PPC Campaign Examples: Small Business Growth

The Challenge

This local business was spending £1,500/month on Google Ads but struggled with high cost-per-click rates and low-quality phone calls. Their campaign structure was outdated, targeting broad matching keywords that attracted searchers looking for DIY fixes rather than professional services.

The Results

Within 60 days, their cost-per-lead moved from £45 to £26 in this example scenario. Monthly inquiries increased, and negative keyword filtering helped focus spend on more relevant searches.

Our Strategy

• Restructured campaigns to focus strictly on exact-match local intent keywords.
• Implemented detailed call tracking to separate sales calls from spam inquiries.
• Created an aggressive negative keyword list blocking DIY and competitor brand search queries.
• Configured ad schedule bid adjustments to prioritize high-converting operating hours.

The Challenge

An online retailer selling niche home goods had a return on ad spend (ROAS) hovering around 1.4x, barely covering product costs. Their budget was being spread thin across generic Shopping campaigns without any brand or product segmentation.

The Results

In this example scenario, total ROAS improved from 1.4x to 3.8x. The Microsoft Ads test provided an additional revenue stream with a lower cost-per-acquisition than the Google campaign during the review period.

Our Strategy

• Rebuilt Google Performance Max and Standard Shopping campaigns with strategic product groupings.
• Mirrored selected search campaigns onto Microsoft Ads to test additional desktop traffic.
• Optimized product feed attributes (titles, descriptions, categories) to align with long-tail buyer queries.
• Implemented custom audience exclusion lists to prevent showing ads to existing customers.

The Challenge

A consultancy targeting corporate finance executives was priced out of Google Ads due to extreme competitor bidding, driving search CPCs over £15. They were struggling to acquire leads affordably and their budget was depleted early each morning.

The Results

In this example scenario, moving part of the budget to Microsoft Ads reduced average CPC from £15.20 to £4.10. Search volume was lower, but the account produced a lower B2B cost-per-lead during the review period.

Our Strategy

• Shifted 70% of the budget to Microsoft Ads to take advantage of lower competition desktop search volume.
• Applied Microsoft's native LinkedIn Profile Targeting to prioritize searchers at companies with 50+ employees within the Finance and HR sectors.
• Developed a dedicated, clean landing page focused entirely on solving key compliance challenges.
• Refined keyword lists to target specific business queries rather than broad informational terms.