ICM Holding
Manufacturing of plastic scale models
About the Client
ICM (International Craft Models) is a Ukrainian manufacturer of plastic scale models of military equipment in scales 1:72, 1:48, 1:35, and 1:32. The company produces models of aircraft (MiG-25, MH-60L Black Hawk, HP.52 Hampden, Cessna), armored vehicles, cars, figures, and dioramas, as well as specialized acrylic paints matched to the historical paint schemes of specific models. ICM products are sold in dozens of countries worldwide—from hobby shops in the US and Europe to online retailers.
ICM Holding is a vertically integrated business: a manufacturer with its own brand, competing with giants like Tamiya (Japan), Revell (Germany), Academy (South Korea), and Trumpeter (China). ICM model quality is recognized internationally: detailing, scale accuracy, and instructions are on par with global leaders. In addition to its own brand, ICM is the exclusive distributor of Hasegawa in Ukraine and the local contact for Tamiya—two of the biggest names in the world of modeling.
The business model includes three directions: B2B — wholesale sales to distributors and stores worldwide via icm.com.ua, B2C — direct sales via the own online store icmtrade.com.ua (models, paints, tools, glues from 99 to 3,500 UAH, free shipping from 2,000 UAH), and distribution of international brands (Hasegawa, Tamiya) in Ukraine. The scale model market is a global niche with passionate enthusiasts, where brand and quality are everything.
Challenge: Initial Situation
Absence of an Online Store
- Zero advertising presence in Google Ads
- No targeting on key markets (USA, UK, Germany)
- No conversion tracking
- No analytics infrastructure (GA4, GTM)
- The new trading site icmtrade.com.ua required SEO from scratch
- Semantic core not collected
- Meta tags not optimized
- Zero organic visibility
Key Task
Guild of Marketing Services
- Web Development: icmtrade.com.ua
Full e-commerce on WordPress + Elementor + WooCommerce
- SEO:
icmtrade.com.ua
- SEO:
icmtrade.com.ua
- Analytics
Results of the Guild of Marketing team's work
Conversion Distribution by Market
| Market | Conversions | % of Total |
|---|---|---|
| Ukraine | 2 583 | 59% |
| United Kingdom | 647 | 15% |
| USA | 545 | 13% |
| Germany | 161 | 4% |
| Other | 406 | 9% |
Top Campaigns
| Campaign | Type | Clicks | Conversions | CPC |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [GM] Demand Generation - Ukraine (Nov) | Demand Gen | 5 678 | 801 | 0.7 UAH |
| [GM] Display - Ukraine | Display | 5 417 | 623 | 2.5 UAH |
| [GM] Demand Generation - Ukraine | Demand Gen | 8 738 | 496 | 0.8 UAH |
| [GM] Demand Generation - Ukraine b | Demand Gen | 3 946 | 379 | 0.7 UAH |
| [GM] Display - Ukraine (January) | Display | 2 645 | 341 | 1.6 UAH |
| [GM] Demand Generation - UK | Demand Gen | 8 569 | 191 | 1.2 UAH |
GOM Strategy: From Store Development to International Advertising
Phase 1 : Development of icmtrade.com.ua Online Store (February–March 2024)
Creation of a full-fledged e-commerce from scratch on WordPress + Elementor + WooCommerce:
- Multi-functional slider
- Advertising banners
- Product categories with unique design
- Promotional offers, top products, recommended items
- Information block about the offline store
- Benefits, reviews, subscription form, social media widgets
- Categories with images, filters by attributes and price
- Sorting, pagination
- SEO description for each category
- Advertising blocks in the sidebar
- Variable product (different scales)
- Full-size photos, detailed description, specifications
- Brand, SKU, price, promotional price
- Availability, add to cart button, reviews, rating
- Similar products, additional information
- Cart with order summary
- Delivery selection (Nova Poshta) and payment (online)
- Personal cabinet, registration, guest purchase
- Auto-responses via email, purchase success page
- Wishlist, product comparison
- Buy in 1 click
- CRM integration
- Newsletter subscription
- Delivery and payment, About Us, Reviews, Contacts
- Privacy policy, 404, Sitemap
Phase 2 : Phase 2: Launch of Google Ads on 4 Markets (April–June 2024)
Immediately after the store launch — advertising campaign on 4 countries:
Demand Gen (Demand Creation):
- 3 campaigns: USA, UK, Ukraine
- Visual advertising on YouTube, Gmail, Discover
- Creatives with model and box photos
- Audience signals by interests (modeling, military history)
- Testing bidding strategies
- UTM tags for tracking
Display (Display Advertising):
- 3 campaigns: USA, UK, Ukraine
- Competitor and interest audiences
- Creatives and ads
- Strategy testing
Analytics:
- Setup of Google Ads, Analytics 4, Tag Manager
- Conversion goal configuration
- Microsoft Clarity for session recording
- Daily monitoring
Phase 3 : Scaling and PMax (July–December 2024)
After the first months of data — scaling:
Performance Max:
- 3 campaigns: USA, UK, Ukraine
- Audience signals
- Bidding strategy testing
- Advertiser verification process
Continuous Optimization:
- Daily monitoring of all campaigns
- Analysis of key metrics
- Adjustment of bids and budgets
- Optimization of display and demand creation campaigns
- Creation and testing of new ads
- Placement cleaning
Phase 4 : Adding Germany and Thematic Campaigns (November 2024 – February 2025)
Third international market + thematic campaigns:
- Demand Gen, Display for Germany
- Thematic campaigns: MH-60L Black Hawk (specific popular model)
- Leads-Display campaigns for USA, UK, Germany
- Scaling successful campaigns
Phase 5 : SEO for icmtrade.com.ua (August 2024 – March 2026)
