Direct for Delivery Service: How to Triple Orders and Reduce Costs by 50%

Those who don’t get leads from Direct simply don’t know how to work with it. Often, business owners spend six-figure sums on Yandex Direct and receive only a handful of orders in return. The problem lies in calibrating this remarkable tool. This was exactly the challenge faced by the halal food delivery service “Imperator” in Kazan.

The situation in December 2025 looked rather bleak: the budget was draining away, and the cost of acquiring a customer was comparable to the order value itself. Such cases are not uncommon, and the reason is the lack of a professional approach to advertising setup. 

In such situations, the only way to convince a client to continue using Direct is to clearly demonstrate how much can be earned with it—if used correctly.

December 2025

At the start, “Imperator” had a single active campaign in YAN (Yandex Advertising Network, banner ads), which was running at a loss:

• Expenses: 113,257 RUB
• Number of orders: 72
• Cost per order: 1,573.01 RUB
• Clicks: 3,120

With such figures, it’s hard to make food delivery work—the business simply wasn’t profitable.

What Was Done

We analyzed the existing campaign, identified growth points, and outlined further steps. Since our main focus is providing a platform for food and flower delivery businesses, along with the necessary infrastructure (websites, apps, CRM, etc.), we understand both the client’s interests and those of their potential customers. 

The most common task is usually to cut off all unnecessary traffic that eats up the advertising budget. 

How to Fix Yandex Direct:

1. Switch to conversion-based payment: Now, you only pay Yandex for confirmed orders, not for empty clicks.
2. Cleaning up placements and devices: Campaigns were freed from inefficient mobile apps and unwanted sites where the budget is often wasted.
3. Audience targeting: Adjustments were made for age and behavior. Ads stopped showing to those outside the target audience profile.
4. Semantic work: Expanded lists of negative keywords specific to this niche were added.
5. Retargeting: Set up to “nudge” those who visited the site but didn’t complete their cart.
6. Creative updates: New ads were created that made “Imperator” stand out among competitors in Kazan.
7. Scaling advertising: New search campaigns were launched, a product campaign via the campaign wizard, and ads in TG channels.

March 2026

After three months of work, the results were clear:

• Expenses: 46,574.63 RUB (a reduction of almost 2.5 times)
• Number of orders: 247 (an increase of more than 3 times)
• Cost per order: 188.56 RUB
• Clicks: 3,429

Final Efficiency in Numbers:

The results of a professional Direct specialist’s work are clearly visible in percentage terms:

• Expenses decreased by 58.88% (from 113,257 to 46,574.63 RUB)
• Number of orders increased by 243.06% (from 72 to 247)
• Traffic increased by 9.90% (from 3,120 to 3,429)
• Cost per order decreased by 88.01% (from 1,573.01 to 188.56 RUB)

Summary

The “Imperator” case proves: even in tough competition, you can get inexpensive orders. The secret to success lies not in the size of the budget, but in the professionalism of the specialist setting up your advertising.

Thanks to the experience of our marketer and Direct specialist Elvira and her expertise in the delivery sector, we managed not just to tweak the ad account settings, but to create an entirely new approach, turning Yandex Direct into a stable and profitable sales channel.

And of course, it was a pleasure to receive such heartfelt feedback from the client:

I would like to express my gratitude to FoodSoul. We started working with them about two and a half years ago. As a delivery manager, everything is convenient for me—integrations and automations are in place. Clients also mention that placing orders is just one click, which is very convenient for them. Recently, we also used the services of a marketer and met Elvira—they work very promptly, both tech support and the marketer, which is very pleasing. So far, I am very satisfied. Words alone cannot express my gratitude: in practice, anyone who works with them will understand the best side they show.

Our cooperation with “Imperator” continues, because Direct should never be left unattended. And we are happy to welcome new clients to our advertising services—we’ll tell you about some of them in future articles.

Best regards,

Elvira, FoodSoul marketer