Case Study
Captain Experiences

Captain Experiences' Remarkable SEO Succes: Reeling in Record Returns

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The Challenge

The primary challenge was attracting qualified website traffic with clear purchase intent, rather than general interest.

  • Intense Competition
  • Drastic Seasonality
  • Low Conversion
  • Profitability at Scale

The Solution

Propellic’s new strategy pivoted to a more focused approach:

  • Geographic Targeting
  • Strategic Segmentation
  • Dynamic Budget Management
  • Full-Funnel Campaign Mix

The Result

Propellic successfully exceeded the monthly 4.5 ROAS goal while significantly scaling the budget and increasing both revenue and year-over-year results.

  • 6.08 Overall ROAS
    This was a 137% increase compared to the 2.56 ROAS from the same period the previous year.
  • $928K Decrease in Cost Per Lead
    This represented an 18% YOY increase from $786,073.60.
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Executive Summary

Captain Experiences sought to grow its market share by attracting high-intent users and scaling charter bookings. The primary challenge was overcoming intense competition and significant seasonality to achieve profitability. By overhauling a struggling Google Ads account and implementing a hyper-specific, geographically-focused strategy, Propellic transformed the campaign. From August 2024 to March 2025, the new strategy yielded a 6.08 ROAS (a 137% YOY increase) and grew revenue by 18% YOY, turning the account into a profitable, multi-channel success story.

The Challenge

Navigating Competitive Waters

The primary challenge was attracting qualified website traffic with clear purchase intent, rather than general interest. A key performance indicator (KPI) was set to achieve or surpass a 4.5 Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) while scaling both traffic and conversions.

The main obstacles included:

  • Intense Competition: Competing against large, established brands like FishingBooker.
  • Drastic Seasonality: Managing significant drops in traffic during off-peak months.
  • Low Conversion: Difficulty converting general website traffic into actual bookings.
  • Profitability at Scale: As the campaign scaled, the objective shifted from breaking even to achieving a target ROAS of over 6—a milestone never before reached in the account’s history. This made keeping Cost Per Click (CPC) and Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) low increasingly difficult.

Given the intense competition and the ever-evolving algorithms of search engines, Propellic needed to push boundaries and bring something new to the table.

The Solution

A Hyper-Focused Strategy

Upon taking over the account in summer 2024, Propellic audited the existing Google campaigns. The previous strategy was flawed, utilizing broad signals, inefficient keyword match types, and poor audience signals, which led to less qualified traffic.

Propellic’s new strategy pivoted to a more focused approach:

GEOGRAPHIC TARGETING

Concentrate on historically high-traffic geographic areas along the Gulf Coast.

DYNAMIC BUDGET MANAGEMENT

Allocate spend based on seasonality. Spend was maximized during peak demand and optimized for efficiency during slower months. By analyzing historical data, budgets were proactively shifted to target the highest-intent users at the most opportune times.

STRATEGIC SEGMENTATION

Divide campaigns into key areas: high-interest fishing searches, users both within and traveling to the Gulf Coast, and secondary offerings (like hunting).

FULL-FUNNEL CAMPAIGN MIX

Utilize a variety of campaign types, including hyper-specific search, a top-of-funnel PMAX prospecting campaign, remarketing, and a dedicated travel campaign.

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Implementation

Resetting the Account

The new strategy began with a complete reset of the Google Ads account.

NEW CAMPAIGN STRUCTURE

Propellic launched new campaigns structured around geographic and interest-based targeting.

TOP-OF-FUNNEL PROSPECTING

A PMAX campaign was implemented to reach new audiences.

HYPER-SPECIFIC SEARCH

Search campaigns were created to separate higher and lower interest state searches for fishing charters.

THE TRAVEL CAMPAIGN

A dedicated travel campaign was launched, which proved to be a significant driver of traffic and conversions, bolstering brand recognition.

CONTINUOUS OPTIMIZATION

Negative keyword lists were regularly updated to filter out unqualified traffic. Propellic maintained vigilant monitoring of rising CPCs, especially during peak-demand months, to ensure efficiency and profitability.

The Results

Record-Breaking Performance

Propellic successfully exceeded the monthly 4.5 ROAS goal while significantly scaling the budget and increasing both revenue and year-over-year results.

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Key Performance (AUG. 2024 - MAR. 2025)

6.08

Overall ROAS

This was a 137% increase compared to the 2.56 ROAS from the same period the previous year.

$928K

Decrease in Cost Per Lead

This represented an 18% YOY increase from $786,073.60.

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Successful Multi-Channel Expansion

The success on Google Ads led to expansion onto other platforms:

Meta

TA campaign launched in January 2025 has already achieved a 7.10 ROAS.

Microsoft Ads

A new campaign reached a 4 ROAS within its first three weeks.

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Campaign Highlights

New Travel Campaign

Generated over $81,000 at a 7.72 ROAS.

Main Search Campaigns

Produced more than $515,000 in conversion value with a combined ROAS of 6.54.

Client Feedback

According to Captain Experiences, the company saw “unprecedented sustained growth during what is typically a seasonal spike.” They noted three consecutive weeks of positive economics on paid spend, something they had not seen before.

The client stated that the “current integration of paid channels across Google, Bing, and Meta is performing in a way that is new to the company,” leading to strong optimism for performance even during traditionally slower months. This campaign stands out for its dramatic turnaround of a struggling account into a highly profitable, multi-channel success story.

Reimagine what your business can achieve with SEO and Paid Media strategies from Propellic.

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