Industrial B2B company scales leads by 5x

Background

Our client, a leader in the material handling industry for over 75 years, had built up their impressive brand reputation through word-of-mouth and more traditional advertising channels. However, significant untapped opportunities existed in digital marketing to generate new leads and expand brand awareness. They had been utilizing an agency but felt the results were not meeting expectations. 

Challenge

Our initial assessment revealed the company's Google Ads campaigns were running with an outdated setup that hadn't been changed in six years. This resulted in a number of problems like:

• Inefficient Spending. Campaigns were utilizing manual bidding with no day to day management of bids resulting in over spending on key terms and not showing on others.
• Broad Targeting: Ads targeted broad geographic areas well outside the company's actual service regions. Combined with overly general keyword choices, this resulted in ads appearing for irrelevant searches, wasting budget and driving no new business.
• Poor Data Collection. The conversion tracking consisted of page views of services pages rather than lead data. This led to a lack of clarity around what was actually generating leads, making ROI nearly impossible to measure.

This outdated approach also limited their ability to capitalize on searchers who were ready to speak to their team, which led to weak ad performance and missed sales opportunities. We needed to refocus the account on maximizing our budget to drive as many high quality leads as possible to fill their sales pipeline.

Solution

We began by auditing the entire ad account including the ad structure, conversion setup, site analytics, and past performance. After identifying key areas for improvement, we initiated our complete strategic overhaul with a data driven approach that included:

• Efficient Campaign Structure: Reconstructed the entire account from scratch to allow for a clearer allocation of budget, faster learning, and more focused messaging on each product line.
• Refined Targeting: Through extensive keyword analysis, we identified the exact search terms driving genuine interest and leads. Additionally, we created retargeting audiences to re-engage previous site visitors with highly relevant ads, increasing the likelihood of converting them into qualified leads.
• Enhanced Tracking: Implemented lead and engagement tracking software to ensure accurate conversion data and actionable insights. This was crucial for improving lead quality, proving ROI, and avoiding targeting existing customers with ads. 
• Consistent Account Management: Closely monitored the account and met with the client to apply learnings and show continuous growth towards the company's goals.
• Optimization: Regularly adjusted campaigns to maximize ROI and visibility through things like ad copy tests, narrowed targeting to areas specifically within the company's direct service regions, including budget pressure testing to understand how performance scales, and ongoing refinements based on day to day insights.

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Results

Within three months, our new targeted approach increased monthly leads from 68 to 185, by focusing on forklift and railcar mover sales. Over the following years, we expanded the company's monthly ad spend from $5K to $26K, diversifying into new market segments and services while sustaining a steady increase in leads and sales. Our strategic expansion and vigilant campaign management have not only met but exceeded client expectations.

Key Highlights: 

• From 2021 to 2024: 5x lead volume from when we started with only a 1.6x budget increase. 
• $865k ad spend managed during that period
• Average cost per lead dropped significantly from $320/lead to $30/lead. 

What’s next?

Our partnership with the client demonstrates how effective a solid paid search strategy can be to accelerate growth in your market. If you're looking to build a more scalable lead generation channel, we’re ready to help. Reach out, let's have a conversation about what you're looking to achieve.