Project 05 · Academic · Digital Marketing Simternship
A Google Ads campaign that beat its revenue target
Running a paid-search and display campaign end to end (keywords, bids, targeting, and optimization) against a hard revenue goal, with real metrics deciding whether the decisions worked.
The brief
The simulation handed me a campaign and a target: build and optimize paid search and display advertising to clear a $16,000 revenue goal. Unlike a class essay, the feedback loop was numeric. Every decision on keywords, bids, and targeting showed up in CTR, conversions, and revenue, and I had to adjust round over round to hit the number.
How I approached it
I structured the account around tight, intent-matched ad groups so the keywords, ad copy, and landing pages all pointed at the same buyer. From there I treated each round as an optimization cycle: read the performance data, find where spend was being wasted, and reallocate toward the keywords and audiences that were actually converting.
- Built keyword strategy and ad-group structure mapped to buyer-journey stages.
- Managed bids and targeting against CTR, conversion, and revenue signals.
- Pruned low-performing keywords and shifted budget toward efficient ones.
- Aligned ad relevance and landing pages to lift quality and conversion.
The outcome
The campaign landed a roughly 35% click-through rate and exceeded the $16K revenue target. More important than the headline numbers was the discipline behind them: the results came from reading the analytics each round and making specific, evidence-based changes rather than guessing.
What I took away
Paid media rewards iteration. The first build is never the best build. The gains came from being honest about what the metrics were saying and being willing to cut what wasn't working, even when it was something I'd set up myself.
Deliverables
- Structured paid-search and display campaign
- Keyword and ad-group strategy with bid management
- Round-over-round optimization against CTR, conversions, and revenue
Tools
- Google Ads (Stukent Digital Marketing simternship)
- Campaign analytics and performance reporting