Why Your Business Should Continue Its Digital Ad Spend During Uncertain Times
By Intrigue
COVID-19 brought uncertain times for Canadian businesses. Despite all the confusion, a number of our clients in the home services industry took the advice of Intrigue’s conversion specialists and kept their ad spend budget the same during the pandemic.
Here’s why:
As other competitors in the home services and home renovations industry started to pull their digital ads, our clients kept their ads running. This helped them to get in front of more prospects and generate more leads.
After nearly four months of tracking analytics, we can now definitively say that Ontario-based home renovation companies who continued to run digital marketing ads leading up to, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, have experienced an increase in ad clicks and conversions (leads).
Note: The timelines used in the following examples below are from February 1, 2020 to May 27, 2020.
GTA Home Improvement Company
This home improvement company, located in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), continued to run their search ad campaigns. Their goal was to stay top-of-mind in their market during COVID-19.
Taking into consideration the advice of our conversion specialists, they elected to spend the same amount on ads during the height of the lockdown as they did prior to the lockdown.
As you can see in the graph above, there was a slight dip in clicks and conversions in late-February to mid-March. However, once other local businesses began pulling their Google Ads, they experienced an increase in clicks followed by conversions starting in mid-to-late March.
Their campaign continues to perform well and their metrics continue to increase. The average conversion rate during this time period was 9.10% — good enough for 33 leads!
Kitchener-Waterloo Renovation Company
Search campaign stats
Display remarketing campaign stats
A home renovations company in Kitchener-Waterloo kept their search and display remarketing campaigns running status quo during COVID-19.
As shown in the graphs above, they experienced a slight dip in clicks during the first half of March. Conversions were still happening during the dip but they were more inconsistent.
At the beginning of April, things began to change as clicks started to rise. A few weeks later, the conversions followed.
On April 25, the company added to its budget and several key ad targeting updates were made. This resulted in a large, immediate increase in clicks, which has remained consistent through May.
The renovation company’s continued ad spending — and increased ad spend while their competitors were reducing their budget — has created a strong, branded, online presence for their business.
The average conversion rate during this time period was 2.99% with 41 leads!
Guelph Kitchen Renovations Company
This kitchen renovation company kept targeting their local audience in Guelph during COVID-19, and it paid off.
Keeping their ad spend the same, they experienced a brief period (a few days) where clicks on their ads dipped. This happened around March 20, shortly after the lockdown was put in place.
During the lockdown, their clicks remained steady and healthy, and since April, they’ve been on a trend upwards.
Conversions did decrease during the lockdown and were less consistent compared to their pre-COVID-19 numbers, however, they are still generating quality leads and have remained top-of-mind locally for kitchen renovations.
The conversion rate during this time period was 8.7%, including 27 leads!
In Conclusion
There are no two ways about it: Staying in the online ad market for home services and home renovation clients has been beneficial during COVID-19.
Each of the three clients featured in this post did not change their ad spend budgets and each has seen the following benefits:
✔ Improved performance in April and May
✔ Built on pre-COVID-19 marketing efforts by staying in the market
✔ Continued micro and macro conversions (leads)
✔ Consistent website traffic
During a period when many businesses were panicking, pulling out of the digital ad market, and struggling to find enough leads to stay afloat, these three home renovation clients listened to the advice of the Intrigue team and continued to build their sales funnel and contract new work.
Their efforts have allowed them to remain top-of-mind with their local clients. It also allowed them to remain working during one of the most tumultuous times for business in recent memory.
If you have any questions about what you’ve read, we’re here to help. Get in touch with the digital marketing professionals at Intrigue who can help you scale and grow your business.
