Google Ads in 2025 can feel a bit like staring into a box of tangled Christmas lights: everything looks connected, everything should work, but somehow your ROAS is flickering like a loose bulb.

This article pulls back the curtain on how Lever Digital - yes that’s us - how we actually approach PPC strategy, not with wishy-washy “best practices,” but with custom strategies for companies across the SaaS, FinTech, eCommerce and Travel sector.

You’ll see exactly how we’ve helped clients scale, enter new markets, and clean up accounts that needed more than a spring clean. You’ll also see how our Google Ads management strategies adapt to different industries, budgets, and operational realities.

So yes, we practise what we preach. Every example below is pulled from a real client success tory. Perhaps you’ll be next?

Why Strategy Matters

Performance marketing is crowded with generic claims: “data-driven,” “ROI-first,” “full-funnel,” “AI-powered optimisation”, phrases that all mean everything and nothing at the same time.

This article is designed to do the opposite.

It shows:

• the thinking behind our decisions,
• the structures behind our campaigns, and
• the patterns that show up across industries when PPC is done properly.

1. Heist Studios (eCommerce) — Precision Feed Management & High-Intent Search Structure

Key performance outcomes:

• 232% increase in purchases
• 45% increase in conversion rate
• 203% increase in conversion value
• 18% reduction in CPA

Heist Studios approached Lever with a familiar eCommerce challenge: scale without burning money.

Their previous setup was functioning, but it was not optimised for high-intent moments or product-level efficiency. Over 18 months, we focused on four levers (pun respectfully intended):

a) High-Intent Search & Shopping Structure

Instead of chasing blended volume, we engineered campaigns to capture ready-to-buy users searching with commercial intent.

This meant:

• restructuring keyword groups for efficiency,
• eliminating low-quality spend,
• sharpening match types,
• and making sure the Shopping feed did more than just exist.

b) Feed Management as a Performance Engine

Most merchants assume Shopping performance is mainly bidding.

In reality, feed quality drives more margin than 90% of bid changes.

For Heist this included:

• product title optimisation based on real search behaviour,
• attribute enrichment,
• and improving relevance signals for Google’s systems.

Those small changes compound into large revenue gains, hence the 203% growth in conversion value.

c) Improved Tracking, Better Attribution

Advanced tracking enabled smarter automated bidding and more reliable insight into what was actually working.

This remains one of the biggest differentiators between average and elite eCommerce accounts.

d) Meta as a Complementary Acquisition Channel

Meta Ads provided incremental reach, allowed structured creative testing, and supported Google’s bottom-funnel performance by warming audiences upstream.

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Read more about how we helped Heist grow their eCommerce business with the right high-intent ppc strategy here.

2. Uplisting (SaaS) — Bootstrapped PPC Efficiency & Continuous Testing Structure

Key outcomes:

• 100% YoY revenue growth (two years running)
• 5× increase in free trials per month
• 4× increase in customers per month

Uplisting is a brilliant example of a SaaS company that needed high-skill PPC execution without the “big agency” overhead.

a) Budget Efficiency as a Strategic Constraint

A bootstrapped SaaS business can’t afford guesswork, so the structure had to be ruthlessly efficient from day one. Every pound needed to produce learning, revenue, or both.

This shaped how we:

• prioritised high-intent search queries,
• avoided broad, expensive experiments,
• and used audience layering to ensure trials came from people who would actually convert.

b) Deep Discovery: Understanding the Product & Customer Journey

Before any campaign went live, we mapped:

• the business model,
• the key user pain points,
• the competitive landscape,
• the search behaviour of property managers and hosts.

This allowed us to build campaigns with precision—rather than the usual SaaS PPC “spray-and-pray” approach.

c) Tight Feedback Loops

Lever used ongoing testing cycles to improve:

• CPA stabilisation,
• conversion rates,
• targeting accuracy,
• and visibility on what behaviours predicted trial → customer conversion.

Read more about how we helped Uplisting achieve 100% YoY revenue with an efficient ppc strategy here.

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3. Saddle Skedaddle (Travel) — Quality-First Restructure & Market Expansion

Key outcomes:

• 17% increase in high-intent leads
• 172% increase in booked revenue in peak season
• 108% increase in purchasers

Saddle Skedaddle came from a fully automated Performance Max setup, great for volume, not so great for efficiency or lead quality.

