East Midlands Rail

Strategic automation: how collaborative thinking made a million in one month.

  • 2754%

    actual ROI

  • 3710%

    seasonal campaign ROI

  • £1m

    per month generated

East Midlands Rail are a railway company/operator

In June 2019, we met with EMR’s extremely busy marketing team to talk strategy. EMR had just replaced East Midlands Trains, so a regeneration drive was key to the project.

They wanted:

  • An ambitious ROI of 2000%.
  • To hit the revenue target within 3 months of campaign launch.
  • A growth agency they could trust implicitly.

What we did

As a first port of call, we began with a forecast, research and in-depth strategy sessions. We kicked off by identifying where automation was going to be more effective than human input. This involved the implementation of automated bid strategies and in-house built custom scripts with the goal of automating certain tasks and pacing budgets.

We used responsive search ads on a big scale, with a dedicated seasonal campaign targeted at the rail sector. We also addressed on-site landing page conversion rate optimisation (CRO), directing audiences to the right place so they are exactly where they need to be.

Transparency and mutual respect

As the campaign progressed and got stronger, so did our relationship with EMR. They trusted our specialist knowledge implicitly and knew every step of the campaign was designed to lift stress and workload from their busy team.

Likewise, EMR’s industry expertise was invaluable, and we took their advice into account at every turn. Nobody knows their services better than the customer.

Our check-ins and updates were frequent but to-the-point, focusing on new information and audience data we had gathered. We also worked really hard on staying ahead of schedule to take pressure off when it came to the client’s internal deadlines.

The results

At the end of the campaign in November 2019, we’d surpassed every target we’d set ourselves:

  • 41.9% above cumulative revenue target
  • 28.7% below CPA target
  • Target ROI: 2000%
  • Actual ROI: 2754%
  • Seasonal Campaign ROI: 3710%
  • £1m per month generated since campaign launch

Now, we have a flourishing, profitable client and enjoy a powerful collaboration that continues to drive EMR forward.

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