There’s a big misunderstanding about Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising.
Many marketers use it as a “fast track” to SEO success since you can pay for keyword rankings instead of earning them organically. But that couldn’t be further from the truth.
PPC isn’t a “get rich quick” marketing scheme, and it’s definitely not easy.
And going in with that misconception will lead to results as dry as the Sahara Desert—or if we’re being extreme, becoming broke.
It’s extremely popular. Search advertising spending has reached $185.35 billion and is expected to increase to $261 billion by 2028, a 6% annual growth rate. And in 2023, Google Ads generated $237.86 billion.
But very few get it right. So today, we’ll learn from the ones who do so you can take home a piece of that $261 billion pie.
These examples are actual PPC campaigns that delivered noteworthy results—so you can draw inspiration from them for your next campaign, or cite them in your next marketing report for clients or in-house stakeholders.
Elements of a Highly Successful PPC Advertising Campaign
There are a few things all successful PPC campaigns have in common.
How are they approaching their audience? Which platforms are they using? What does their ad copy look like?
So, let’s get specific. For your campaign to be worth your time (and your dollar), it has to:
- Deliver results
- Be memorable
- Reach the target audience
- Stand out from the competition
And that’s exactly what the campaigns below do.
PPC Advertising Campaign Examples That Actually Worked
Converse “Domaination”
World-renowned shoe brand Converse tapped into Google’s PPC potential before most brands did. With the “Domaination” campaign, the company’s plan was to disrupt.
First, they had to identify what their target audience was searching for. Since Converse’s audience was teenagers and young adults, the common searches were terms like:
- How to kiss
- How to talk to girls
- Spelling bee
- How to tell your parents
Converse used these terms to begin “converse-actions.” These were how-to guides on various topics based on what they found their target audience was needing answers to.
They made multiple microsites addressing each question, hence the name “Domainnation.” They then ran advertising campaigns for each site. But the secret to Domainnation’s success wasn’t just the audience appeal. They didn’t create a site for every keyword they researched—only the low-cost, low-competition ones.
This allowed them to save money and made it insanely easier to get traffic since they weren’t being drowned out by other big names.
Now, ranking well for a high-traffic keyword is one thing.
However, keeping the reader’s attention is where most companies miss the mark.
In our opinion, this is really where Converse hit the nail on the head.
The “ad” was not actually an ad for Converse products. When teenagers (the target audience) clicked on the web page Converse paid to have in the search results, the page was Converse’s unique take on the topic. They offered advice, gave hot takes, posted how-to tutorials… whatever it was that the teenager wanted to read.
For example, it was spelling bee season for high school students. So Converse bought the domain conversespellingbee.com. When high schoolers typed in “spelling bee,” the first result was this website. When they opened it, they watched a video Converse made—a video that told visitors in one sentence what a spelling bee was, then told them to play a “search engine” spelling bee. The rules of the game were that the visitors go to Google and type the word that was said into the search box, and they knew they spelled it right when another Converse domain ad for the word popped up. They proceed to Round 2 by clicking the ad.
But the spelling bee wasn’t the only site. Converse made new websites each week, and each site was somehow intertwined with another one (like the spelling bee site that sent users to another one) so that they could keep exploring for endless content.
The end result? Converse got 600,000 unique visitors to its website.
And with a budget of just $100,000, the campaign yielded massive positive results, beating the traditional cost-to-visitor ratio by 2600%.
This led to the “Domination” campaign becoming a case study that marketers still talk about today, despite hundreds of thousands of campaigns having been carried out since then.
Kleenex Catches Colds
We’ve all been in a situation where we Google our symptoms before considering seeing a doctor. And just like that, we end up convinced we have cancer five minutes later.
Kleenex found a way to capitalize on this all-too-familiar experience and turn it into a successful marketing campaign.
The flu-related searches could be traced geographically—thanks to Google Trends—and for 18 months, the company’s digital marketing partner, Mindshare, tracked them. Kleenex then harnessed this data to find regions where its PPC campaigns would do best.
The agency compared this information with other data sources, such as doctor visits and calls to the government-set hotlines. Together, they identified the cities with higher flu and cold rates in real-time and launched targeted ads in those areas.
When the cold and flu season arrived in 2012, Kleenex expended 96% of its media budget on these targeted regions.
Kleenex made a video explaining how they did this, and it’s quite funny. They start by saying that they first launched an ad campaign during the hottest month of the year, and admitted to it being a giant flop.
