Scaling Google Ads for Micro1: ~8.3x ROAS in 6 Months
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Project Overview
Engaged by Micro1, a Silicon Valley startup connecting companies with the top 1% of remote tech & AI talent, to build, launch, and scale their Google Ads acquisition channel. Facing a hyper-competitive market dominated by players like Toptal, I developed and executed a comprehensive Google Ads Go-To-Market strategy. This involved auditing and rebuilding foundational elements, implementing a sophisticated full-funnel campaign structure (including PMAX, Search, Retargeting, and ABM), and driving continuous optimization. The result was establishing Google Ads as a primary growth engine, generating approximately $250,000 in attributed revenue o n250,000 in attributed revenue on ~250,000 in attributed revenue on 30,000 spend (~8.3x ROAS) between Q4 2023 and Q1 2024.
The Challenge: Winning High-Value Tech Hires via Paid Search
Micro1 needed to penetrate a competitive landscape and attract high-intent leads (companies seeking elite, vetted engineers & AI specialists) cost-effectively. Key challenges included:
Intense Competition: Competing against established giants like Toptal with significant brand recognition and ad budgets.
High-Quality Lead Requirement: The need to target specific decision-makers (VPs of Eng, Hiring Managers) seeking premium, pre-vetted talent, filtering out job seekers.
Channel Foundation & Scaling: Building the Google Ads channel from a potentially suboptimal state (based on initial audit findings) into a scalable, ROI-positive acquisition source.
Proving ROI Quickly: Demonstrating clear value and pipeline contribution in a fast-paced startup environment.
My Solution & Execution: Strategic & Technical Google Ads Mastery
My approach combined deep strategic insight with hands-on technical execution:
Audit & Foundational Rebuild: Conducted a thorough audit, identifying and rectifying critical issues in conversion tracking, campaign goal configuration, network settings, and bidding strategies to enable optimal performance and cross-campaign learning.
Advanced Keyword & Audience Strategy: Performed deep keyword research (including competitive analysis) focusing on high-intent terms related to hiring specific tech roles (Python, AI, ML, NLP, specific frameworks) and outsourcing needs. Developed targeted audience segments, including ABM lists and retargeting pools.
Full-Funnel Campaign Structure Build: Designed and implemented a comprehensive structure targeting different stages of the user journey:
Top of Funnel (Awareness/Discovery): Utilized Performance Max (PMAX) campaigns leveraging audience signals (including custom segments and in-market data) for broad reach across Google's networks (Search, Display, YouTube, Gmail, Discovery).
Mid Funnel (Consideration/Intent): Deployed highly-targeted Search campaigns focused on specific keywords related to skills, frameworks, roles (e.g., "Hire Python Developers"), and targeted ABM lists for key enterprise accounts (NVIDIA, OpenAI, etc.).
Bottom of Funnel (Decision/Action): Implemented Retargeting campaigns across Search and Display networks to re-engage users who had previously visited the Micro1 site but hadn't converted.
Brand Campaign: Protected branded search terms.
Performance-Driven Launch & Optimization:
Managed the initial data collection phase, rapidly adding negative keywords (e.g., "jobs," "salary") to refine traffic quality.
Implemented portfolio-level Target CPA (tCPA) smart bidding strategies once sufficient conversion data was gathered.
Developed and deployed high-performing Responsive Search Ads (RSAs) tailored to specific ad groups and funnel stages.
Continuously monitored full-funnel performance (Impressions, Clicks, CPL, MQLs, ROAS), optimizing bids, budgets, creative, keywords, and audience targeting based on data.
Channel Insights & Investment Justification: Provided analysis demonstrating Paid Search's superior ROI compared to other channels, successfully advocating for increased budget allocation to scale results.
Key Results & Impact (Q4 '23 - Q1 '24):
Revenue Generation: Directly attributed ~$250,000 in revenue from Google Ads.
Exceptional ROAS: Achieved approximately 8.3x Return on Ad Spend (~$30k spend).
Channel Scalability: Established Google Ads as a reliable, high-ROI customer acquisition channel for Micro1, demonstrating significant competitive traction against incumbents.
Strategic Foundation: Delivered a robust, optimized Google Ads infrastructure and GTM playbook ready for continued scaling.
Skills Demonstrated:
Google Ads Strategy & Full-Funnel Go-To-Market (GTM) Planning
Advanced PPC Campaign Management (PMAX, Search, Display Retargeting, ABM)
Campaign Structure Build & Implementation
Competitive Analysis & Keyword Research
Audience Segmentation & Targeting (Custom, In-Market, Retargeting, ABM)
Conversion Tracking Setup & Optimization (Google Tag Manager)
Smart Bidding Strategy Implementation (tCPA, Portfolio Bidding)
Performance Analysis & Data-Driven Optimization (CPL, MQL, ROAS)
Responsive Search Ad (RSA) Copywriting & Testing
Google Ads Audit & Account Restructuring
Startup Marketing & Scaling Acquisition Channels
Technology Stack:
Google Ads Platform (Search, PMAX, Display)
Google Analytics
HubSpot (for ROI tracking & attribution)
Why This Matters: This project showcases my ability to take ownership of a critical acquisition channel in a highly competitive tech market, build a sophisticated full-funnel strategy from the ground up, apply deep technical and strategic expertise to overcome challenges, and deliver significant, measurable revenue growth and ROI for a fast-growing startup.
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Posted Apr 30, 2024
End-to-end development and execution of Google Ads GTM strategy for Silicon Valley tech startup Micro1 that drove 8x ROAS.
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Timeline
Oct 30, 2023 - Jan 15, 2025
Clients
micro1
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