The problem
The client sells commercial kitchen equipment to restaurants, bars, cafés and other food businesses. They asked for Google Ads focused on online sales. We ran that first and watched how buyers behaved. Owners researched, compared, and then wanted to talk to someone before spending on equipment. The campaign was measuring a step most of them would never take.
The online-checkout campaign was optimised toward a conversion most buyers would not make.
Buyers wanted to discuss requirements and compare options before purchasing high-value equipment.
Not every search for kitchen equipment comes from a business, and the campaign was not built to tell them apart.
With so few purchase signals, Google's optimisation had almost nothing to learn from.
Calls and enquiries, the actions that led to sales, were not what the campaign was optimising for.
What we built
We kept the account, the budget and the product range, and changed what the campaign was asked to do. After the online-sales test, we rebuilt it around lead generation: phone calls and qualified enquiries became the conversion actions, targeting moved to commercial-intent searches from food businesses, and the ads spoke to an owner equipping a kitchen rather than a shopper buying an appliance. The campaign now learns from the action that actually closes a sale.
Google Ads overview
All campaigns · lead generation
Clicks
7.09K
Conversions
471
Cost / conv.
$26.35
Conv. rate
6.6%
Lead generation · SearchPrimary
restaurants, bars and cafés
Calls
Lead generation · Search
food businesses
Enquiries
Online sales · Search
initial approach, paused
Purchases
Optimisation log
- 01Online-sales campaign tested as requested
- 02Buyers call before purchasing
- 03Conversion actions switched to calls and forms
- 04Targeting focused on commercial intent
- 05Budget moved to call-producing campaigns
- 06150+ leads and calls per month
Buyer research
Analysed how restaurant and business owners actually purchase high-value equipment before changing anything.
Sales-first test
Ran the online-sales campaign the client asked for, measured it, and used the result to justify the change.
Conversion redesign
Phone calls and qualified enquiries set as the actions the campaign optimises toward.
Commercial targeting
Searches with commercial intent from restaurants, bars, cafés and other food businesses.
Ads for owners
Written for a business equipping a kitchen, not a shopper buying an appliance.
Ongoing optimisation
Performance monitored continuously, with budget moved toward what produced calls and enquiries.
How it works
From trigger to result.
How the system works
7 stages
01Commercial search
ChannelAn owner searches for a supplier of a specific piece of equipment.
02Commercial intent
AudienceSearches from restaurants, bars, cafés and other food businesses.
03Ad and landing page
LogicWritten for an owner equipping a kitchen, not a checkout.
04Call or quote request
PersonThe owner calls the sales desk or sends an enquiry form.
05Conversions
DataCalls and enquiries counted as the result, not purchases.
06Optimisation
LogicBudget moves to the campaigns producing calls and enquiries.
07Qualified lead
ResultA food business with a requirement, ready to talk.
Our approach
How we worked.
Discovery
Understood the business, its products and how buyers reached it.
Test
Ran the online-sales campaign as requested and measured real purchase behaviour.
Rebuild
Switched conversion actions, targeting and copy to a lead-generation model.
Scale
Moved budget toward the campaigns producing calls and enquiries.
Reporting
Results tracked in the client's own Google Ads account.
The outcome
What changed.
The campaign now measures calls and enquiries, the actions that lead to a sale.
A steady 150 or more leads and calls per month from food businesses.
471 conversions from 7,090 clicks in the campaign period, at an average of $26.35 per conversion.
Targeting focused on food businesses, so the sales desk talks to buyers.
Where this goes next
A campaign that produces 150 calls a month creates a new problem: answering them. The voice agent we built for a service business picks up when the desk cannot, qualifies the caller and books the follow-up.
Home & Local ServicesAI phone and chat agent that captures leads after hours
Questions
What people ask.
Why not sell high-value equipment directly through Google Ads?
Because most buyers of expensive equipment do not buy on a first visit. They want to confirm specifications, delivery and installation with a person. A campaign optimised for online checkout starves itself of conversion data. A campaign optimised for calls and enquiries learns from the step buyers actually take.
How do you track phone calls as conversions?
Google Ads can count calls made from the ads, or from the website after a click, as conversions, alongside enquiry forms. Once calls and enquiries are the conversion actions, the campaign optimises toward both.
Will the campaign bring in people who are not businesses?
Some will always get through. Targeting searches with commercial intent, and reviewing which search terms actually produce calls, keeps most of the budget on businesses.
