Managing $1M+ Monthly Ad Spend: Scaling a Global Leader

Managing $1M+ Monthly Ad Spend: Scaling a Global Leader in Digital Forensics

In April 2024, I was brought in to optimize the Google Ads strategy for one of the largest players in the digital forensics and cybersecurity space—a firm holding over 70% of its global market. They had a strong grip on their category but needed help pushing efficiency further without losing market share.

This project involved a massive budget—over $15M/year—and it became one of the most complex and rewarding accounts I’ve worked on.

Traffic was steady but inefficient

Conversions were plateauing

Impression share leadership was slipping as competitors ramped up

The goal wasn’t to generate more leads just for the sake of volume—they already had plenty. Instead, I was tasked with:

Audited 183+ legacy campaigns to identify waste, keyword overlap, and quality score drag

Implemented a bidding strategy using Target CPA with automated bid rules tied to device, time of day, and day of week

Rebuilt ad groups around tighter keyword themes and wrote new, more relevant ad copy to boost CTR and Quality Score

Identified competitive behavior patterns and adjusted bids in real time to outmaneuver rival campaigns without overspending

Set up recurring daily, weekly, and monthly performance checks with manual + automated optimizations

Clicks: 117K

Conversions: 11K

Conversion rate: 7.29%

Impressions: 1.83M

Clicks: 203K (+73%)

Conversions: 15.8K (+43%)

Conversion rate: 7.76% (+6%)

Impressions: 1.98M (+8%)

This isn’t just about volume. Even with 86,000 more clicks and 4,800 additional conversions, we actually decreased wasted ad spend—and during the summer of 2024, the client confirmed they saved $500,000 in ad costs while maintaining the same monthly sales volume.

I don’t just manage spend. I protect and scale market position. I lead strategy, personally audit and build out campaigns, and work with a hand-selected support team I’ve trained myself to keep everything sharp and efficient. No bloat, no fluff—just performance.

If you're managing large budgets and want to scale without losing control, I’d be happy to explore how I can help. And if you’d like to talk to this client directly, I’m happy to connect you. They'll give you the real story behind the results.

Let me know if you’d like to talk.