31% More Leads.
37% Lower Cost.
17% Less Spend.
How a Massachusetts irrigation and sprinkler company turned a seasonal advertising budget into a more efficient lead-generation strategy.
Grow Your Business →When Your Business Is Seasonal, Every Advertising Dollar Matters.
For irrigation companies, demand changes throughout the year. Spring brings sprinkler start-ups, installations and repairs. Fall brings winterization requests. The challenge is making sure the right homeowners find the right services at the right time.
This Massachusetts company serves communities south and west of Boston. With a limited seasonal window and a defined service area, generating more leads by simply increasing advertising spend wasn't the goal.
REALTOP's objective was to help the company generate more meaningful inquiries while spending less.
Five Goals. One Smarter PPC Strategy.
The campaign focused on the metrics that matter to a local service business: calls, estimates, qualified inquiries and advertising efficiency.
More Estimate Requests
Attract homeowners searching for sprinkler installations, repairs and maintenance.
Lower Cost Per Lead
Reduce unnecessary advertising costs without sacrificing lead volume.
Capture Peak Demand
Align advertising with spring services and fall winterization needs.
Reach the Right Towns
Focus advertising on the areas the company's crews actually serve.
Measure Real Inquiries
Count calls from advertisements and website calls to evaluate performance.
Less Spending. More Opportunities.
Explore how the account performed across the same six-month period in 2025 and 2026.
Total Leads
31% more leads compared with last year.
| Performance Metric | 2025 | 2026 | Change vs. Last Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leads | 401 | 527 | +31% |
| Cost per lead | $40.96 | $25.96 | −37% |
| Lead rate | 14.4% | 28.4% | +98% |
| Clicks | 2,792 | 1,856 | −34% |
| Click-through rate | 4.96% | 5.30% | +7% |
| Ad spend | $16,423 | $13,681 | −17% |
Source: Google Ads account data, extracted October 2, 2026. Results compare April–September 2026 with the same period in 2025. Percentages are rounded.
What Made the Difference?
The campaign focused on connecting seasonal customer demand with relevant ads, targeted geography and measurable lead actions.
Seasonal Campaign Structure
Separate campaigns covered irrigation installations and repairs, along with fall winterization. This allowed the advertising message to stay relevant as homeowner needs changed throughout the season.
1,000+ Negative Keywords
An extensive negative keyword list helped filter searches that were unlikely to produce service inquiries, keeping more of the budget focused on relevant prospects.
50-Town Geographic Targeting
Ads targeted the company's service footprint across South Shore, MetroWest and Boston suburbs, including Canton, Braintree, Dedham, Needham, Newton and Natick.
Service-Intent Search Terms
Keywords focused on services homeowners actively searched for, such as irrigation systems, sprinkler repair near me and sprinkler service near me.
Specific, Actionable Ad Copy
Messaging highlighted services including spring start-ups and sprinkler zone testing, supported by clear estimate-request calls to action.
Call-Focused Measurement
Calls from ads and calls from the website were tracked, making it easier to evaluate meaningful customer actions rather than relying on clicks alone.
Which Searches Generated the Most Leads?
Not every search contributes equally. These account-level keyword results show how different irrigation-related searches contributed to lead generation.
The bar lengths represent relative lead volume among the keywords displayed.
Three Lessons From This PPC Success Story
More Clicks Isn't Always Better
Clicks decreased 34%, yet leads increased 31%. The account generated more lead actions from a smaller number of visits.
Budget Efficiency Matters
Ad spend decreased by $2,742 while the reported cost per lead fell from $40.96 to $25.96.
Local Relevance Creates Opportunity
Seasonal services, defined geographic targeting and search-specific messaging helped focus the campaign on relevant customer demand.
Questions Business Owners Ask About Google Ads
Can Google Ads generate more leads with a smaller budget?
Yes, depending on campaign performance and market conditions. In this case study, the irrigation company generated 31% more leads while reducing advertising spend by 17% compared with the previous year. Improved targeting, relevant keywords and stronger lead conversion efficiency can help make advertising budgets more productive.
Why is cost per lead important for service businesses?
Cost per lead measures how much advertising spend is required to generate a tracked inquiry. It helps businesses evaluate acquisition efficiency, although lead quality, booking rates and revenue are also important when assessing profitability.
How does seasonal PPC advertising work?
Seasonal campaigns align ads and services with changing customer needs. An irrigation business, for example, may emphasize sprinkler start-ups and repairs during spring and winterization during fall.
What are negative keywords in Google Ads?
Negative keywords prevent ads from appearing for selected searches that are unlikely to be relevant. They can help reduce wasted spending and improve the focus of search campaigns.
Can REALTOP help a business improve its PPC performance?
REALTOP provides digital marketing services for businesses looking to improve online visibility and lead generation. A campaign review can help identify opportunities in targeting, messaging, conversion tracking and budget allocation.
Does a higher number of leads guarantee more sales?
No. Advertising leads are potential customer inquiries, not confirmed sales. Businesses should also measure appointment bookings, customer quality and closed revenue to understand their complete return on advertising investment.
Stop Paying for More Traffic. Start Focusing on Better Results.
More leads don't always require a bigger advertising budget. REALTOP helps businesses build focused digital marketing strategies designed to reach the right customers, improve visibility and make marketing spend work harder.
Talk to REALTOP →Results shown reflect one advertising account and are not a guarantee of future performance.
