Google Ads and Facebook Ads for an Optical Store: Fully Booked on $250 a Month
Optical store marketing case study: what the store looked like before adsfox
From working the front desk himself to running the business like an owner. Jan’s success story.
Starting point
With several satisfied opticians already on board, clients who had found us through online ads and were seeing great results, we decided it was worth reaching out directly to owners of other optical stores in other cities.
(Making sure beforehand that the opticians we called did not compete with our existing clients.)
Watch video testimonials from opticians
First contact with adsfox
That is how our colleague Roksana got through to Jan.
Until then Jan employed one person for 8 hours a day to work the front desk, take product orders, prepare documents for the accountant and handle other admin tasks. But Jan’s optical store was open 12 hours a day.
With the number of customers he had at the time, Jan could not afford to hire a second person for the store, and at the same time he wanted to work as much as possible in order to (as he told us) cover the loan he had taken out for equipment and the fit-out of the premises.
We admit Roksana benefited a little from that, because when she called the store it was not hard to get Jan himself on the phone.
After the first call Roksana noted in our CRM: “the owner picked up but has no time to talk, call back later.”
On the second call Jan found a few minutes, although he opened with “I’m not interested in any pointless advertising, none of my business owner friends has ever gotten a customer from a Facebook ad, and I’ve heard Google ads are terribly expensive too.”
The free marketing consultation
Luckily Roksana managed to convince Jan that he did not have to buy anything from us, but we would like to show him how Facebook and Instagram ads and Google Ads campaigns could help him win customers for his optical store.
In the end Jan agreed to take part in a free marketing consultation.
During the consultation it turned out Jan’s website was almost ready for effective advertising. It only needed a few extra landing pages for SEO and Google Ads, plus an online booking calendar, so we could measure conversions better (that is, the number of customers who booked an appointment) and optimize the campaigns more effectively.
(At adsfox every ad campaign, whether on Facebook, Google Ads or TikTok Ads, is fully measurable, meaning we can track exactly what each interaction on our client’s website costs. For some opticians we optimize campaigns for form submissions, for others for phone number clicks to book an appointment. The type of optimization and the tracking method are always decided individually.)
What convinced Jan
Jan decided that since he had gotten so much value from the consultation alone, he would go with our full-service Facebook Ads and Google Ads package to keep his own time commitment to a minimum and enjoy fully managed campaigns on Google and social media. Before the video call Jan had also watched the video interviews with other opticians on our website, which further convinced him it might be worth testing this way of winning customers.
What we implemented before launching the optical store campaigns
We started by verifying the basics: the Google Business Profile properly completed and linked to the Google Ads account, and we programmed tracking for the online booking calendar we recommended to Jan. After adding 3 landing pages we set up a Google Search Console account for Jan so his site would get indexed by Google faster.
Then we ran a full Google Analytics 4 configuration. (Keep in mind that a Google Analytics 4 setup does not end with installing the tracking code, it starts there. At adsfox a GA4 configuration covers well over a dozen elements.) In Jan’s case we additionally had to program custom events for measuring appointment bookings and phone number clicks.
If you want to know what a full configuration includes, see our Google Analytics guides.
Then we configured the Meta Pixel events.
(Here is the list of standard Meta events that adsfox specialists work from, with a description of each event. Without this, it is a waste to spend even a single dollar on Facebook or Instagram ads.)
Implementation step by step
Next, Jan received a few questions from his account manager about his store and his competitive advantages, which were needed to write and design the ads.
To make answering as quick as possible, Jan got a link where he could answer the questions as audio recordings straight from his phone on the way to the store and send them to his account manager in a few minutes.
That way not only Jan’s account manager, but also the Facebook Ads and Google Ads specialists, the copywriter and the designer at adsfox had first-hand information about Jan’s store.
Based on the information gathered, data from the website and our experience working with other optical store owners, adsfox specialists prepared the copy for the Facebook campaigns and the Google Search campaigns.
Setting up the ad accounts
Then Jan’s account manager met him online to add payment methods, complete all the missing ad account settings and set up the Meta ad account directly on Jan’s own business profile.
(At adsfox, clients always receive and keep full access to every asset we set up for them. We want the client to be able to use the work we did even if, for whatever reason, they decide to stop working with us. We believe that is the only honest way to operate. We know that at least 40% of clients who come to us from other agencies have trouble getting their assets back, which in critical cases can even mean changing the entire domain!)
