€600K Revenue from €24K Ad Spend

Client Overview

Industry: Premium elderly care housing / Residential construction
Product: High-end garden homes (€100K+) positioned as dignified alternatives to traditional care facilities
Market: Netherlands
Challenge: Underperforming paid advertising, broken tracking infrastructure, unclear audience targeting
Engagement: 2-year marketing partnership (Oct 2022 - Dec 2024)
Featured Campaign Period: 6 months (intensive revenue generation phase)

The Situation

When I joined this client through a referral in late 2022, the company faced several critical challenges:

Marketing Problems:

• Existing Google Ads account bleeding budget with no clear attribution

• Website tracking registering triple-clicks, making optimization impossible

• Slow website performance hurting conversion rates

• Strong competition in the premium elderly housing market

• No clear audience segmentation strategy

The Real Challenge:
The client wasn't just selling a product - they were selling an emotional decision involving family, aging, dignity, and significant financial investment. The €100K+ price point meant extremely long consideration cycles, yet their marketing treated it like a commodity purchase.

Strategic Approach

Audience Segmentation Discovery

Initial campaigns targeted elderly individuals directly, but data revealed the decision-makers were adult children (40-60 age range) navigating care decisions for aging parents. This insight transformed the entire strategy.

Two distinct audience segments required separate messaging:

1. Adult children (Primary): Rational + emotional messaging around family values, dignity, financial investment

2. Elderly homeowners (Secondary): Independence, comfort, staying close to family

Platform Strategy

Google Ads: Capture high-intent searches (already warm leads actively researching solutions)
Meta Platforms: Remarketing powerhouse + cost-effective audience discovery for the "hidden" adult children demographic
Email Campaigns: Gentle, value-driven nurture sequences to stay top-of-mind during 2-month sales cycles

Execution

The Funnel

Stage 1: Awareness (Meta + Google Display)

• Visually compelling ads showcasing the product and lifestyle

• Educational content addressing "alternatives to care homes"

• Geographic targeting to minimize ad waste (municipality-specific)

Stage 2: Consideration (Website + Brochure Downloads)

• Redesigned website navigation emphasizing process clarity and benefits

• High-quality brochure downloads as primary conversion goal

• Clear value proposition: family closeness + financial investment opportunity

Stage 3: Decision (Offline Sales Process + Email Nurture)

• Personal phone consultations

• In-home visits with 3D rendering presentations (third-party specialists)

• Email nurture sequence emphasizing family values, quality time, and multi-generational benefits

Creative & Messaging

What Worked:

• Customer testimonials (social proof for high-ticket decisions)

• Professional photography and video tours

• Emotional messaging: "Spend life's final chapters surrounded by family, not strangers"

• Rational messaging: "Investment property that keeps family close" (rental income potential, future housing for grandchildren)

Remarketing Strategy:

• Website visitors → Meta + Google remarketing

• Brochure downloaders → Email nurture + intensified remarketing

• Video viewers → Targeted follow-up campaigns

Technical Fixes

Critical Infrastructure Work:

• Rebuilt tracking from scratch: Removed faulty Google/Meta pixels causing triple-counting

• Implemented third-party tracking solution: Accurate attribution across 2-month sales cycles

• Website speed optimization: Improved load times to reduce bounce rates

• Geographic precision targeting: Eliminated ad waste by focusing on serviceable municipalities

Results

Campaign Period: 6 months (intensive period within 2-year engagement)

Financial Outcomes:

• Ad Spend: €24,000

• Revenue Generated: €600,000

• ROAS: 25:1

• Conversions: 6 sales at €100K+ each

• Cost Per Acquisition: €4,000

Pipeline Metrics:

• Dozens of brochure downloads

• Multiple in-home consultations and 3D presentations

• Average sales cycle: 2 months from first ad click to signed contract

Long-term Impact:

• Built sustainable marketing system transferable to in-house team

• All assets and systems created under client IP (increasing company valuation)

• Framework designed for continuity post-engagement

Key Insights

What Made This Work

1. Audience Discovery: Shifting from elderly targets to adult children unlocked a previously untapped, cost-effective demographic on Meta

2. Emotional Positioning: Marketing addressed the real decision - family values and dignity in aging - not just product features

3. Patient Remarketing: Respected the 2-month sales cycle with gentle, value-driven touchpoints rather than aggressive conversion tactics

4. Multi-platform Orchestration: Google captured intent, Meta built awareness and remarketed efficiently, email nurtured consideration

5. Geographic Precision: Municipality-level targeting eliminated wasted impressions

Challenges Overcome

Technical Debt: Inherited broken tracking system required complete rebuild before optimization could begin

Long Sales Cycles: €100K purchases with 2-month consideration periods demanded different attribution models and patience in campaign optimization

Dual Messaging Requirements: Balancing rational investment messaging with emotional family-focused content across different audience segments

What I'd Do Differently

Looking back, I would have pushed harder to introduce recurring revenue streams earlier:

• Referral partnerships with local cleaning services, HVAC companies, and maintenance providers

• Ongoing service packages for homeowners post-purchase

• Creating additional value capture beyond one-time €100K sales

The focus on high-ticket transactions was successful, but building subscription-adjacent revenue models would have increased client lifetime value and business resilience.

Reflection

What surprised me most wasn't the conversion rates or ROAS - it was witnessing how many families in the Dutch market actively chose proximity and togetherness over convenience. In an era of isolation and fragmented families, this campaign proved that products enabling multi-generational closeness have profound market demand.

The work reinforced that high-consideration purchases require marketing that respects the decision timeline and addresses the real emotional stakes, not just product features.

Campaign Type: Performance Marketing + Brand Positioning
Primary Channels: Google Ads, Meta Ads, Email Marketing
Core Competencies: Audience segmentation, emotional positioning, remarketing strategy, technical infrastructure, long-cycle attribution