So what did they do?
They did some self-diagnosis by going to Google and finding out where they went wrong. This led to them starting their Google AdWords auction to find out where and when people were getting sick.
The results were astounding—a 40% sales increase year over year in just two months.
Kleenex’s approach to PPC advertising is a great example of how Google data is more than mere search engine results. It can be the foundation for your paid ad strategy.
Vancouver Whitecaps
Award-winning programmatic ad agency, War Room collaborated with the Vancouver Whitecaps to drive fan engagement and ticket sales for the 2023 season through a cross-channel PPC strategy. Recognizing the importance of reaching fans across multiple touchpoints, War Room combined Google PPC ads with targeted Meta, YouTube, and Display ads to maximize ticket sales on major game days. This approach allowed the Whitecaps to connect with fans wherever they spent their time online, from social feeds to search engines.
The strategy included geo-targeted PPC ads focused on soccer fans in key cities like Vancouver, Surrey, and Burnaby, ensuring high-impact engagement across platforms right when fans were most likely to buy.
Key Results:
$1.18 Million in Revenue – Ticket sales from the integrated PPC campaign generated over a million dollars in revenue, amplifying returns across channels.
ROAS of 307.89% – Achieving over three times the return on ad spend, the cross-channel strategy proved effective in reaching and converting local fans.
Cross-Channel Synergy – By combining Google PPC with Meta and YouTube ads, War Room kept the Whitecaps top-of-mind across platforms, driving clicks and conversions leading up to key matches.
This cross-channel approach highlights the power of weaving together platforms to create a cohesive fan journey, maximizing reach and engagement in ways that a single channel simply couldn’t achieve on its own.
Honda Civic and Accord Campaign
Keyword cannibalism is kind of like self-plagiarizing. Most people don’t worry about it because, in our minds, the competition can’t be ourselves. Until it actually is, and then it’s a problem.
That’s what happened to Honda, and getting rid of that problem drastically increased their traffic and dealer inquiries.
After releasing the new Accord and Civic hatchback models, Honda hired search engine marketing agency HawkSEM to help them launch a PPC campaign. Specifically, they wanted to target the South American market.
They chose several keywords to target but then realized that Honda’s dealer partner was also trying to rank for the same search terms as their website.
This meant even know they were “on the same team,” there was more competition for the keywords—because they were competing against themselves.
The solution?
HawkSEM separated Honda’s goals from the dealer network goals by creating different keyword targets and customized ad schedules for both parties.
The company also ran ads through display campaigns that targeted automotive-related websites and forums. And later, YouTube ads.
Because of this simple adjustment, Honda reduced its cost per conversion by 30% and increased traffic to its website by 200%. The dealer inquiries also soared by 40%.
Honda’s example is proof that keyword cannibalization is a concern for businesses with multiple online entities. However, it shouldn’t keep you from using PPC ads.
The key is to find a way around the issue. It may include creating different campaigns for each one, bidding on different keywords, or using other advertising platforms—like display ads and YouTube ads.
Inn & Spa at Cedar Falls
Local businesses have to target specific demographics, which can make running PPC ads tricky.
For example, Niven & Associates Injury Law firm is a local business. They operate out of Pennsylvania. They can run ads targeted to anywhere, just like any other brand—but why? Their customers are only in one state.
Inn & Spa nailed local PPC marketing. They drove $29,400 in bookings with its PPC campaign in Q3 of 2019.
But how?
First, they already did well in organic search results rankings. Q4 Launch—the agency that ran the PPC campaign for them—operates on the idea that for a paid ad to be successful, the existing website content has to be super high-quality. This also increases the return on ad spend (ROAS).
So for the actual campaign, the company restructured and optimized it by:
- Rewriting the ad copy
- Using negative keywords
- Adjusting bids by the day of the week, age, gender, device, and time of the day
On average, the company made 1,000 tweaks to its PPC structure every month during the duration of the campaign.
And it worked. The spa saw an 89% year-over-year increase in revenue from its PPC campaign. If we’re talking in dollar signs, that translates to $28,400 in revenue. That’s what they generated the year of the PPC campaign. Compare that to only $15,400 the previous year.
Inn & Spa at Cedar Falls also saw a ripple effect of the PPC campaign across other channels. For example, its organic search increased by 156%, and email revenue went from nothing to $5,050.
