• Doubled ROI on overall program
  • Increased qualified leads by 4x
  • Increased conversion rates by 85%
  • Increased average quality score from 4.5 to 8.5
The time and cost savings Marin Software has afforded our team – a 60% reduction in time spent managing our SEM program – has allowed us to branch out into different marketing tactics, such as organic search. Largely because of Marin, our company has hugely expanded our business – increasing our monthly revenues eight-fold.”

John Zubl,
Founder and Consulting Director of Paid Search, CJJZ Agency LLC

Top Insurance Company Increases Conversions By 400% And Doubles ROI

OVERVIEW

Founded in 2008, a leading online insurance company provides thousands of consumers with an effective and free way to shop online for insurance quotes. Whether customers are interested in auto, life, homeowners, health, renters, dental, or business insurance, the insurance company makes the selection process easier than ever before. Customers fill out a simple online application to receive and compare unique insurance quotes from a network of national and local agents at the country’s top insurance companies – getting the insurance they need at the best prices.

CHALLENGE

As one of the most visited insurance comparison sites online today, the company relies heavily on paid search marketing to drive traffic to its site – with the goal of getting visitors to “convert” by filling out a lead form requesting an insurance quote. Because the insurance market is highly competitive, popular keywords such as “auto insurance” and “health insurance” were costing the company a significant amount, resulting in average per-lead costs of up to $15 in certain sectors. The company wanted to reduce its per-lead costs in competitive sectors such as auto and health insurance, while at the same time significantly expanding its paid search program.

Overall, the insurance site had a two-fold goal: bring down search marketing costs through improved bidding and better campaign management; and increase the size and scope of its paid search program by entering new insurance markets. What’s more, the company sought to reach these goals while also increasing overall paid search conversion rates.

SOLUTION

The leading insurance company brought on CJJZ Agency and implemented Marin Software to help streamline and optimize paid search. They selected Marin Software for its ability to automatically optimize bids, accurately measure and improve paid search ROI, and streamline the process of bid and campaign management. Prior to implementing Marin Software, the site worked with a seperate paid search agency that offered limited visibility and reporting into what was working and what was not. The company wanted to take full control of its paid search marketing program – using Marin Software’s sophisticated workflow, analysis, and optimization features to wring the most ROI possible out of their program.

The insurance comparison site especially appreciates Marin Software’s automated bidding feature. By setting ROI and CPA goals across thousands of keywords, the company turned its entire bidding process over to Marin – streamlining operations, decreasing bid prices across the board, and boosting ROI. The time saved from automated bidding is now reallocated towards keyword expansion, trend spotting, creative testing, and creation of new campaigns.

RESULTS

Marin Software has allowed the insurance company to dramatically increase the size of its paid search program, without increasing costs-per-lead. Before implementing Marin Software, they were only offering quotes for a limited number of insurance types. Because of their success with Marin Software, their business has grown to include homeowners, dental, health, and several other types of insurance. Since implementing Marin, the leading insurance company has more tripled their spending on search marketing and boosted their overall monthly revenues from paid search by eight-fold.

Marin Software’s automated bidding feature has proven wildly successful for the insurance company, specifically within their “Dental Insurance” and “Homeowner Insurance” campaigns. By progressively lowering CPA targets, they decreased their cost per click by 84% and 54% for Dental Insurance and Homeowner Insurance respectively. During this time, the company also increased the number of inbound leads by more than 4x by adding new keywords and campaigns, improving quality scores, and testing creative to maximize conversions. Average conversion rates have increased by 85%, with conversion rates for select keyword campaigns reaching an impressive 79% overall.

The insurance company was also able to diversify their traffic stream with the time saved using Marin Software. Ninety percent of their revenue came from paid search prior to implementing Marin. Now, 60% of their growing traffic comes from paid search with the remainder coming from organic search and type-in traffic.

Other results achieved using Marin Software include:

  • Doubled ROI on its paid search marketing program
  • Boosted qualified leads from paid search by 4x
  • Decreased average cost per lead from $15 to $10
  • Increased conversion rates by 85%
  • Decreased time spent managing its paid search program by 60% – enabling team to reinvest time savings into SEO and other new marketing initiatives
  • Dramatically increased the average quality score of keyword campaigns from 4.5 to 8.5.