Value per conversion up 261.9%.
Value per conversion improved 261.9%. Cost efficiency improved 207.7%. Conversion rate stabilised — meaning the account was now attracting higher-value customers without losing volume. The LTV-aligned bidding was the primary driver: once the algorithm understood that a $300 annual subscription was worth more than a free trial, it found those customers reliably and at improving efficiency.
Optimising for low-LTV signups
Bidding tuned to volume, not value — the algorithm chased cheap signups that never became revenue.
Bid to subscription LTV
Restructured keywords, value-based bidding calibrated to LTV, ad rotation, and full negative governance.
+261.9% value/conversion
Value per conversion up 261.9% and cost efficiency up 207.7% with stable conversion rate.
01 The problem
A SaaS subscription business was spending $40K/month on Google Ads consistently, but the return was declining quarter over quarter. Value per conversion had been eroding steadily and the team had no clear explanation for why paid acquisition was underperforming despite stable traffic volumes. The root issues were structural: keyword architecture had grown organically and was full of overlap, broad match waste, and misaligned intent targeting. Automated bidding had been switched on without a proper conversion value framework, meaning the algorithm was optimising toward low-LTV sign-ups. There was no negative keyword governance, allowing irrelevant searches to consume a significant share of budget with zero subscription intent.
Optimise for the right signups.
Once the algorithm knew a $300 subscription beat a free trial, it found those customers reliably.
Keyword restructure
Eliminated overlap and broad-match waste, consolidating by intent stage and separating branded, competitor and generic traffic.
LTV-calibrated bidding
Replaced volume-based bidding with Target CPA and value-based strategies calibrated to subscription lifetime value.
Rolling ad rotation
Structured ad-copy rotation across every ad group, testing value props, CTAs and proof points continuously.
Negative-keyword governance
Deployed comprehensive negatives across all campaigns to stop zero-intent searches consuming budget.
Same budget, better customers.
03 The results
Value per conversion improved 261.9%. Cost efficiency improved 207.7%. Conversion rate stabilised — meaning the account was now attracting higher-value customers without losing volume. The LTV-aligned bidding was the primary driver: once the algorithm understood that a $300 annual subscription was worth more than a free trial, it found those customers reliably and at improving efficiency.
Sixteen weeks to value.
Keywords → LTV bidding → rotation → governance.
Keyword audit
Restructured the entire keyword set, removing overlap and separating traffic types.
LTV bidding
Calibrated value-based bidding to subscription lifetime value, not signup volume.
Ad rotation
Rolling copy tests across all ad groups on value props and proof points.
Negative governance
Comprehensive negatives stopped zero-intent searches draining budget.
+261.9% value
Value per conversion up 261.9%, cost efficiency up 207.7%, conversion rate stable.
What the business kept.
Documented, portable, and owned by the client not locked inside our account.
- ✓Restructured keyword setConsolidated by intent, traffic separated.
- ✓LTV-based bidding configBidding tied to subscription value.
- ✓Ad-rotation frameworkContinuous copy and proof-point tests.
- ✓Negative-keyword architectureComprehensive, across all campaigns.
- ✓LTV conversion modelWhat a subscription is actually worth.
- ✓Performance dashboardValue per conversion, not just volume.
04 Why it worked
Transformed a struggling account into a predictable acquisition engine. The 261.9% improvement in value per conversion didn't come from spending more — it came from connecting ad spend to subscription LTV data and rebuilding bidding around what actually made the business money. Most agencies optimise for signups. We optimised for the right signups.
They connected our ad spend to what a subscriber is actually worth. Value per conversion nearly quadrupled without spending a dollar more.