Google AdWords advertising was responsible for more than 30,000 new customers in the first 30 days of Bord Gais Energy’s Big Switch campaign, according to the utility provider.
“The initial results of the opening weeks of the campaign were nothing short of phenomenal,” said Eoin O’Suilleabhain, e-channel developer, Bord Gáis Energy. “Within 30 days of launch, over 30,000 signups were attributable to Google AdWords advertising and the most impressive measurement of our online channels was the conversion of over 100,000 customers via the Big Switch website in just four months, which rates as one of the most successful online campaigns in Ireland to date.”
The Bord Gáis marketing campaign had to capture and direct all potential customers looking for information to its Big Switch microsite, which did not have an immediate presence in Google’s organic search results because it was launched on the same day the company announced its entry into the electricity market. The Google AdWords campaign was therefore used to direct thousands of people to the website.
“On launch day, searches for ‘The Big Switch’ went from zero to thousands,” said Will Roche, senior digital account manager with MindShare, which was responsible for Bord Gais’ media buying.
“Our AdWords campaign featured hundreds of ad texts and thousand of keywords to ensure that every relevant search user was presented with a consistent message, a simple strong call to action and the website URL. We maintained a heavy presence on YouTube and throughout the Google content network, but the key factor to the success of the AdWords campaign was an integrated approach to search, display and above-the-line advertising.”
Online traffic
Working with MindShare, Bord Gáis Energy was able to generate online traffic from extensive media coverage and above-the-line marketing activities including TV, print, radio advertising, sales promotion and online marketing.
“We know that the effectiveness of online campaigns is increased when supported by an integrated campaign and the Bord Gáis Big Switch campaign is a case study in this regard,” said Ronan Harris, director online sales, Google. “Bord Gáis also added to the effectiveness of their campaign by analysing the traffic to the website. By constantly monitoring traffic to the site using Google Analytics, Bord Gáis could see which keywords were most effective in attracting potential customers, what pages on the website were being viewed and what conversion rates were being achieved. They could adapt the campaign in real time to ensure that they achieved the maximum return on their advertising spend.”
Article courtesy of businessandleadership.com
