Case Study
What Are Your Words Worth: How Novi Turned £75k Ad Spend into £1.5m Revenue
English Lakes Hotels is a family-run luxury hotel with three unique hotels in the heart of the Lake District. Each hotel offers a unique experience, from contemporary chic to traditional rustic fireplaces, and provides the perfect venue for weddings and events.
Novi has been providing PPC services for English Lakes Hotels for over five years, helping to create an optimal paid media strategy that perfectly encapsulates the unique and lavish experience their customers will receive. We are also the proud recipients of the Drum Marketing Award 2020 for our work on this campaign.
Posted: 4 March 2025
1829%
Increase in return on ad spend over 12 months
229%
Increase in revenue year-on-year
600%
Increase in conversions over 12 months
What was the problem?
English Lakes Hotels (ELH) required Novi’s assistance with the launch of their new website to minimise downtime and ensure higher conversion rates post-launch. Not only did they want to increase the conversion rate, but they also wanted to target higher-value conversions overall.
Whilst some of our clients were less clear about their goals outside of increasing conversions, ELH was focused on maintaining a cost of sale at 12% as we scaled their ad spend and conversions. The client trusted Novi’s credibility and success rate, allowing the team to increase ad spend freely but effectively.
Our biggest hurdle was the client’s desire to rebrand The Wild Boar as a “countryside inn” separate from The Low Wood Hotel. There was a risk of diluting The Wild Boar’s appeal by cross-selling The Low Wood’s facilities, leading to guests favouring The Low Wood.
How Did We Resolve It?
We understood the client was experiencing a challenging period, and they wished to drive growth despite the closure of two of their five hotels. Their target audience is visitors desiring a range of hotel experiences in the Lake District. Depending on the hotel, it could be those seeking a modern aesthetic, those who wish to stay at a retreat in the countryside, or those who want a luxury spa experience.
It was crucial to take a structured approach to each campaign, which spanned Google and Microsoft Ads. Our strategy adopted broad-match keywords to capture new demand and exact-match strategies to prioritise high-converting terms, ensuring exact-match campaigns were not cannibalised by broad-match traffic. We tailored the messaging for ELH’s hotel offerings to align with their unique brand positioning and promoted the Wild Boar as a standalone countryside retreat. To improve brand clarity and conversion rates, we highlighted emotive keywords such as “cosy firesides,” “dog-friendly escapes,” and “rustic charm” to drive higher engagement from target demographics seeking a rural retreat.
Balancing growth with cost efficiency was achieved using our Optimal Efficiency Frontier (OEF) framework, which balances return on ad spend (ROAS), cost per conversion, and conversion rate through custom metrics. Novi implemented automation scripts for real-time Google Ads data tracking via Google Sheets and Databox, which enabled us to regularly recalculate click-to-conversion lags. We also developed custom API and ETL pipelines to integrate data from multiple platforms, creating a unified performance view.
Some unique challenges included delays between clicks and conversions, which affected data timeliness and, therefore, a lag in optimisation. We initially encountered issues integrating data from Google Ads, their CRM, and third-party platforms. Developing our Optimal Efficiency Frontier Formula required several iterations to balance scale and efficiency, but ultimately proved its worth through our much lower cost of sale at 6% with a 149% increase in ad spend that drove substantial traffic and conversions.
Novi’s support of ELH’s new website’s launch helped minimise downtime and optimise post-launch conversion rates. Our expert team provided recommendations on layout, video integration, and imagery selection to optimise conversion opportunities for key markets.
Key Benefits Of Our Services
The results highlight the success and strategic value of the OEF framework compounded by operational decisions, technical execution, and creative thinking that contributed to the campaign’s success. The OEF model allowed precise bidding adjustments and maintained high returns, which gave the client the confidence to grant full discretion over ad spend and enabled agile, data-driven decisions.
In 2024, we achieved remarkable growth, generating over £1.5 million in additional revenue, a 229% year-on-year increase. Our success was driven by a refined advertising strategy that resulted in a 149% increase in total ad spend, maintaining profitability with a cost of sale at just 6%, well below the 12% target. Despite this increase, our strategic focus on high-value bookings ensured strong returns and long-term sustainability.
By shifting towards higher-quality leads, we delivered a 600% increase in conversions, with conversion value rising 200% year-on-year. Its growth was gained by prioritising targeted bookings and securing higher-value transactions, contributing to a balanced cost per conversion of £14. Even as ad spend grew, our optimisation efforts meant profitability remained strong, and our strategies guided future investment decisions.
Our return on ad spend (ROAS) remained consistently high throughout the year, reflecting the strength of our campaign approach. In Q1, ROAS peaked at 23.92, followed by 16.43 in Q2, 20.05 in Q3, and 14.44 in Q4. These figures demonstrate our ability to scale investment while maintaining efficiency and generating substantial revenue.
Through precise optimisation using custom ETL processes, scalability, and a focus on high-value transactions, we demonstrated that increasing ad spend does not have to come at the expense of profitability. Instead, by balancing cost efficiency with strategic investment, we delivered sustainable, measurable success, for which Databox provided full visibility.
Our Future Partnership and Strategy
Novi’s campaign demonstrated a holistic approach to supporting client success, from increasing advertising performance to influencing website migration and UX design, our team played a pivotal role in ELH’s transformation. Our contribution helped ensure a conversion-optimised user experience, which resulted in a £1.5 million revenue uplift and a nearly 600% increase in conversions.
Additionally, the creative repositioning of The Wild Boar was a masterstroke of brand strategy, establishing it as a standalone countryside escape to draw in new visitors. Our emotive messaging directly appealed to core customer desires, resulting in a more clearly defined offering that increased conversions.
By optimising our ad spend and utilising our in-house scripts, we not only boosted revenue but also demonstrated our ability to scale efficiently whilst maintaining high returns for English Lakes Hotels who were thrilled with the results.
Ready to get started?
Are you looking to launch a new website or change your brand's positioning? Novi takes a data-driven approach to refine your strategy, optimise keyword targeting, and improve conversion rates, delivering measurable growth for your business. Get in touch to see how we can transform your paid search performance.
