A kitchen renovation takes months to sell. A deck takes days. Highland Craft Renovations runs a Google Ads campaign for each, and in the first 12 days the small jobs campaign brought in 14 enquiries at $63 each while the renovations campaign did what renovation campaigns do early on: nothing yet. That’s the plan working, not failing. Here’s why.
| The short version | |
|---|---|
| Client | Highland Craft Renovations, Canberra and surrounds |
| Small Jobs campaign, 26 Oct to 6 Nov | 14 enquiries from 98 clicks, $63 each |
| Renovations campaign, same 12 days | 38 clicks, no enquiry yet |
| The first thing Lachie asked | Whether he’d keep every account if he ever left |
The situation
Highland Craft Renovations does kitchens, bathrooms, decks, carpentry, extensions and shop fit-outs across Canberra and the surrounding region. Lachie Ward got in touch in mid 2026, and the brief was simple. Not a spike of enquiries. A lead source that keeps working in the background, so he isn’t wondering where the next job is coming from.
Before he signed anything, he sent through a list of questions. Would the business own the Google Ads account and everything attached to it: Analytics, Tag Manager, Search Console? If he ended the agreement, would he keep the campaigns, the historical data, the conversion tracking, the landing page? Would our access simply be removed?
Yes to all of it, in writing, and that email sits alongside the contract.
If an agency won’t put account ownership in writing, that’s your answer.
What was going wrong
Nothing was broken. The risk was in how a renovation business usually runs ads.
A renovation is not an impulse decision. Someone searching “kitchen renovation Canberra” might sign a contract in four months, or never. If the only campaign you run is for renovations, you pay for months of clicks before the first job lands, and you judge the campaign on a number it can’t produce quickly. Plenty of businesses switch it off right before it starts working.
But the same tradesperson can build a deck, replace a door or fix a fence this week. Those searches convert fast. They keep the crew busy between the big jobs and they pay for the ads while the renovation enquiries take their time.
Two buyers, two timelines. They need two campaigns, judged on two different clocks.
What we did
1. Got the accounts right first
Google Ads, Analytics, Tag Manager and Search Console in the business’s name, with us added as a manager. If we part ways, our access comes off and everything else stays.
2. Tracking before the ads went live
Calls and form submissions counted as enquiries from the first click, so both campaigns are judged on what they bring in, not on how many people clicked.
3. Two campaigns with two jobs
Renovations: kitchens, bathrooms, extensions. The long game. Small Jobs: decks, carpentry and the smaller work that gets booked within days. Separate keywords, separate ads, separate budgets, so one can’t hide the other.
4. Budget weighted to the campaign that pays back first
Small Jobs took about two thirds of the spend in the first 12 days. As renovation enquiries start to land, the balance shifts.
The results
Real spend began on 26 October. These are the first 12 days.
| Small Jobs | Renovations | |
|---|---|---|
| Ad spend | $885 | $420 |
| Clicks | 98 | 38 |
| Enquiries | 14 | 0 so far |
| Cost per enquiry | $63 | Too early |
Twelve days isn’t a verdict, it’s a first read. Fourteen enquiries for $885 is a solid start. The Renovations campaign has had 38 clicks and no enquiry, which is normal for a job that takes months to decide, and we’ll report on it when there’s something to report.
An enquiry is a call or a form from the ads, counted once. Numbers are from the Google Ads account, pulled 7 November 2026.
What Lachie said
“Been working with Hatim for a few days now and he’s made me so much more hopeful about digital marketing than ever before. Been getting calls and leads and the campaign has only just begun, very excited!! As someone who works in renos and carpentry, you’re always scared of what agencies are doing and the scams going around but Hatim and the Performance Marketer team has literally put all those fears to bed. Would highly recommend them!”
Highland Craft Renovations. Google review, 31 October 2026, five days into the campaign.
A week later, under his own name: “Hatim and his team are absolutely brilliant at what they do. I can highly recommend them to help you out with all your online advertising needs.” Lachlan Ward, Google review, 5 November 2026.
What any builder can take from this
If what you sell takes months to decide, don’t run ads only for that. Find the part of your business that sells in a week, run a campaign for it, and let it pay for the long game.
And before you sign with anyone, ask the question Lachie asked. Who owns the accounts, and what happens to them if you leave?
The small jobs keep the lights on. The ads for the big ones can take their time.
Selling something that takes months to decide?
Book a call with me. We’ll work out which part of your business can pay for the ads this month, and how to keep the long-game campaign alive until it lands. See how we run Google Ads and Facebook and Instagram ads.
