Case study: How Studley's Flower Gardens uses Google Ads to grow their business
Search engine marketing and Google Ads help companies get their products and services in front of their ideal customers. Potential customers use Google and other search engines to search for a product or brand. For example, Google Ads Search campaigns help get the business in front of that person right when they’re searching for a solution.
In this case study, explore how the Rochester, New Hampshire-based company Studley’s Flower Gardens uses Google Ads to get their flower and plant products in front of their ideal local customers online.
Company background
Founded in 1928, Studley’s Flower Gardens is a family-owned florist, garden center, and landscaping company located in downtown Rochester, New Hampshire.
In addition to a physical storefront, Studley’s also has a robust e-commerce website. The website’s wide, visually appealing assortment of flowers and plants helps customers find and purchase products online.
Online advertising makes up the majority of its marketing budget. Around 65% of its yearly advertising budget is spent on online ads, and 35% on local radio and television ads.
The challenges
Because Studley’s is a local small business, a challenge it faces is competing with national flower brands in Google’s search engine results pages. Search engine optimization (SEO) can particularly be difficult. National flower brands have large budgets and several team members dedicated to optimizing content to rank higher in search results.
As a small business, Studley’s doesn’t have the team or budget to consistently compete well in the search results. While it does have high search rankings for several local-based keywords, the rankings can fluctuate depending on the search terms. Studley’s cannot rely on consistent high rankings for the flower and plant-based keywords their potential customers are searching for. A change in the search results page rankings can affect its revenue.
The Approach
To ensure a consistent presence in Google’s search results for related keywords, Studley’s Flower Gardens uses Google Ads. Instead of using a broad marketing approach, such as a direct mail campaign, Google Ads allows Studley’s to get its ads in front of very specific customers searching for its products or brand name near the business.
For example, Studley’s bids for keywords related to its business’s name. When someone in Rochester, New Hampshire searches for its business name, Studley’s wants to appear right at the top so its potential customers can find its website quickly and easily.
Additionally, instead of trying to manage the Google Ads themselves, the family-owned business hired a marketing company to assist with the ads. Professional digital marketers and Google Ads managers make the decisions on what ads strategies are working well and which need to be improved or removed.
With this approach, Studley’s owners don’t have to spend their time keeping up-to-date with the latest Google Ads software or product changes. Studley’s owners can focus on what they do best—operating and growing their flower and garden center business.
The results
By using Google Ads, Studley’s Flower Gardens gets advertisements in front of potential customers right when they need flowers and plants.
For instance, when a customer searches for Studley’s brand name, the potential customer will likely encounter the ad in the search engine results page, in addition to the website in the search listings. When a potential customer searches for flower delivery near the business, the customer will likely see the ad, even if the website doesn’t appear in the search listings from search engine optimization.
Conclusion
Search engine marketing and Google Ads can help both smaller, local businesses and larger, national-based businesses. The local targeting, such as in Rochester, New Hampshire, allows Studley’s to serve ads to its ideal local customers. Google Ads allows smaller businesses that may not be able to compete with search engine optimization to compete against the larger brands.
As a future digital marketer, realize that you may have an opportunity to help a small business like Studley’s. If you work for a marketing company, you may have dozens of clients that you manage ads for. It’s rewarding to know that the work you do with search engine marketing helps small businesses, just like Studley’s, serve their local communities well.