311% growth in 6 months

Bear Grylls Survival Academy runs survival courses and team building events at locations across the UK. Its website today describes corporate team building with outdoor events, indoor events and bespoke events, led by instructors and delivered anywhere in the UK. It is an experience business, and an unusual one: what it sells is a day, a weekend or a team session that people remember, rather than a product that arrives in a box.

That shapes the marketing. People who book an experience are often buying for a group, such as a company arranging a team day, or for someone else, such as a gift for a friend who loves the outdoors. They tend to take their time, compare options and read about what is included before they commit, and the brand name carries a lot of weight in that decision. At the same time, a great many people search for outdoor activities and team days without any particular course in mind, so there is plenty of interest to reach if the advertising finds the people who are ready to book.

The events market is also competitive. Team building, outdoor activity days and adventure experiences are offered by a long list of providers, and the same searches are shared by all of them. A business with a recognisable name still has to show up where the searching happens, and to send visitors to a page that makes booking straightforward.

It signed with DPOM in August 2019 for Google Ads management, and landing pages followed in October 2019.

For a business that sells places on its courses and events, the booking is the result that matters. Google Ads suited it because a search for a survival course or a team building event is a search from someone already thinking about buying, and the clicks can be pointed at the courses and events that fit.