Gridless Build Solutions: 29% lower cost per aircon enquiry

Gridless Build Solutions cut its cost per air conditioning enquiry by 29% after the first 16 days of Google Ads. Searches for a type of system turned into enquiries more often than searches naming a brand, and desktop visitors more often than mobile ones.

The business

Gridless Build Solutions installs air conditioning, solar, batteries and heat pumps across Victoria. Customers get a site assessment, a fixed and itemised quote, licensed installers, and any rebate they qualify for applied at the quote. This campaign covered air conditioning: single-split, multi-split, ducted and reverse-cycle systems.

What we set out to do

Air conditioning buyers come at the purchase from different directions. Some search for a brand they already trust, some for a type of system, and some for a rebate. The account had to answer each with an ad and a page that matched, then show which kind of search led to a quote request, so the budget could move toward it.

What we built

The campaign is split into ad groups by system type and brand: single-split, multi-split and ducted systems from the main brands the business installs, general split-system, ducted and reverse-cycle ad groups, and rebate ad groups. Each ad sends people to the matching page, so a search for a ducted system from one brand lands on that brand's ducted page.

Gridless installs systems, so searches about repairs, servicing, faults and regassing are blocked, along with price-list and model-comparison research. Calls and quote forms from the ads are tracked to the ad group behind them.

The website is covered in the Gridless Build Solutions website case study.

What happened

Over the 30 days after the first 16 days of ads, cost per enquiry was 29% lower than in those first 16 days, and the share of clicks that became an enquiry rose from 9% to 11%. Split into two equal halves instead, the fall in cost per enquiry was smaller, at 14%, so the slow first days of ads account for much of the difference.

Across the whole campaign, about 8% of the times an ad was shown ended in a click, 1 in 10 clicks became an enquiry, and 58% of enquiries were phone calls. The rest came through the quote form.

System type beat brand

Searches naming a brand drew 65% of clicks but 56% of enquiries. Searches for a type of system without a brand, such as a split or ducted system, turned 13% of clicks into enquiries, against 9% for brand searches, 1.4 times the rate. People who name a brand are more likely to be comparing models. People asking for a system type are closer to wanting a quote. Brand ad groups still earn their place, but they should not take the larger share of the budget by default.

Desktop visitors were closer to buying

Phones made 71% of clicks, but desktops and laptops produced 34% of enquiries from 24% of clicks. A desktop click became an enquiry 1.7 times as often as a mobile click. An air conditioning install is a considered purchase, and an itemised quote is something people want to read properly.

Weekdays did more of the work

Weekends drew 27% of clicks but 19% of enquiries, and weekday clicks became enquiries 1.5 times as often. People browse at the weekend, but the quote requests came during the week.

The campaign ran for about seven weeks, so these patterns rest on a modest number of enquiries. They are a sound starting point for the next season's budget rather than a permanent rule.

How we measured it

Cost per enquiry is Google Ads spend divided by enquiries recorded in Google Ads, as tracked phone calls and quote forms, in each window. Only the percentage change is published, rounded toward the smaller change. The windows are counted from the first day of spend: the first 16 days, then the next 30, which together cover the whole campaign. The click-to-enquiry rate is enquiries divided by clicks over the same days. Search groups come from the ad group behind each click and enquiry. Device and day of the week come from Google Ads reports.

For a heating and cooling business that wants its ads organised the same way, see our Google Ads management and how we trace enquiries back to the ad.