Snickers
Raise your hand if you’ve accidentally misspelled something you were searching on Google. Everyone? That’s what I thought.
Since 63% of Google searches are made on mobile devices—and our thumbs aren’t as accurate as our pencils—it makes sense.
This has actually been great for PPC campaigns. Companies on lower budgets can capitalize on our spelling mistakes by bidding on misspelled search terms that still receive lots of traffic (and less competition because, well, they’re spelled wrong).
Snickers leaned into this a lot with their “You’re Not You When You’re Hungry” campaign.
First, they gathered 500 high-traffic search terms from Google. Then, it generated 25,381 misspellings using an algorithm, like these:
- Gool
- Wether
- Vacum
- Definately
- Facw
- Moonsoon
When someone searched for any of these terms, they would see a Snickers ad in Google’s ”Did you mean” section, suggesting the correct spellings.
Their catchphrase “you’re not you when you’re hungry” suddenly become super relatable, playing on the fact that maybe the person needs a Snickers because they’re so hungry they couldn’t even spell “business.”
The ad campaign was pretty successful, getting a click-through rate of 1.05% in just two days.
Snickers also got 5,874 visitors to its youarenotyouwhenyourehungry.com landing pages and reported a staggering 558,589 ad impressions.
Dollar Shave Club
Dollar Shave Club is one of the best examples of how daily essential products that anyone can buy at Walmart—namely, razors and shaving cream—can make millions and go viral.
They’ve run several successful ad campaigns, but the one they launched in 2012 is what put their name on the map.
It was a YouTube video titled “Our Blades Are F***ing Great.” It starts with the founder of Dollar Shave Club (Mike) sitting at a desk—staring into the camera with a stare so fake-serious it’s funny—as he introduces himself and explains what Dollar Shave Club is in one sentence: “for a dollar a month, we send high-quality razors right to your door.”
He gets up from his desk and says, “Are the blades any good? No. Our blades are f***ing great.”
The video continues as Mike strolls through a warehouse making jabs at other brand-name razors that have useless functions just so they can charge more. It also features other funny employees throughout the video, like a woman named Alejandra.
The video hypes up all of Dollar Shave Club’s best benefits without intentionally hyping them up—affordable razors, the convenience of shipping them to your home each month, the new jobs they’ve created, etc. They do it with dry humor, subtle jabs, and a witty script.
Not only did the video not cost much in ads, but it also earned millions of organic views. It got 12,000 orders within the 48 hours of the ad. That translates to $144,000 in annual revenue since they’re a subscription service. Overnight.
Old Spice
Old Spice is a men’s deodorant and body wash company, but they did something completely different with their ad. They didn’t target men—they targeted women.
More specifically, they targeted women who wanted their husbands or boyfriends to smell better.
The ad is a video that starts with Isaiah Mustafa—a tall, muscular man—wrapped in a towel who just stepped out of the shower. He starts by telling the ladies to look at their man and then back at him, back at their man then back at him again. He continues with “Sadly, he isn’t me. But if he stopped using lady-scented body wash and switched to Old Spice, he could smell like he’s me.”
The video then shows the man on a boat and an island, providing a visual of what the Old Spice body wash smells like. And of course, he continues with his witty (and sometimes very random) remarks, giving the video a lot of humor.
The video hypes on women’s desire to have a very masculine-smelling partner—a very specific want that no other men’s company was using before. Men weren’t even addressed in the video—just the ladies.
It’s also short—32 seconds, to be exact.
Now let’s get to the results. Sales increased for all Old Spice products, but most notably the body wash featured in the ad. After launching the campaign, sales doubled by July 2010. The body wash specifically saw a 107% increase in sales compared to the year before.
It also became extremely viral, receiving over 60 million views by February 2022.
Another thing they did right was engaging with commenters. Old Spice actively responded to people who engaged with the video, giving them an amazing rapport with their audience.
Philly Injury Lawyer
When you think of marketing for attorneys, it can be hard to come up with a campaign that’s different from everything already out there. That’s when you really need to think outside the box and put yourself in the prospect’s position. If you were a customer, what exactly would you be searching for on the internet if you needed an injury lawyer?
Well, that’s where Philly Injury Lawyer absolutely rocked their campaign by creating a Google ads campaign that targets what people are searching for on the internet.
The keywords and headlines used targeted phrases like “we win or it’s free”, “call now for free consultation”, “birth injuries, surgical errors, misdiagnosis”, etc.
