Bob Books: Overcoming Rising CPCs and Driving 43% Conversion Growth with Performance Max

A Strategic Approach to Scaling Customer Acquisition Within Fixed Budget Constraints.

Performance Summary

This strategic campaign restructuring delivered significant efficiency and growth:

• 13% Reduction in Average Cost Per Click (CPC)

• 18% Increase in Site Traffic

• 43% Increase in Total Conversions

• 28% Reduction in Cost Per Acquisition (CPA)

Client Overview

Bob Books (bobbooks.co.uk) is a cherished UK-based service specialising in transforming digital memories into beautifully crafted photo books, calendars, and personalised stationery. Operating in a competitive consumer market, Bob Books prides itself on quality, ease of use, and exceptional customer service. Our agency partnered with Bob Books to manage and optimise their critical Paid Search strategy, ensuring their high-quality products reached the right audience efficiently.

The Challenge: Competing on a Fixed Budget

Bob Books operates as a small, specialised advertiser within a fiercely competitive landscape, facing off against much larger retailers with substantial, often uncapped, advertising budgets. Over time, the cost of advertising across major platforms steadily increased. With a fixed annual marketing budget, this rising Cost Per Click (CPC) was severely throttling campaign performance. Despite maintaining highly relevant ads, the climb in CPC led to a sharp drop in overall traffic volume, resulting in fewer opportunities for new customer acquisition and a noticeable decline in overall conversions. The central challenge was clear: how could we maintain or even increase site traffic and conversions without exceeding a non-negotiable budget ceiling?

The Solution: Strategic PMax Implementation

Our team recognised that traditional search campaigns were being outpriced by larger competitors. The solution lay in strategically leveraging Google’s Performance Max (PMax) campaigns to unlock new, undervalued pockets of demand across Google's network (including Display, YouTube, Gmail, and Discovery), which often carry a lower cost entry point than highly contested main search results

We developed robust Asset Groups and detailed Audience Signals within PMax, carefully aligning ad creative and messaging with customer intent across these wider channels. This approach allowed the system to intelligently bid across the entire funnel, prioritising high-intent, lower-cost placements first. By shifting focus from high-cost, top-of-funnel keyword bidding to holistic, value-based campaign optimisation, we successfully accessed high-quality traffic at a significantly more sustainable price point.

The Impact: Efficiency and Explosive Growth

The strategic implementation and aggressive optimisation of PMax delivered outstanding efficiency and growth for Bob Books, allowing them to gain market share despite budget constraints.

By prioritising smart technology and maximising budget efficiency, we not only stabilised performance but engineered substantial, cost-effective customer growth, allowing Bob Books to successfully compete against industry giants.

Client Testimonial

"Working with FORJ Digital has been truly transformational. Faced with increasing costs that threatened our market position, their strategic use of Performance Max delivered growth results we frankly didn't think were possible on a fixed budget. The 43% rise in conversions and a significantly lower CPA means we are now acquiring customers much more efficiently and are strongly positioned for future growth."

Helen Marriage - Managing Director