Online marketing case study: SEM to generate B2B leads

Continuous optimization of Creaform’s PPC campaigns

Creaform’s management team quickly recognized the potential of online advertising to generate qualified leads. While many high-tech companies do not believe that a digital marketing strategy can generate substantial results, Creaform nevertheless closes many sales using the web, thanks in part to ad campaigns that are carried out on many different platforms, including Google Ads (formerly known as Ads), Facebook Ads, LinkedIn Ads, Bing Ads, Yandex Ads, Naver Ad Services and Baidu.

Challenge

Since 2004, Leonard oversees Creaform’s PPC campaigns and monitors changes as well as major innovations on various ad platforms, such as Google Ads. Over the years, we have noticed that costs per click steadily increased because more of Creaform’s competitors started their own PPC campaigns using the same keywords and targeted audiences. This price increase was also caused by automatic performance optimizations performed by Google Ads, which removed the account manager’s control and boosted the costs per click based on the click rates. With Creaform’s SEM campaign management, Leonard’s challenge was to stabilize the cost per acquisition (CPA) of leads despite an increase in costs per click.

Our continuous optimizations

Data analysis

With its Google Ads account alone, Creaform had over 1000 campaigns. Four hundred of these were active. The sheer amount of data from such a large-scale ad initiative meant that Leonard had to develop customized ad analysis tools. We used Tableau Software to monitor campaign performance. We also developed a custom online dashbaord to follow the monthly goals of all ad campaigns per region, per product and per channel. Thanks to this effective use of data, we can continuously optimize campaigns on all levels.

Custom optimization scripts

In addition to having implemented analysis tools, we also used data to automate certain optimizations. Instead of using the automation options offered by Google, such as the bidding management tool, we created our very own scripts based on specific criteria. This enabled Creaform to save lots of money. These scripts:

ensure that landing pages always work and notify Leonard immediately if there are bugs or error messages;
automatically pause ads that are not performing as well as others as well as alert the team when an ad group only has 2 ads left;
automatically adjust the bidding criteria;
generate reports on campaigns that should be prioritized or removed altogether based on performance levels and company goals.

While Lenoard automated many processes, manual optimizations remain crucial to Creaform’s sucess. Google Ads Editor is the perfect tool to save time when editing a lot of campaign data.

A/B testing

Leonard not only manages Creaform’s PPC campaigns but also conducts A/B testing in order to identify the best messages, calls to action (CTA) and images. A/B testing is also conducted on landing pages and their forms. This year, the team tested 3 different forms, including one that was designed specifically for users of mobile devices. The goal was to optimize the conversion rates of people who filled out forms. These tests enables us to constantly check our performance levels for both ad campaigns and the website. The result? Creaform was able to benefit from substantial savings and an increase in revenues.

Diversified portfolio management

When investing in PPC campaigns, you can never put all your eggs in one basket. Leonard also manages Creaform’s PPC campaigns on platforms that may have less traffic but more affordable costs per click, such as Bing Ads and Yahoo. Moreover, we manage the company’s social campaigns on Facebook Ads and LinkedIn Ads, especially when it comes to remarketing. We also oversee campaigns on Naver Ad Services (South Korea), Baidu (China) and Yandex Ads (Russia). With Google Ads, we also make sure to diversify the types of campaigns: remarketing, display, video, smart campaigns, etc.

Visit Creaform website

Creaform Generate qualified B2B leads thanks to SEM

Continuous optimization of Creaform’s PPC campaigns

Our expertise brought to the project:

Challenge

Our continuous optimizations

Data analysis

Custom optimization scripts

A/B testing

Diversified portfolio management

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