Boosting ROI for a Specialist School Travel Brand
Client Overview
The School Travel Company (TSTC) is a family-run tour operator providing fully planned trips for primary and secondary schools across the UK, Europe, and beyond. Operating in a competitive market dominated by large players, TSTC needed a smarter way to reach schools while keeping costs under control.
The Challenge
- Low CTR (Click-Through Rate): 2% (vs Google benchmark of 5%)
- Struggling to stand out among high-spending competitors
- Limited targeting and low-quality traffic
Our Strategy
We overhauled their approach with a dual Google Ads strategy designed to maximize reach and conversion:
1. Micro-Targeted Search Campaigns
- Built granular campaigns based on specific search themes (e.g. destinations)
- Focused budget on high-ROI tours
- Replaced ineffective Smart Campaigns with high-performance manual setups
2. Performance Max Integration
- Extended reach across Google Search, Display, YouTube & Gmail
- Targeted broad audiences cost-efficiently
- Complemented high-CPC search campaigns with scalable visibility
3. Data Privacy & Tracking Enhancements
- Implemented Cookiebot (CCMP) for consent-based tracking
- Deployed Enhanced Conversions and privacy-safe GTM improvements
The Results (in 2024)
11%CTR over 5x better
than the previous 2%
£0.95
Avg. CPC with strong traffic quality
485,000+Impressions in 2024
10,000+Users driven by Performance Max
in 2024 at 50% lower CPC
Ongoing Growth & Optimisation
- Shifted 75% of daily spend to Performance Max by Jan 2025
- New consolidated search campaign launched with exact-match, high-intent keywords
- Continued success in a competitive space despite CPCs rising to £5.32
Impact
TSTC now benefits from:
- Sustainable lead generation
- Lower costs per acquisition
- Enhanced data security & measurement
- A competitive edge against large-scale tour providers
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