Case Study
From Seed to Lead: How Carbon Neutral Britain Gained a 55% Increase In Conversion Rates
Carbon Neutral Britain is one of the leading carbon-offsetting NGOs in the UK. Their initiative helps individuals and businesses access affordable and regulated carbon offsetting credits through subscriptions and carbon-neutral certifications.
Novi has been providing PPC services for Carbon Neutral Britain since June 2023, helping to cultivate a strategy that inspires a sustainable and greener future.
55%
Increase in conversion rates for Google Ads over six months
470%
Increase in conversion rates for Microsoft Ads over six months
89%
Increase in Clicks Across Google Ads & Microsoft Ads
What was the problem?
Carbon Neutral Britain (CNB) came to Novi due to our renowned B Corp status and industry expertise. Initially, they requested a PPC audit for their existing Google Ads campaigns, as they had not seen much improvement in their performance. After helping them pinpoint key areas for growth and optimisation, they then moved over to a managed service two months later.
The director of CNB was open-minded about the ideation phase of our ad and asset creation and expressed an interest in increasing their total ad spend across Google Ads and Microsoft Ads if it meant the right people saw the ads at the right time.
One of the main challenges CNB faced was the director’s time constraints while running the company. Although he possessed some knowledge of paid advertising, it was not significant enough to manage campaigns efficiently.
How Did We Resolve It?
After running a PPC audit on Google Ads from May 1st to July 31st 2023, it was apparent that the conversion data was inaccurate. Performance fluctuated significantly over two months, with a clickthrough rate (CTR) below 5% with a total ad spend of £40,000, showing a lack of interest or poor ad quality and audience segmentation. The data showed around 40,000 conversions, far exceeding their lead data. It also contradicted the volume of clicks (24,000), making it clear that the account required a deeper analysis.
Our priority within the first month of management was to fix conversion tracking by tagging key events, such as lead form submissions, as conversions, using a data-driven model to ensure precise measurement. Through earlier investigations, we discovered that visits to the landing page were mistakenly being tracked as conversions, so rectifying this was crucial to give the client a clear understanding of the campaign’s effectiveness and ensure that future decisions were based on accurate data.
Previous ads had been set up using broad match search terms, meaning they were shown to users with no intent of purchasing their services, which led to wasted ad budget. Recognising that the advisory aspect of the service was not yielding the desired results, we decided to pivot towards carbon offsetting to better align with their goals. We paused all original campaigns and created new, highly focused ones using exact and phrase-match keywords, enabling us to optimise their budget more effectively and ensure we only paid for clicks from high-intent users likely to convert.
After amending the tracking events, there was an expected decline in conversions and a steep increase in the cost per conversion, but the quality of those clicks dramatically improved. The trusting relationship between Novi and the client was crucial in the first few months, as Google Ads needed to recalibrate to understand the sudden poor performance. During this time, we continued to optimise campaigns and advised the client of landing page changes required to assist with quality scores and produce a seamless user journey.
Microsoft Ads was a new venture for CNB and has been an enormous success with its low cost per conversion, generating confirmed high-quality leads. With Microsoft having a significantly smaller market share, we knew the number of conversions would not match those captured through Google Ads, and we took this into account when splitting the client’s budget, resulting in a much lower spend on the platform.
Key Benefits Of Our Services
Novi’s in-house software, Forager, was used for Google Ads to enhance our keyword selection process by adding high-performing search terms to campaigns and pausing low-performing keywords that yielded a poor CTR and conversion rate. The key outcomes include reduced overall clicks, increased cost per click, dramatically improved click quality, and a higher click-through rate. Months such as January saw a cost per conversion of £92, which is 60% lower than the target cost per acquisition of £150.
Our expert knowledge of Microsoft Ads and its unique audience segmentation increased conversion rates by over 470% over a six-month period. We also saw a 39% decrease in the cost per acquisition from £154 in November 2023 to £94.39 in February 2024, which shows better budget efficiency and improved targeting.
When comparing the period of November 2023 to January 2024, we successfully improved the cost per conversion from £106.85 to £92.81, a reduction of £14.04, which equates to a 13.1% decrease. These metrics directly contributed to increased conversion volumes while maintaining efficiency in ad spend.
The focus on lead quality, coupled with an increase in lead quantity, showcased the campaign’s efficacy and conversion promise. Despite initial challenges, the campaign enhanced lead quality, as evidenced by inquiries from prestigious companies like Panasonic, demonstrating a balance between quantity and quality in lead generation efforts.
Our Future Partnership and Strategy
Carbon Neutral Britain is an NGO with a unique offering whereby our campaign success is intrinsically linked to the prosperity of the Earth. As a testament to our commitment to environmental sustainability, our campaign has positively impacted the environment, aligning with our B Corp values and ethics.
Through careful adjustments and early success using our in-house software, we were granted approval for an increased total ad spend of 100%, and CNB saw a 417% increase in valid leads across both platforms over six months.
As a proud subscriber to CNB’s carbon offsetting scheme, we have contributed to their mission while gaining a greater understanding of their industry, enabling us to create carefully curated assets and ad copy. This symbiotic relationship has fostered business growth and promoted environmental conservation.
“They’ve done a fantastic job. The cost per lead they’ve achieved is a great improvement as well as the volume of leads we’ve received (…) they performed extremely well with their campaigns” – James, Director Carbon Neutral Britain.
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