The Client
The Blowout Bunch blows out and winterizes lawn sprinkler systems for homeowners in Boulder County and the north Denver metro, Colorado. We built their Google Ads for the fall 2022 season, and from September to November the campaigns produced 120+ online bookings and phone calls at about $19 each.
Sprinkler blowouts are a race against the weather. Every Colorado homeowner with an irrigation system needs the lines cleared of water before the first hard freeze, or the pipes and backflow valve can crack. The whole year's demand lands in a few weeks of fall, and the company that shows up first and makes booking easy gets the job.
"Zero tracked leads before us. 90+ bookings and calls in October 2022 alone."
The Challenge
Google Ads for a seasonal service like sprinkler blowouts is a short, intense sprint:
- A six-week window. Nearly all the demand comes between late September and the first freeze. There is no time to let a campaign "learn" for a month.
- A campaign that wasn't producing. Before we started, the account's Search campaign had spent $400+ in August and September with no tracked bookings or calls.
- DIY searches. "Blowing out sprinkler system" and "how to winterize sprinklers" bring homeowners who plan to do it themselves with a compressor.
- Two kinds of lead. Customers book online or pick up the phone, and both have to be tracked or the campaigns optimize toward half the business.
What We Built
1. A Main Search Campaign for Blowout Searches
Launched in late September 2022 around the searches that book a technician: "sprinkler blowout", "sprinkler blow out service", "sprinkler blowout near me", "irrigation blow out service" and city searches such as "sprinkler blowout denver". The top keyword, "sprinkler blowout", produced nearly 40 bookings and calls on its own.
2. An A/B Test of the Main Campaign
We ran a Google campaign experiment against the Main Search Campaign from its first week, testing a different bidding approach head to head in the peak of the season.
3. A Business Profile Campaign for Local Searches
A Smart campaign built around the company's Google Business Profile, to catch map and local searches and bring calls straight from the listing.
4. Tracking for Bookings and Calls
We counted online appointment bookings, calls from the ads, calls from the website and tracked calls from the Business Profile. Clicks on the phone number, map directions and other local actions are not counted as leads.
5. ZIP-Code and City Targeting
The campaigns targeted Broomfield, Lafayette, Louisville, Superior, Westminster and Boulder, plus more than 20 ZIP codes across Boulder County and the north Denver metro, the area the crews could reach before the freeze.
6. Nearly 500 Negative Keywords
To keep a short season's budget on paying customers, the campaigns carried nearly 500 negative keywords against DIY, how-to and equipment searches.
7. Daily Optimization via Ad Campaign Concierge™
In a six-week season every day counts, so every campaign was reviewed daily through our proprietary Ad Campaign Concierge™ system: search terms, negatives, bids and budget pacing.
The Results
The numbers below cover our campaigns only, September to November 2022.
- 120+ real leads in one fall season, about $19 each.
- 60+ online bookings and 60+ phone calls from the ads, the website and the Business Profile.
- 90+ bookings and calls in October 2022, the peak of blowout season.
- 30K+ impressions and 940+ clicks across the season.
Leads Through the Season
The season shows exactly how this business works. The campaigns went live in September, October brought the rush as temperatures dropped, and by November the remaining systems were done.
How the Leads Came In
Key Takeaways
- In a seasonal business, be live before the rush. Our campaigns were running before the October peak, so they caught 90+ bookings and calls in the busiest month.
- Make booking easy. Half the customers booked online without calling. Tracking those bookings let the campaigns find more people like them.
- Fix what isn't working, fast. The earlier campaign spent $400+ with no tracked leads. Rebuilt campaigns with real tracking turned the same market into 120+ leads.
- Negatives protect a short season. Nearly 500 negatives kept DIY and how-to searches from eating a budget that only has a few weeks to work.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a sprinkler blowout lead cost on Google Ads?
The Blowout Bunch paid about $19 per booking or call across the 2022 fall season. Before our campaigns, the account's first Search campaign spent $400+ without a single tracked lead.
When should a sprinkler blowout company start advertising?
Before the first freeze. In 2022 our campaigns went live in September and October was the peak, with 90+ bookings and calls in one month, more than three quarters of the season.
Do sprinkler blowout customers book online or call?
Both, almost evenly. Of the 120+ leads, 60+ booked an appointment online and 60+ called, from the ads, the website or the Business Profile.
What do homeowners search for when they need a sprinkler blowout?
'Sprinkler blowout' by a wide margin, then 'sprinkler blow out service', 'sprinkler blowout near me' and 'irrigation blow out service'. Searches with the city name, such as 'sprinkler blowout denver', converted too.
About This Campaign
Sprinkler blowout and irrigation winterization lead generation on Google Ads, built with our proprietary Ad Campaign Concierge™ optimization system.
Industry: Home Services (Sprinkler Blowout & Irrigation Winterization) Platforms: Google Ads (Search, Smart) Location: Boulder County and the north Denver metro, Colorado Account Duration: September 2022 to November 2022. The engagement has ended.
Leads are counted Google Ads conversions from the campaigns we built: online appointment bookings, calls from ads, calls from Smart campaign ads, calls from the website and tracked calls from the Business Profile. Untracked Business Profile calls, phone-number clicks, directions and other local actions are excluded. "Before us" is the account's earlier Search campaign, August to September 2022. All figures are rounded down and in US dollars.