Revving Up Bookings: A Case Study on a Car Rental Brand’s Google Ads

HireMeCar is India’s largest cloud-based digital discovery and services provisioning platform for the taxi rental Industry. Serving over 7000 customers in 100+ cities, the platform facilitates more than 20,000 Kms of safe and seamless travel on a daily basis for travelers and service providers over the length and breadth of the country.

HireMeCar sought to increase bookings and improve campaign quality while maintaining a targeted cost per acquisition (CPA).  

• Low-Quality Leads: The campaigns were attracting traffic that didn’t convert into actual bookings, indicating a mismatch between ad targeting and user intent.
• High Costs: Campaign costs were exceeding the client’s desired CPA, impacting profitability.
• Underperforming Campaigns: Overall campaign performance was below expectations, with low conversion rates and inefficient ad spend.

Aurven developed a comprehensive strategy focused on optimizing the client’s Google Ads campaigns for conversions and efficiency. 

The key components of the strategy were:

• Restructuring campaigns by city pair, pausing underperformers, refining keywords, and using broad match types for improved visibility
• Switching to automated bidding (Maximize Conversions) and applying a targeted CPA to control costs
• Analyzing and fixing landing page issues to boost conversion rates
• Stabilizing CPA and expanded to more city pairs

Google Ads Strategy

• Campaign Restructuring by City Pair: The existing campaigns were restructured to focus on specific city pairs. This theme-wise campaign structuring allowed for more targeted ad copy, landing pages, and bidding strategies, improving relevance and conversion rates. 
• Automated Bidding with Target CPA: Having sufficient historical conversion data, we switched to the “Maximize Conversions” bidding strategy with a target CPA based on that data. This allowed Google’s algorithms to automatically optimize bids and capture more conversions at the desired cost.
• Keyword Refinement and Match Type Expansion: Existing keywords were refined to remove irrelevant terms and improve targeting accuracy. Broad Match type was strategically implemented to expand reach and capture more potential customers while relying on negative keywords to maintain relevance.
• Paused Underperforming Campaigns: Campaigns that consistently underperformed were paused to reallocate budget to more effective initiatives.

Landing Page Optimization 

• Optimizing page load speed for faster loading times.
• Ensuring mobile responsiveness for a seamless user experience on all devices.
• Improving the clarity and prominence of the call to action (booking form).
• Streamlining the booking process to reduce friction.

Ad Copy Writing: 

• Relevance to City Pairs: Ad copy were tailored to specific city pairs, highlighting relevant destinations and travel information.
• Compelling Offers and Promotions: Special offers and promotions were incorporated into ad copy to incentivize bookings and improve click-through rates. 
• Clear Call to Action: Ad copy included clear and concise calls to action, such as “Book Now,” “Get a Quote,” or “Find Your Perfect Car.”

The implemented strategy yielded significant improvements in campaign performance within just six weeks:

• 2.3x Increase in Actual Bookings: The optimized campaigns resulted in a 2.3x increase in confirmed car rental bookings, significantly exceeding the client’s initial goals.
• 52% Decrease in Campaign Costs: By targeting more relevant traffic and improving conversion rates, campaign costs were reduced by an impressive 52%, significantly improving ROI.

By restructuring campaigns, implementing automated bidding with a target CPA, optimizing landing pages, and refining keyword targeting, Aurven significantly improved the performance of the car rental brand’s Google Ads campaigns. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of a data-driven, user-centric approach to digital advertising, leading to a substantial increase in bookings and a significant reduction in campaign costs. This case study highlights the importance of ongoing campaign optimization and its positive impact on business growth.