Client Background:

The client was a solar panel installation business operating in select rural areas across Australia, specifically in and around Melbourne, Adelaide, and Newcastle. Despite a growing market and high service demand, their Facebook and Google campaigns were bleeding money, with sky-high cost-per-lead and low conversion quality. They were spending $60k–$80k per month, but returns were minimal, and the sales pipeline was shaky at best.

Challenge:

There were several critical issues holding the account back:

• High CPL: Leads were coming in at over $100, making campaigns unprofitable.

• Weak Offer & Messaging: Ads lacked urgency, relevance, and clarity.

• Chaotic Campaign Structure: Budget was scattered across poorly segmented ad sets with no strategic funnel.

• Broken Tracking Setup: Many leads weren’t being tracked properly, affecting optimization.

• Creative Fatigue: Only basic static creatives were in use — none tailored to the audience or platform.

• Low Show-Up Rate: Just 25% of leads were actually showing up for sales consultations.

Solution:

Step 1: Strategic & Creative Rebuild

We began with deep customer and market research, then developed a full-funnel creative strategy:

• Brainstormed 10+ creative angles built for both video and static formats

• Created hundreds of assets to test on Meta and Google

• Wrote 4 variations of ad copy, each tailored to different customer personas

• Ensured creatives followed all platform specs to maximize delivery and performance

We also introduced clear and value-driven offers — from government rebate callouts to free solar cost estimates.

Step 2: Campaign Restructure

The original campaign layout was a patchwork of overlapping targeting and unclear objectives. We rebuilt the account into a proper lead-gen funnel:

• TOF (Cold): Local homeowners in target regions, introduced through clear, benefit-driven creative.

• MOF (Warm): Visitors, engagers, and video viewers hit with offer-specific messaging.

• BOF (Hot): Retargeting users who clicked but didn’t convert, with urgency and trust elements.

We consolidated the budget, removed redundant audiences, and aligned optimization goals with business objectives.

Step 3: CRO Audit & Tracking Fix

• Overhauled the landing page UX to improve mobile performance and clarity of offer

• Added trust signals, simplified form fields, and reinforced call-to-action above the fold

• Click-to-lead conversion rate improved to 30%

On the tech side:

• We repaired broken lead event tracking across Meta and Google platforms

• Cleaned up conversion paths to ensure high signal quality for algorithm optimization

Step 4: Lead Quality Improvements

The next major win came from improving the lead-to-appointment show-up rate:

• We restructured the lead forms with pre-qualification questions

• Introduced email/SMS follow-up sequences

• This pushed show-up rate from 25% → 60%, significantly improving the value of each lead

Results: From Loss-Making Leads to Scalable Profits

Expansion to the U.S.

Once we had a winning formula in Australia, we helped the client expand into the U.S., starting with the Southern states. Within 2 months:

• Reached target CPL of <$20

• Adapted creatives and landing pages to fit U.S. markets

• Built a separate funnel targeting state-level compliance and incentives

Key Takeaways:

This solar brand is a case study in how performance marketing can completely flip the economics of a service business — even in a high-ticket, low-frequency niche like solar. By fixing tracking, optimizing the offer, and building a robust creative engine, we didn’t just lower CPL — we built a long-term, scalable lead-gen machine.

Testimonial:

“Before working with Highlight Digital, we were basically setting money on fire. Our CPL was unsustainable, and we didn’t trust the leads coming in. The team came in, fixed the tracking, rebuilt our funnel, and brought in high-quality leads we could actually convert. They’ve been instrumental in helping us expand beyond Australia.”

— Josh King, Founder of Sun Factory