Overview
Apex Spring & Stamping is a Michigan-based manufacturer of custom springs, stampings, and wire forms for OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers. Their marketing manager wanted to expand their marketing efforts to paid ads, but there wasn’t internal buy-in from the leadership team.
📊 At-a-Glance Metrics
🎯 The Challenge
- No previous PPC ad history or internal buy-in from leadership
- Small $40/day ad budget
- Niche, hard-to-reach audience of OEM engineers and buyers
- Needed fast results to prove ROI and validate paid search as a viable channel
🛠 The Strategy
We launched Apex’s first-ever paid search campaigns on both Google and Bing Ads, manually structured with tight keyword targeting and conversion tracking tied exclusively to high-intent actions (RFQs and contact form submissions). After the initial Google Ads success, we rolled out Bing campaigns using learnings from the first 30 days to optimize performance across both platforms.
Google Ads Strategy
- Manual search campaigns with exact & phrase match keywords only
- Negative keyword audits and daily search term monitoring
- Conversion tracking via GA4 & GTM
- Excluded low-quality placements (search partners)
- Highly specific ad copy targeting OEM engineers
- Ad schedule limited to business hours
Bing/Microsoft Ads Strategy:
- Created Bing-specific campaigns targeting OEM engineers
- Used structured keyword groups and manual bidding
- Refined campaigns MoM based on performance
- Eliminated low-intent clicks and optimized bid strategy
- Aligned targeting to support growth in metal stampings and spring clips
📈 The Results
- 52 Qualified Form Submissions (RFQ or Contact Us)
- Stayed within budget every day
- Zero irrelevant clicks from broad keywords or low-quality sites
- Marketing manager secured internal approval to continue ad spend
The campaigns not only delivered fast, measurable ROI—but helped the marketing team gain trust from leadership and establish Google Ads as a long-term growth channel.
🚀 Additional Highlights
- 40% of Bing conversions came from metal stamping-related queries, directly supporting strategic growth areas
- Bing impressions increased 40% MoM, while reducing spend by 21% and improving lead volume
- Google Ads increased site traffic by 64% and GMB profile views by 37%
- 725% increase in contact + RFQ form submissions across the site
- 550% increase in Bing-driven site traffic
“This campaign delivered exactly what we needed—fast, trackable results that spoke directly to our target market. They took care of every detail and made sure every dollar was working. Thanks to this success, we now have buy-in from our leadership to continue advertising.”
Melissa, Marketing Manager
— Melissa, Marketing Manager
💡 Key Takeaway
A manual, data-driven PPC strategy – aligned to Apex’s ideal customer profile – helped generate 52 high-intent leads in just 60 days while staying under budget. Google Ads captured high-intent searchers; Bing Ads expanded reach efficiently. Together, they shifted internal perceptions and proved paid search as a scalable lead gen channel for Apex Spring.
