Google Ads success story · Stationery and keepsake journal brand

How a family-run journal brand grew its Google Ads revenue 262% in a year.

Name: Overtop Media Digital Marketing
Address: 933 Louise Ave Suite 101-18, Charlotte, NC, 28204, US
Telephone: (704) 237-0707
Price range: $$

Duncan and Stone started with parenthood journals sold from a garage. As the range grew, Performance Max let a small team put the right journal in front of people searching for exactly that kind of keepsake.

Business: Duncan and Stone Paper Co.
Market: Fayetteville, Arkansas
Goal: Reach people searching for specific kinds of journals

Green cloth journal and a gold pen on a light wooden desk beside a candle

The results.

The owners did not state what the 2024 growth is compared with.

262%growth in revenue from Google Ads in 2024

Reported by the owners in an interview Google published in 2026 (self-reported). No measurement method was stated.

The challenge.

Duncan and Stone Paper Co. launched in 2020 with a line of parenthood journals. Two founding families ran everything themselves, from design to shipping out of a garage, before moving to a fulfillment center.

Its products are specific: journals for particular stages of life. The people who want them search for exactly that, and the challenge was to reach them without a large marketing team.

A shopper searchesFor a specific kind of journal.
Performance Max matchesThe right product from the catalog.
Sale on the websiteShipped from the fulfillment center.
262% growthIn revenue from Google Ads in 2024.

What they did.

Performance Max

Performance Max at the center: Performance Max ran across Google’s channels and, in the owners’ words, kept outperforming everything else they tried.
Matched journals to searches: The campaign connected people searching for specific journal types with the product made for them.
Let automation carry the workload: With a small team, Google’s automated campaigns handled targeting and placement so the founders could focus on products.

Why it worked.

Our read on the decisions behind the numbers, and what any business can take from them.

Specific products, specific searches: People looking for a particular kind of journal, such as one for new parents, are close to buying. Showing them exactly that product converts.
One system for a small team: A single automated campaign across Google’s channels meant less to manage and more time for the business.
A catalog that kept growing: As new journals launched, the campaign could show each one to the people searching for it.

How we would run this play for your business.

You do not need a national budget to use the same ideas. This is how Overtop Media Digital Marketing puts them to work in our google ads management.

Get the product feed right: Titles, images and categories that match how people search are the foundation of our Google Shopping work.
Group products by intent: Our team groups your catalog by what shoppers are looking for, so a gift buyer and a planner buyer each see the right product.
Run Performance Max with guardrails: We keep brand searches and returning customers separate so Performance Max is judged on new sales.
Time the gift seasons: Mother’s Day, graduation and the holidays get budgets planned weeks ahead.