Austere: 3.5x return on ad spend and 450+ qualified leads in a quarter
Austere is a social media marketing firm for artists. Thousands of people searched for Instagram growth every month, but few turned into leads on its microsites, and paid campaigns were not paying back. We matched ads to pages and tested our way up.
Who is Austere, and what market do they sell in?
Austere is a social media marketing firm for artists. It serves people who want their work seen, and the demand is real: thousands of people search for Instagram growth every month.
Demand from search is only valuable if the page a searcher lands on matches what they were looking for. When it does not, paid traffic leaks away and every click costs more than it returns. That gap between search and page was the core of this project, and landing page optimization was the main tool.
Where did Austere start?
Austere had traffic. The problem was what happened after the click. Search traffic did not match what visitors found on the microsites, so a person who searched for one thing landed on a page that talked about something more general.
As a result, visitors rarely became leads despite consistent traffic. Only about 20% of visitors engaged with elements on the microsites at all.
Paid campaigns were not returning their cost. Every month of ad spend that did not convert made the next month harder to justify.
The starting point in short:
- Search traffic did not match what visitors found on the microsites.
- Visitors rarely became leads despite consistent traffic.
- Paid campaigns were not returning their cost.
From search to lead, matched at every step
- Study Segment visitor behavior
Sharpen personas and the motivation behind each search.
- Match Change the headline to the keyword
Each visitor sees the promise from the ad.
- Target Buy high-intent traffic
Google, Facebook and TikTok campaigns on the right keywords.
- Test A/B test continuously
Creative, headlines and calls to action.
- Scale Fund what returns
Budget follows return on ad spend.
What did we change, and why?
Behavior segmentation
Visitor behavior analysis to sharpen the audience personas and the motivations behind each search.
Before changing pages, we studied how visitors behaved on them. Which searches brought which people, what they clicked, and where they left. That turned vague personas into clear groups with clear motivations, so every later test had a reason behind it instead of a guess.
Dynamic landing content
Landing page headlines that change to match the search keyword, so each visitor sees the promise from the ad.
Dynamic landing pages change the headline to match the keyword the visitor searched. A person who searched for a specific kind of Instagram growth sees that exact promise at the top of the page, so they know straight away they are in the right place. This is one of the most direct forms of landing page optimization, and it is why bounce rate fell by 28% and engagement with microsite elements rose from 20% to 62%.
Paid campaigns and testing
Google, Facebook and TikTok campaigns on high-intent keywords, with continuous A/B tests on creative, headlines and calls to action.
With the pages matched, paid campaigns could focus on high-intent keywords and audiences on Google, Facebook and TikTok. Continuous A/B tests on creative, headlines and calls to action kept the winners running and cut the losers. Better relevance lifted click-through rate by 22% and lowered cost per click by 18%, and conversions rose 380% against the pre-test baseline.
What were the results?
Every number below was measured for Austere over the one quarter, as reported in the original case study.
| Metric | Result |
|---|---|
| Lead conversion versus pre-test baseline | +380% |
| Return on ad spend | 3.5x |
| Qualified leads, first quarter | 450+ |
| Cost per click | 18% lower |
| Click-through rate | +22% |
| Bounce rate | 28% lower |
| Visitors engaging with microsite elements | 20% to 62% |
What matched pages and testing produced
- 3.5x return on ad spend
- 450+ qualified leads First quarter
- +380% lead conversion versus the pre-test baseline
- 18% lower cost per click
Measured over the one quarter.
Visitors who engaged with the microsites
Share of visitors engaging with microsite elements, before and after dynamic landing content and testing.
Visitors engaging with microsite elements
Why did it work?
The turning point was relevance. When the headline on the page matched the search that brought the visitor, people stayed and engaged. Engagement with microsite elements rose from 20% to 62% and bounce rate fell by 28%.
Relevance also made the ads cheaper. Ad platforms reward ads that people click and pages that satisfy them, so click-through rate rose 22% and cost per click fell 18%.
Testing compounded both. Every A/B test on creative, headlines and calls to action kept the better version, which is how lead conversion rose 380% against the baseline and paid campaigns moved from not returning their cost to a 3.5x return on ad spend.
What can other marketing services businesses learn from this?
Match the page to the search
If your ads send people with different needs to the same general page, you are paying for clicks the page cannot convert. Matching the headline to the keyword is often the quickest fix.
Study behavior before you test
Tests built on real visitor behavior win more often than tests built on opinions. Segment first, then test.
Never stop testing the ads
Creative, headlines and calls to action wear out. Continuous A/B tests keep return on ad spend from sliding back.
Which service produced this result?
This project used our paid advertising work. Google, Meta, YouTube and LinkedIn campaigns built around the cost of a customer, not the cost of a click, with landing pages and follow-up that turn the spend into revenue.
Frequently asked questions about this case
What return on ad spend did Austere get?
Paid campaigns reached a 3.5x return on ad spend and produced more than 450 qualified leads in the first quarter, with lead conversion up 380% against the pre-test baseline.
What are dynamic landing pages?
Landing pages whose headline changes to match the keyword a visitor searched. The visitor sees the promise from the ad, which reduces bounce and raises conversion. For Austere, engagement rose from 20% to 62% of visitors.
Which ad platforms were used?
Google, Facebook and TikTok, all focused on high-intent keywords and audiences, with continuous A/B tests on creative, headlines and calls to action.
Results are as reported for this client over the period shown. Results for your business depend on your offer, list and market.
Which other case studies are worth reading?
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