You’d think a boutique hotel in Coronado and a fishing charter business would have nothing in common.
Different industries. Different customer journeys. Different services. And yet — they shared the same critical marketing problem: misaligned expectations and wasted budget. I break down what went wrong, how we fixed it, and why these two cases are relevant to anyone running ads, hiring an agency, or questioning their strategy.
Because here’s the truth: most businesses don’t have a marketing problem. They have a clarity problem. And clarity always comes before conversions.
The Hotel: When Broad Targeting Kills a Premium Offer
The hotel client came to us excited. They had a newly launched Google Ads account, a beautiful website, strong visuals, and were ready to scale bookings. But their ads weren’t converting. We did what most business owners don’t think to do first: we looked under the hood.
What We Found:
- Their keywords were far too broad — terms like “San Diego hotel” and “beach stay”
- Their campaign lacked geo-intent — people from out of market were seeing local-focused messaging
- They weren’t using conversion tracking or call reporting
- Their copy was generic, not experiential
Why This Matters:
Their offering was specific: a boutique experience in San Diego — a place with unique energy, slower pace, and higher-end clientele. But their ads were pulling in general tourists looking for discounts, large properties, or beachfront deals.
“You can’t attract premium guests if your ads look like Expedia.”
We helped them reposition their strategy:
- Targeting long-tail keywords like “boutique hotel,” “quiet hotel near downtown San Diego,” “romantic weekend getaway”
- Implementing branded campaigns and local keyword layers
- Syncing landing pages with ad messaging for quality score improvement
- Installing proper goal tracking in Google Ads and Google Analytics
They finally started seeing bookings from their ideal customer profile. Not just more leads — but the right ones.
This case was a reminder that you don’t need to spend more to see results. You need to be more specific, and stop blending in.
The Fishing Charter: Seasonality Isn’t Just a Side Note — It’s the Strategy
The second client came from a very different world — a sport fishing charter operating out of Southern California.
They had run Google Ads before, but saw little to no results. Their instinct? Spend more. Push harder.
We stopped them.
“The algorithm can’t fix bad timing, bad targeting, or bad positioning.”
What We Diagnosed:
- They were running campaigns during off-season months (when interest in charters is historically low)
- Keywords were generic: “fishing charter” with no location or intent signals
- They had no persona segmentation — were they speaking to tourists? Corporate outings? Families? Locals?
Our Strategic Pivot:
- We audited historical Google Trends and CRM behavior to map high-intent months
- Introduced seasonal campaign cycles with intentional downtime for budget conservation
- Refined ad groups to align with personas: adventure-seekers, family packages, local returners, and gift buyers
- Added supporting content: blog posts, review prompts, and local map updates to boost off-site credibility
Their lead flow tripled during peak months. But more importantly — they weren’t burning budget in low-converting windows anymore.
They gained trust in the process, not just the outcome.
What Business Owners Can Learn from These Stories
1. More PPC spend does not equal more results.
Without audience clarity and timing strategy, increasing your budget just increases your burn rate.
2. Generic targeting kills good offers.
Your service may be premium, niche, or local — but if your ads look like a mass-market campaign, you’re competing in the wrong space.
3. The customer journey is nonlinear.
Especially in tourism, hospitality, and seasonal services, decisions are emotional, delayed, and influenced by small moments. Your strategy needs to account for:
- Timing
- Search behavior
- Retargeting cycles
- Persona-based messaging
4. Google Ads is a system, not a switch.
If you’re still treating Google Ads like a faucet you turn on or off — you’re missing how it actually works. It takes:
- Proper conversion setup
- Keyword mapping
- Landing page alignment
- Data analysis over time
5. Your agency should advice you, not just report to you.
Both clients saw the biggest shift when they understood why things were working — not just that they were.
Our job isn’t just to launch ads. It’s to make sure you understand the strategy behind them.
Alignment Before Optimization
Before you focus on copy, creative, or cost-per-click — ask yourself:
- Who am I trying to reach?
- Why now?
- What makes my offer different?
If you don’t have answers, it’s not a Google Ads problem — it’s a brand problem.
And that’s what we solve.
— Oz