Targeted PPC Achieves 35,000 Conversions for Automotive Comparison Site

Challenge

Our client is an automotive comparison site for users who wish to lease a vehicle. Due to the competitive market they operate in, the client wanted a comprehensive Google Ads campaign to drive form completions without over-spending.

The client came to us with two key caveats with their Google Ads strategy. Firstly there was a lot of competition for the ad terms they wanted to bid for. Not only were other comparison sites bidding, but branded sites also controlled this space.

Secondly, they needed to balance the Cost Per Click and the Cost Per Acquisition. This meant the client had strict maximum budgets to ensure they were still profiting from the Google Ads strategy. Given the highly competitive bidding for the keywords, and the way Google Ads operate, our PPC approach had to find a way to fine-tune the balance without overspending.

Solution

The solution to this was creating a huge range of Google Ad campaigns, across a wide number of both long and short tail keywords.

While there was a small focus on head terms such as ‘car leasing’ or ‘car leasing for businesses’, these terms often had a very high CPC, meaning that tracking Cost per Acquisition was imperative. So, our PPC team overhauled the way the ads were monitored. They removed the ‘call’ button from ads and listings, instead focusing on form submissions. This meant the client could concisely track the conversions from these ads to ensure they were getting a good ROI.

The PPC team and the client’s owner would then hold monthly catch-ups to discuss figures and conversions. This chat would inform the ad strategy for the following month.

Part of the monthly discussion was regarding the ‘trending’ brands and models of the most hired vehicles. The team would then use these to inform the long tail keywords for the Google Ads campaigns. Examples include ‘Ford Fiesta for lease’ or ‘Ford Transit Van to hire’ - this meant the client could capitalise on trending searches while bidding for less competitive keywords at a lower rate.

Results

Overall, this strategy saw massive positive effects. The change of the CTA to allow better tracking meant the client knew the strategy was working. The monthly meetings ensured the team could be reactionary to the changing market, seeing an increased click-through rate of 12.5% and an 8% conversion rate across a massive 35,000 conversions.

The client also saw a lower CPC across the long-tail keywords and a more manageable CPC across the head terms, with the average cost per lead being £8. This resulted in a better cost per acquisition and higher ROI across the board!