Lever’s role was to bring strategy, nuance, and human judgment back into the account.

a) Rebuilding the Account for High-Intent Behaviour

We rebuilt the campaigns around the behaviours that mattered:

• trip note downloads,
• itinerary viewing,
• route-specific searches,
• registered interest.

This shifted spend from generic “cycling holiday” noise to intent-rich actions that predict bookings.

b) Entering the US Market with Efficiency

Within three months, we proved the US could match the UK’s CPL.

This is extremely rare in travel, especially when expanding to a market with higher competition and CPCs.

c) Channel Diversification & Seasonal Planning

Microsoft Ads brought incremental reach among high-value audiences.

Meta Ads supported awareness during off-peak periods.

We used data to focus budgets on the most profitable routes, improving overall ROI during peak travel season.

Read more about how we helped Saddle Skedaddle achieve 172% increase in booking in peak season with a quality focussed ppc strategy

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4. Spell Payments (FinTech) — Tracking + Bidding Alignment = 300% YoY Growth

Key outcomes:

• 300% year-over-year revenue growth
• 20% CPL reduction
• 10% average conversion rate

Spell had been investing in paid media for years, but tracking issues and poor campaign structure meant they couldn’t scale effectively.

They even tried another agency before returning to Lever when results failed to materialise.

a) Full Account Audit = Immediate Clarity

The audit uncovered:

• inefficient spend,
• poorly aligned bidding strategies,
• low-quality conversions being optimised for,
• missing tracking signals that crippled Google’s automation.

b) Enhanced Conversion Tracking

Introducing enhanced conversions helped Google’s bidding models finally understand who Spell’s valuable leads were.

This is a common unlock in B2B and FinTech.

c) Focusing on Lead Quality over Volume

Instead of chasing more form fills, we optimised for the conversions that actually matter to revenue.

This changed bidding, audience strategy, and campaign focus.

Read more about how we helped this fintech company achieve 300% YoY revenue growth with an aligned digital marketing strategy.

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5. A Global Accountancy Firm — Quality-First PPC & ROAS Targeting

Key outcomes:

• 22.74 ROAS
• 68% increase in conversion value
• 10% increase in conversions

This global accounting network needed a UK partner who understood B2B search behaviour, long sales cycles, and the difference between high-value conversions and low-value noise.

a) Audit & Restructure with Enterprise Priorities

We rebuilt the account around:

• priority software products,
• advisory services,
• segmented intent-led keywords,
• tailored audience groups.

Enterprise B2B has layers of nuance, bidding mistakes are expensive. Precision isn’t optional.

b) Quality Over Quantity

Some B2B accounts chase volume because it “looks impressive.”

Lever did the opposite: we cut waste, raised the share of valuable conversions, and focused spend where it produced meaningful ROAS.

c) Close Collaboration with the Marketing Team

Data only works when both sides know what they’re seeing.

The client’s in-house team collaborated with Lever closely to align campaigns with commercial priorities and reporting standards.

Read more about how we helped this global accountancy firm achieve over 22% ROAS with a value optimised ppcstrategy.

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The Patterns Behind the Case Studies

Across eCommerce, SaaS, FinTech, Travel and B2B, a few consistent themes emerge:

1. Tracking Before Tactics

Without reliable data, Google Ads is guessing.

Every case study shows the same truth: improved tracking leads to better bidding, and compound performance.

2. Structure Beats “Hacks”

Heist’s feed improvements, Spell’s conversion signals, and the accountancy firm’s campaign restructure all demonstrate the same thing:

Good structure is the strategy.

3. Intent is Everything

Whether it’s Uplisting trials, Skedaddle trip notes, or high-value FinTech leads, Lever optimises for the behaviours that matter to revenue.

4. Channel Diversification is a Growth Unlock

Meta, Microsoft, and platform-specific strategies supported growth across multiple clients.

5. Human-Led, Data-Backed Decision Making

Automation is powerful, but only when paired with strategic direction and thoughtful human bias.

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Across all these stories, you’ll spot familiar themes, but never a copy-and-paste strategy. Every business needed something different, and that’s exactly the point.

So if you’re staring at a proposal that feels a bit “one size fits all,” it might be worth asking us for a free proposal of your own. We’ll show you what a genuinely strategic, real-time growth plan looks like. Built for your business, not the agency’s template.

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