A correct Meta account setup involves 45 separate steps, for which adsfox, as a Meta Business Partner, has specially developed procedures.
Budget, copy and campaign split
Jan decided he could commit a total of about $750 a month directly to ad spend.
Knowing the industry and the client’s situation, adsfox specialists agreed with Jan that in the first month the budget would be split as follows:
50% Google Search Ads (search campaigns)
30% prospecting (generic) Facebook and Instagram campaigns, including building a remarketing list that fills up over time.
Until then Jan did not even have the basic Meta tracking code (the Meta Pixel) on his site. Read what the Meta Pixel is here.20% a local Google Ads campaign with bid adjustments for RLSA lists
The largest share of the budget went to search, because that is where people who are looking for an optician or an eye exam in their area end up. That part of the work is handled by our Google Ads agency team, which ran both the search campaigns and the local campaign with RLSA lists.
Optical store Google Ads and Facebook Ads results
Jan decided he could commit a total of about $750 a month directly to ad spend.
The key initial challenge was the high cost per lead, which was almost $11.
But we were prepared for that, because the system was starting completely from zero with no data to optimize on.
Week after week the cost of acquiring a potential customer went down.
After 10 months of working together, we are able to keep Jan’s optical store COMPLETELY booked with customers on an ad budget of around $250 a month.
Thanks to the campaigns, Jan is no longer forced to sit at his own front desk, and the significant increase in sales allowed him to hire 3 new people.
It is worth noting that SEO for an optical store and effective advertising are the key elements of promoting optical services today. With our support, Jan could focus on running his practice while we handled every aspect of online marketing.
Our campaigns covered a wide range of activities, from social media advertising through Google Ads to website optimization support. All of these elements are necessary to promote an optical store effectively online. Our approach to online marketing for opticians is based on precise data analysis, conversion rate improvement and continuous monitoring of results, which allows us to adjust the strategy on an ongoing basis and maximize effectiveness.
We are keeping our fingers crossed that Jan, like another optician client of ours, will soon want to open a second optical store with our support.
How to advertise an optical store effectively
Analyzing Jan’s ad campaign, we can draw several key conclusions that may be useful for other opticians considering online advertising. First of all, online advertising is an effective tool for reaching a wide group of potential customers. With precise ad targeting, we can focus on the people most interested in optical services.
Measurability and conversion optimization are also an important part of the campaign. By introducing an online booking calendar and measuring campaign effectiveness, we can track exactly which activities bring the best results. That allows continuous refinement of the strategy and better marketing performance.
Online marketing for opticians is also a great opportunity to build the brand and increase its recognition. Publishing valuable content, engaging on social media and running a blog all help build a positive image of the optical store and attract loyal customers.
The results speak for themselves. Jan gained a significant number of new customers, which allowed him to grow his business and hire additional staff. Our ad campaigns delivered concrete results, and the cost of online advertising turned out to be an investment that paid for itself quickly.
Our goal is not a one-time success, but a long-term partnership that benefits both sides.
Summary of the engagement
Effective online advertising for opticians requires a well-thought-out strategy that may include a variety of marketing channels and tools. Our experience with Jan shows that investing in online advertising can bring measurable benefits and contribute to business growth. We encourage every optician to try our services and see how effective online advertising can be.
Thank you for your trust, and we invite you to work with adsfox, your partner in online marketing.
If you run an optical store and want to promote your services effectively online and win customers, get in touch. Our marketing agency specializes in advertising for opticians and optometrists, offering full-service support that covers both online advertising and search engine optimization. Trust our experts and see how we can help grow your business.
Want similar results in your industry? Book a marketing consultation and we will check what can be improved in your campaigns, from tracking bookings and phone calls to splitting the budget between search and social media.
Related adsfox services
We can run a campaign like this for your business through our Facebook ads agency and Google Ads agency. Inquiries from search are built separately, through local SEO with our SEO agency. If you want to first see where your budget is leaking today, start with a digital marketing audit, and the lead generation optimization system handles organizing leads and scoring their quality. You will find results from other projects in our other client case studies.
Who is Jan?
Out of respect for our clients’ privacy, and their frequent reluctance to share results with competitors, we publish only what clients authorize in writing.
We are convinced, however, that dry agency case studies are not enough.
That is why we sometimes interview adsfox clients to show honest, real reviews from satisfied clients.
In our view, reviews like these are the strongest proof of our effectiveness, so we encourage you to watch them.