Parallel to advertising — building an organic channel:
Initial SEO (August 2024):
- In-depth niche analysis
- Semantic collection and clustering
- Search Console connection
- Analytics and reporting
Ongoing SEO (September 2024 – March 2026):
- Preparation of meta tags and generation templates
- Monitoring setup
- On-page content optimization
- Manual indexing of new pages
- Expansion and optimization of key queries
- Monthly analytics and reporting
Business Results
| Direction | Scale |
|---|---|
| Online store icmtrade.com.ua | Full e-commerce from scratch (WordPress + WooCommerce) |
| Google Ads | 56 campaigns for 4 countries (Demand Gen + Display + PMax) |
| SEO icmtrade.com.ua | 8+ optimization rounds |
| Analytics | GA4 + GTM + Microsoft Clarity |
- 4,342 conversions from Google Ads for the entire period
- 121,000+ clicks from 9.4 million impressions
- CPL 55 UAH ($1.3) — exceptionally low for an international market
- CR 3.6% — high conversion rate for a niche product
- 4 markets — Ukraine, USA, UK, Germany
- 56 campaigns — full coverage of all markets and ad types
- Full-fledged e-commerce — from zero to an online store with cart, payment, and delivery
- International presence — advertising on 4 markets simultaneously
- B2C channel — first opportunity to sell directly to the end customer
- Analytics infrastructure — every conversion tracked by country and campaign
- SEO foundation — organic traffic growing without advertising budget
Project Team
Web analytics experts with specializations in Google Analytics 4, Google Tag Manager, Meta Analytics, and corporate training.
- Project Manager
- PPC Specialist
- SEO Specialist
- Web Developer
- Designer
- Analyst
Innovative Solutions
1. Demand Gen as the Main Channel for a Niche Product
Instead of classic Search (which is limited by the number of search queries in a narrow niche), GOM chose Demand Gen — visual advertising that creates demand. High-quality model photos on YouTube, Gmail, and Discover attract modelers even when they are not searching for a specific model.
2. Country = Separate Strategy
Not one global campaign, but separate campaigns for each market. Ukraine received the largest volume (59% of conversions), UK — a steady flow (15%), USA — second largest (13%), Germany — a test market (4%). Each market is optimized separately.
3. Thematic Campaigns by Model
MH-60L Black Hawk — a popular model that received its own Demand Gen and Display campaigns. This is precise targeting: fans of this specific helicopter see the model ad. Result: 93 conversions just from the thematic display campaign.
4. Full-stack e-commerce
From zero to a full-fledged online store: cart, payment, delivery, personal cabinet, CRM. ICM got the ability to sell B2C directly for the first time — without intermediaries and distributors.
5. Display + Demand Gen instead of Search
In the niche of scale models, search demand is limited: few people search for “scale model MiG-25 1:48”. But millions of enthusiasts are interested in military history, aviation, modeling. Display and Demand Gen reach this audience through interests, not search queries.
6. Microsoft Clarity for UX
Session recordings on the new store showed how international customers interact with the site. Heatmaps revealed which elements attract attention and where users “get stuck” — allowing UI optimization.
Recommendations for Manufacturers with Global Ambitions
Checklist: Digital Strategy for a Manufacturer with Global Ambitions
- Create a full-fledged e-commerce (WooCommerce or similar)
- Set up payment and delivery for international customers
- Integrate CRM for order management
- Complete Google advertiser verification
- Launch Demand Gen campaigns by country
- Launch Display campaigns with competitor audiences
- Create thematic campaigns for hit products
- Set up GA4 + GTM + Microsoft Clarity
- Conduct SEO audit and collect semantics
- Optimize meta tags and category content
- Launch manual indexing of new pages
- Implement monthly analytics and reporting
Technology stack
Analytics tools
ADVERTISING TOOLS
TOOLS FOR ANALYSING WEBSITES AND COMPETITORS
FAQ
-
Why Demand Gen, not Search, for scale models?
Search demand for specific models is very narrow — few people search for "ICM scale model MH-60L Black Hawk 1:48". But millions of people are interested in aviation, military history, hobbies. Demand Gen shows beautiful model photos to this audience — and creates demand where it didn't exist.
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Why did Ukraine provide 59% of conversions, even though the market is smaller?
Three factors: loyalty to a domestic brand (ICM is a Ukrainian manufacturer), lower CPC (2-10x cheaper than in USA/UK), and direct sales without intermediaries. In Ukraine, a modeler buys on icmtrade.com.ua; in the USA, they often buy through a distributor.
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How long did the online store development take?
Full e-commerce from scratch — catalog, cart, payment, delivery, personal cabinet, CRM — took ~2 months. Parallel to development, advertising campaigns were already being prepared to launch traffic immediately after the store launch.
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Why SEO if the main traffic comes from advertising?
Advertising is "renting" traffic. SEO is "owning" it. After 12-18 months of systematic work, organic traffic can provide 20-40% of orders without click costs. For a manufacturer with a large catalog (dozens of models, each a separate page), the SEO potential is huge.
Our cases
ROMI
conversion cost
conversions per month
