A luxury vacation rental company competing on search against Airbnb, Vrbo and Hotels.com on a $5,000 monthly budget doubled its leads within two months of Cosmo Californie Media launching Performance Max and competitor campaigns, with cost per lead down 34.4% on $5,671.66 of ad spend. We built Performance Max on the client's media library and Instagram content, used a custom script to see where the Performance Max budget actually went, and added Google Analytics, Tag Manager, retargeting audiences and a lead-capture pop-up tied to an automated email sequence. Lead quality was still being assessed with the client.
- Client Type
- Vacation Rental
- Industry
- Tourism
- Service
- Google Ads Services
- Project Length
- 2 months
- Overall Results
- 34.4% Decrease in Cost/Lead. 2x Lead Increase
Challenges / Opportunities
This client is in the highly competitive vacation rental space. They were running Google Ads for the previous year and were not receiving the quantity of leads they desired. This project presented a challenge because Google works with exclusive 3rd party providers for listing vacation rentals on it’s “Hotel Center” area. This client was already working with another listing provider for this aspect, but also wanted to show on search.
On search, for vacation rentals, we are not only competing with other vacation rental companies, but we are also competing with large platforms like Airbnb, Vrbo, Hotels.com, etc who have extensive ad budgets. This clients’ budget was $5000 per month.
The opportunity was that this client had an extensive media library and a well built out instagram page. We leveraged this within Google Ads.
Work We Did / Lessons Learned
Performance Max has become one of the most profitable channels to invest in Google Ads over the past 6 months. While it use to work only for e-commerce, it has improved for lead generation and other industries if the client has a good media library. Performance Max gives a lot of power to Google to chose where to show advertisements:
- Youtube
- Gmail
- Discovery
- Display
- Search
It is a black box, and it is difficult to know what % of your budget is allocated to which platform, what keywords you are showing for, etc. However, our team, through a custom script, is able to generate a report that gives us this information, and essentially hack our way into knowing where the ads are showing.
Competitor campaigns are another unique way to generate impressions and leads. This strategy involves showing your ad when a user searches one of your competitors. We implemented this strategy because the vacation rental marketplace is so competitive. Most users look at 12+ homes before making a decision and we know decisions are made based on property more than based on brand. By researching the local competition we were able to throw our client’s “hat into the ring” on users currently deep in their research.
Behind the scenes of these campaigns we setup google analytics, google tag manager, audience creation for retargeting and a lead capture pop up on the website that was synced with an interactive automated email sequence. These were essential items in such a competitive market so that when the leads did not convert on first visit to purchase, the client received their contact information and the brand is able to stay top of mind throughout the users research and purchase journey.
After launch, the account immediately saw the cost/lead come down.
Results & Lasting Benefits
We were able generate the same amount of leads in half the amount of time after launching the Performance Max and Competitor campaigns. This is a newer project and now our focus is working with the client to understand the quality of the leads coming in. Continuous optimization is the name of the game here and we are excited for what’s to come on this account.
Questions about this case study
Why use Performance Max for a vacation rental?
Performance Max had become one of the more profitable Google Ads channels over the preceding six months, and it works for lead generation when the client has a good media library, which this client did, along with a well-built Instagram page. It lets Google place ads across YouTube, Gmail, Discovery, Display and Search. Our custom script reports where the budget goes and which searches the ads show for, which Google does not show by default.
What is a competitor campaign?
Showing your ad when someone searches for a competitor. Vacation rental shoppers look at 12 or more homes before deciding and choose on the property more than the brand, so researching the local competition put the client in front of people deep in their research.
What were the results?
The same number of leads in half the time after launch, which is 2x leads, with cost per lead down 34.4% on $5,671.66 of ad spend over two months. The page is open that this was a newer project and that the next step was working with the client to understand lead quality.
What was set up behind the campaigns?
Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, retargeting audiences, and a lead-capture pop-up on the website synced to an interactive automated email sequence, so the brand could stay in front of visitors who did not book on the first visit.
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