leads, even if they had a low likelihood of converting into revenue. This misalignment with sales led to inefficiencies, as marketing efforts prioritized cost savings over sustainable business growth.

By integrating ad performance with CRM and sales data, Shirofune provides a comprehensive view of each campaign’s long-term revenue impact. This allows Carrot-Top to allocate ad spend more strategically, prioritizing high-value customers who drive repeat business rather than focusing solely on lowering CPA. Carrot-Top aims to collect and analyze LTV data in real time, allowing for smarter, automated ad optimizations based on these insights. This helps allocate budgets more effectively and fine-tune campaign strategies to attract high-value customers. Ultimately, it maximizes advertising ROI and contributes to sustainable business growth.

By continuously refining its approach, Carrot-Top ensures its continued competitiveness in its core U.S. market, particularly within government institutions, municipalities, and veteran organizations. Through data-driven decision-making and automation, the company is positioned to maximize advertising effectiveness while strengthening a strong presence in its key sectors.

For Carrot-Top, adopting Shirofune was not just about cutting costs—it was about transforming the way the company manages digital advertising. With real-time data, automated budget management, and AI-driven insights, Carrot-Top has built a scalable, efficient, and performance-focused advertising strategy.

"Shirofune isn’t just a tool—it’s an extension of our team. It has enabled us to scale smarter, react faster, and optimize performance like never before."