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Building a Consistent Pipeline of High-Quality Leads for an International Freight Forwarder

  • Writer: David Green
    David Green
  • Apr 29
  • 2 min read

467% Increase in qualified leads

54%  Decrease in cost per lead

4X  Ad spend


Overview:


This international freight forwarder needed a scalable way to generate consistent, high-quality commercial leads through paid media. After past struggles with unqualified traffic and poor ROI, they partnered with us to rebuild their Google Ads strategy from the ground up—focusing on targeting, bidding, and landing page alignment.


Challenge:


The client faced a major disconnect between their advertising efforts and the type of leads their sales team needed. Their previous campaigns drove inconsistent traffic, with too many residential inquiries clogging the pipeline. They lacked a focused search strategy, had loose targeting, and weren’t optimizing bids for high-intent commercial buyers. Without better control over lead quality, scaling their paid media efforts felt risky and ineffective.


Platforms Leveraged:


  • Google Ads (Search, Display, Demand Gen)


Strategies & Execution:


We built a full-funnel Google Ads strategy designed to prioritize lead quality at every stage.


Key actions we took included:


  • Rigorous Search Strategy Development: We architected a highly targeted search campaign, built around carefully vetted commercial freight keywords and strict negative keyword controls to filter out unqualified traffic.

  • Strategic Bidding: We optimized bidding around high-intent terms rather than volume, allowing us to prioritize the right type of prospects over cheap, irrelevant clicks.

  • Dedicated Landing Pages: We designed and tested custom-built landing pages, allowing us to match ad copy to page messaging tightly—and maximize conversion rates.

  • Channel Expansion: After early success, we expanded into Display and Demand Gen campaigns to increase awareness and retarget mid-funnel prospects across four divisions of their business.


Throughout the process, we worked closely with their internal sales team to refine lead quality signals and continuously optimize ad targeting and messaging.


Results:


The results spoke for themselves:


  • Lead volume increased by 467%.

  • Cost per lead dropped by 54%.

  • Ad spend scaled 4x without sacrificing lead quality.

  • Unqualified residential leads were virtually eliminated, allowing the sales team to focus exclusively on valuable commercial opportunities.


By focusing on a strategic search foundation, smart bidding, and disciplined expansion, we helped transform paid media from an uncertain experiment into a major growth driver for their business.






COMPANY NAME:

International Freight Forwarder


LOCATION:

Portland, Oregon


INDUSTRY:

Freight and Logistics


KEY GOAL:

B2B Lead Generation

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