Pay Per Click Advertising Case Studies

The Complete Basketcase

Indulgence, Image, Impression Online gift service company, The Complete Basketcase, used Google AdWords to increase online sales by over 40%.

 

When Kerry Met Andrea

In 2001, best friends, Kerry Mitchell & Andrea Turner-Boys, met at a weight-loss support group in the Blue Mountains. They quickly forged their friendship and connected immediately, which led them to realise that their professional interests and goals were perfectly aligned as well. They both had a desire to start their own businesses. With backgrounds in finance and fashion, the two women were able to concoct the perfect recipe to help them achieve their dream. Being a genuinely fun-loving pair of women, they wanted to start a business to produce products that would put smiles on people's faces. At the heart of their business is the passion for customer service and making beautiful gifts that make senders and their recipients feel surprised and delighted.

While seeking support and funding from banks and financial institutions, Kerry and Andrea were repeatedly turned away. They decided that they had to open up this dream business on their own, with their own money. Their first step was to finalise their business location - the basement of Kerry's home. Gift baskets and hampers filled Kerry's family room as orders initially came in, barely leaving enough room for them to sit or walk. They even had to store their products outside of the house in a 3-room tent when orders came pouring in. After proving that they could provide some of the highest-quality gifts and hampers in the country, Kerry and Andrea opened their first commercial premises and warehouse in Penrith, NSW, and the two women were determined to grow their business even bigger.

 

Spreading the Love

During the earlier years of The Complete Basketcase's evolution, Kerry and Andrea found that their largest audience was a corporate crowd - companies ordering gift hampers for clients and employees. Andrea and Kerry knew that they wanted to spread awareness for their company beyond this in order to solidify their brand presence across different markets and demographics, since their products and packages would be suitable for any person or special occasion. They looked to Google AdWords to help achieve this.

Initially, Andrea and Kerry had looked to more traditional advertising vehicles to advertise their growing business. Andrea says, "put our dollars down for an ad in the paper and waited for business to come in. You don't know if your ad worked or if those dollars went to good use, and it feels like a waiting game." They needed a better solution, and that's exactly what they found in Google AdWords.

 

Putting All Their Eggs in One Basket

Through AdWords, Kerry and Andrea have been able to reach record-breaking sales in the past year and say that the traffic they receive directly from AdWords is around 50%. During the Christmas season, they saw a tremendous increase in business, with sales jumping at least 40%, due in large part to the stellar performance of their AdWords account.

What Kerry and Andrea love about AdWords is its ease of use and the accountability it provides. "We love that, at any time, we can log into our AdWords account to see what's working for us and make changes based on what we see. With the AdWords product, you're also only paying for results - when people click on our ads and are taken to our website." This level of transparency is very important to The Complete Basketcase.

Through AdWords, Kerry and Andrea were also able to reach a new audience for their services. They were seeing more and more orders come in from non-corporate crowds, like people looking to send gifts to their fiancés, or people who were sending baskets to sick loved ones in the hospital. Seeing their products reaching a new, non-corporate audience gave the women great satisfaction in knowing that their goal of bringing smiles to people's faces had been achieved.

"Google AdWords is still the only advertising product we use here at The Complete Basketcase. We will be using it for as long as we are in business," says Kerry. The results they have received from using Google AdWords have allowed the business to grow into the $2 million gift hamper empire it is today.

 

Growing Pains? No Way.

As a result of their company's success, Kerry and Andrea have been able to double their staff and add two more locations for their business. They have also been able to hire more fun-loving employees that are as passionate about the business as they are. Looking ahead, they hope to double their company's revenue to $4 million dollars, and both Kerry and Andrea say that they will be able to achieve this because of their ongoing partnership with Google AdWords. Kerry and Andrea have also been able to grow out their product lines and hamper themes, since they are now reaching customers with increasingly varied interests. They are currently in the process of developing and building up their line of luxurious romantic-themed hampers. We can expect many more baskets to come in the future.

 

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