From $227 a lead at launch to 417 leads at $23

The starting point

There was no account. I built it from scratch. A new account has no conversion data, so the first weeks are expensive: it paid $227 for each of its first four leads. The job was to get that cost down fast.

What I did

I built it around intent from the first keyword.

• Based keyword research around high-intent searches such as “photo booth rental Chicago” and “360 photo booth rental”.
• Built a negative keyword list to stop paying for irrelevant searches.
• Split the campaign into separate ad groups for standard and 360 photo booths, each with ads written for that product.
• Sent traffic to a dedicated Get a Quote page, built for speed and mobile with clear calls to action.
• Used Smart Bidding to gather conversion data quickly, then tested ad copy and checked performance daily, pausing weak keywords and moving budget to the ones that converted.

What happened

In its first three months the account paid $227 a lead. Over thirteen months, November 2023 to November 2024, it delivered 417 conversions at $23 each.

The sector is not apparel. The problem is the one most clothing brands have in Google Ads: money going to searches that were never going to buy.