Zip World are a fast-growing, internationally recognised outdoor adventure company with seven sites across Wales and England.

Established in 2013 in North Wales, Zip World have expanded rapidly in the last ten years, matching the growing demand for adventure tourism in the UK. Their Penrhyn Quarry site is home to their first venture: Velocity 2, which still holds the spot as the world’s fastest zip line.

Since the opening of Velocity in 2013, Zip World have set up various other zip wire adventures but also added a host of new adrenaline-filled experiences to their offering. With additional experiences ranging from cavern trampolines and underground golf to alpine-style coasters and giant swings, this innovative brand is one to keep an eye on.

Zip World were seeing some slight challenges in the post-pandemic world, especially in the low season. With the unavoidable overheads of a growing service-based business, bookings are essential. So, the Zip World team came to us with the hopes of amplifying brand awareness and increasing bookings.
We worked together with Zip World to select the most suitable services for achieving their goals. So, together we decided that the best approach would be to optimise Zip World’s paid advertising campaigns to make the most out of their marketing budget and drive the results they were looking for.

In addition to uplifting traffic, conversion and sales through paid advertising, we also discussed the benefits Zip World could gain from Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). As a full-service digital agency, we offer both solutions conveniently under one roof and work together as one extended team to align our goals. SEO activities take slightly longer to fully flourish, so this case study will discuss the impact we’ve seen in our first month through paid advertising alone.

At the start of every new project, we make sure to complete a comprehensive audit of the  advertising accounts. This audit is an opportunity to gain an understanding of the client’s existing paid advertising strategy and results on all ad platforms.

We reviewed Zip World’s campaign structure, creative assets and tracking to collect data that would inform our strategy. This initial audit helps us to identify and rectify any pressing issues and discover opportunities for improvement. Then, based on the results of the audit, we create a short term action plan for the first three months, to be followed by a longer term annual plan.

Zip World had an issue where their conversions were double tracked in Google Analytics, displaying inaccurate results and preventing effective data analysis. We hurried to fix their setup to gain an accurate means of tracking the results of our paid advertising activity. Reliable data is crucial for the agile approach we take to optimising our strategy and measuring the impact.

Zip World predominantly relied on Meta Ads in the past. However, our audits uncovered that Meta Ads had double the cost per acquisition (CPA) in this industry than Google Ads.

So, we shifted Zip World’s paid advertising activity to focus more heavily on Google Ads, to optimise their spending and ensure a higher return on investment (ROI). We completed this shift gradually to mitigate the adverse impact that sudden large-scale changes in advertising activity can have on algorithms.

After refocusing Zip World’s ad spend, we immediately saw a lower CPA and increased number of bookings.

The key quality Zip World sought in an agency partner was a proactive approach. We keep a close eye on industry trends to see which ad types are providing the best results at any given time. After our initial audit, setup and continuous performance checks, we suggested a shift towards streamlined, AI-powered Performance Max campaigns on Google to help reach new audiences. As early adopters of this new ad type, we're able to leverage powerful AI to make sure that we serve the right ads to the right users for maximum conversion.

Previously, Zip World had solely focused on branded campaigns on Google Ads, only targeting lower funnel users who were already familiar with the brand. This branded keyword approach limits growth and brand awareness. By introducing Performance Max ads for non-branded phrases, we instantly cast a wider net to reach new potential thrill-seekers. As an example, instead of relying on searches for 'Zip World', we served ads for people seeking 'family days out' or 'adventures in North Wales'. In doing so, we introduced the brand to entirely new users.