The firm is targeting what people might be looking for online that could funnel the prospect to their website.
Here’s another look at what a targeted Google campaign could look like in action.
Anderson Injury Lawyers writes creative, but useful, blog posts such as this one on what one should do if they get injured at an airport.
If they were to run a PPC campaign targeting keywords about getting hurt at the airport, they could find themselves with a very successful campaign that brings in a lot of prospects. The key is to find the keywords that are the answers to what people are searching for online.
Another example of an outside the box PPC campaign, would be to turn this blog post on whether car accidents due to eating while driving are actually common.
Targeting keywords like “accident while eating”, “eating and driving accident”, “car accident”, etc. could lead the potential customer to Winters and Yonker Personal Injury Lawyer’s blog post and, hopefully, create a solid lead for future needs.
If you really want to go outside the box and garner some attention that way, find some trending keywords and a way to incorporate them into a post or feature that would get prospects to your website. Take a glance at Kenny Habetz Injury Law Firm’s blog post on popular animals that are illegal as pets in Louisiana.
Is that a typical way to reach people who might need a personal injury lawyer?
No, but this is a great way to get people to go to your website and read more. That way, if they did need a personal injury lawyer then Kenny Habetz would be at the top of the prospect’s mind.
Whistler Medical Aesthetics
Whistler Medical Aesthetics turned to War Room for a boost in patient bookings and brand visibility. War Room crafted a highly targeted Google PPC campaign that leveraged precise keywords and geo-targeting to connect with users actively searching for aesthetic and wellness services.
Dynamic Search Ads ensured the clinic appeared prominently when users were ready to book, while ads were segmented by popular services like Coolsculpting and laser hair removal. The campaign dynamically optimized for high-intent audiences through adjustments in age, location, and device targeting, capturing both local residents and visitors to Whistler.
In the first month, Whistler Medical Aesthetics saw a 60% surge in website traffic following the campaign launch. By month two, gross income had climbed by 66%. Since then, the clinic has maintained a consistent revenue growth of 25-30% month-over-month, highlighting the sustained impact of the targeted PPC strategy.
By aligning ads with location-specific search trends, War Room maintained a steady booking flow for Whistler Medical Aesthetics across both peak and off-peak seasons, demonstrating the powerful impact of tailored, data-driven PPC strategies in the aesthetics industry.
Take-Home Lessons From These PPC Examples
Here are some takeaways from the PPC advertising campaign above.
- Don’t be afraid to experiment. When it comes to PPC advertising, you don’t always have to follow the same formula or use the same keywords and strategies. Take a well-calculated risk and try out different approaches. Snickers is an excellent example of how this could work well for you.
- Avoid keyword cannibalization. Do as Honda did. Don’t let multiple campaigns or ad groups target the same keywords. It creates competition between your ads and can drive costs without yielding better results.
- Use retargeting. Sometimes, people don’t convert on the first visit to your website. That doesn’t mean they won’t eventually. Retarget these visitors with different ad copies and promotions to increase the chances of conversion. Inn & Spa at Cedar Falls tweaked its ad campaign to target people who had previously visited their site but had not made a booking.
- Include clear Call-To-Actions (CTAs). Let your audience know what you want them to do after seeing your ad. Is it to make a purchase or contact you? Whatever it is, make it clear and easy for them to take that action.
- Use humor and personality. Dollar Shave Club and Old Spice are prime examples of how wit, humor of any kind, and giving the campaign a personality make the brand relatable and the products more buyable.
- Don’t underestimate the potential of local PPC advertising. Inn & Spa shows that PPC is just as valuable to local businesses as it is to global brands like Converse. And it works for every industry. Law firms like Anderson Injury Lawyers can have just as much success as Inn & Spa.
- Get creative with target keywords. Snickers shows that even nonexistent misspelled words can pull in hundreds of thousands of monthly page views. “QR code generator”? “Apps for accountants”? “Buy Instagram followers”? “How to file taxes in Puerto Rico”? “Gool”? No matter what your product or service is, don’t settle for a keyword until you’ve exhausted all options to find low-cost, low-competition ones.
Conclusion
PPC ad campaigns can require some trial and error to get right. However, these examples have shown that success can be achieved with creative and strategic approaches.
You can take inspiration from them and add your unique ideas to create a personalized campaign for your audience.
