At Click-Winning Content we work with a lot of businesses who have previously tried Google Ads but with no success. Read how we helped Tile Safe turn this around.
Background
Like many business owners, Dan O’Connor, from Tile Safe, a business who solves the problem of slippery tiles and floors, was using Google Ads with the aim of attracting new customers and generating a positive Return On Investment.
From the Tile Safe website:
He worked with a Google Ads agency who also developed his website, and gave them a monthly advertising budget of $1000. He received little to no enquiries.
At a point of frustration after being told by his agency his only solution was to spend money on a new website design and further increase the Google Ads budget, he went looking for separate advice.
He found marketing consultant, Megan Barrow, from JoElla Marketing. After a phone conversation Megan decided to dig in to Dan’s business and numbers before forwarding a proposal.
“It was clear Dan was savvy about his business and passionate about his product, but wasn’t receiving helpful advice nor answers to why the agency’s strategy and work was not working. He wanted honest advice, but was sceptical he would find it anywhere without it costing a lot more money,” says Megan.
With the Tile Safe site given a basic review, Dan and Megan agreed, as first priority, his website needed new messaging to better explain the product and service, along with clear calls to action.
The Existing Google Ads Campaign
Then Megan did a basic review of Google Ads and could see problems. There were a lot of clicks to the site, but no conversions. Megan explained to Dan this meant he was spending money to get website traffic from irrelevant audiences.
She suggested they contact Mel at Click-Winning Content, someone she trusted to give an honest review of his Ad’s campaign.
“I’d spent a lot of money with no return on investment. I knew there were customers out there, and if I was to give the business a chance, I had to trust Mel and Megan to give me the right advice and set things up for success,” Dan says.
When Mel received Dan and Megan’s email and received approval to conduct a Health Check, she quickly identified the Google Ads campaign had not been set up according to Google best practices, such as:
- All keywords were broad match and this was leading to inappropriate clicks
- There were no negative keywords added, which also leads to inappropriate clicks
- Only one version of ad copy was written for each ad group, so there was no testing to optimise for higher performing versions of the ads
- Conversion tracking wasn’t properly set up
- Location was set outside where Dan wanted to service
- Website didn’t have click to call phone number, which means it’s not easy to make a call from a mobile device.
The Recommendations
While Megan and Dan worked on new messaging, copy and a cost-effective solution for a website (the original couldn’t be easily edited), Mel sent a detailed proposal and explanation for a new campaign plan that was set against the objective to produce genuine enquiries.
Some of Mel’s recommendations included:
- Starting a new campaign from scratch to remove any negative history
- Focusing on agreed niche keywords to get targeted clicks which are more likely to convert
- Target Tile Safe’s target area (this recommendation seems obvious, but not targeting the right target area happens all too often!)
- Writing multiple versions of ad copy
- Setting up conversion goals within Google Analytics
- And more.
“It’s important to Click-Winning Content’s vision that our work is explained really clearly.
I care about customers feeling at ease that we’ll look after their campaign set-up from the big to little details, and that they understand how all the different parts of a campaign fit together to create high performing ads.” Says Mel
Actions Taken
Mel and Megan also worked closely together to ensure the website and Ads’ campaign were optimised to work together. A thank you page was set up for Google Analytics Goal conversion tracking to analyse results, Google Ads Website Call Tracking code was added to the site, and keywords were reviewed along with the ad copy to ensure that it was aligned with new marketing and messaging.
The new site was launched, as was the new Google Ads campaign with a lower advertising spend to test the starting campaign and new website.
“After a week, I received an email from Mel detailing the results and how they compared to the previous campaign. After receiving no communication from my previous AdWords Manager, it was such a relief to be told what was happening. As well as providing statistics Mel asked about the enquiries that I’d received and their quality. This gave me confidence that she cared about the success of the campaign beyond the performance numbers” Dan says.
The first month of the new Google Ads campaign resulted in conversions for Tile Safe; Dan’s phone was finally ringing. While not all enquiries were converted (some by choice, some because they weren’t quite right), Dan had new customers and was seeing positive traction for his marketing and advertising outlay.
And accordingly, Dan agreed to increase his advertising budget.
However, by the second month, Mel and her team could see the increase was not needed. Tile Safe’s total ad spend was less than the first month’s with more conversions.
How did a lower spend result in more conversions?
Tile Safe currently has a niche market with keywords around non slip floor treatment. The original campaign had been set with keywords that produced a high click rate for products Dan didn’t want to promote as primary services and that had low profit margins.
“Even though we increased the budget, due to the limited number of searches for (Tile Safe’s) keywords, the ad spend was less than the budget. While I could have added more keywords that would get more clicks and spend Dan’s money, I wanted him to have a campaign with a good click through rate that generated the enquiries he wanted at a cost that’s profitable for his business,” Mel says.
How can you get similar Google Ads results?
If you outsource your Google Ads and pay an agency or consultant to manage your campaigns, they are only as good as not only their skills but the information they share and how they communicate it.
This also starts with a clear understanding of business objectives and what Google Ads success is for your business.
On the surface, Tile Safe’s first agency were producing results – lots of traffic to the website. But that wasn’t producing the results Dan wanted. It can be easy for managers to say you need to spend more money to get conversions, but increasing a budget won’t fix a campaign that is poorly implemented.
Tile Safe’s experience highlights some things to ask your Google Ads manager or agency:
- Are they clear on your objectives and goals for each campaign?
- How are they measuring success?
- What sort of search terms are attracting clicks and what ones are being added as negative keywords?
- What are the different versions of ad copy for each Ad Group?
- What are your top performing versions of ad copy? What are your least?
- What updates are they making on an ongoing basis doing to deliver better results?
- What recommendations do they have for improving results in future?
Like many aspects of business, setting up and managing Google Ads well takes knowledge, experience and skill. Trying to Do It Yourself can be a false economy and so can working with the wrong Google Ads agency. Check the knowledge, experience and ‘word of mouth’ reviews on an agency before you start working with them and be confident to ask questions. If they aren’t answered to your satisfaction, find another agency!
Melinda aka Mel is a Google Partner, Google Ads & Consultant, Speaker and Trainer and co-owner of Click-Winning Content.
Mel provides results-driven services to organisations around the world and is committed to never using an acronym without explaining it first. She also likes greyhounds as pets, grand slam tennis, cracked pepper and Melbourne sunsets.
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