Fergus is a leading job management software built for tradies like electricians, plumbers. Fergus has a strong presence in Australia and New Zealand, and recently expanded into the UK.
Client
Fergus
Services
Paid Media Management
Category
Digital
The Challenge
Prior to our arrival, Fergus had been successfully generating strong triallist growth during its initial growth phase. However, by late 2024, challenges were emerging.
High Customer Acquisition Costs
While a substantial volume of software trials were being generated each month through paid media channels like Meta (Facebook) and Google Ads, the conversion rate from triallist to paying customer was steadily declining. Additionally, customer acquisition costs (CAC) had risen to unsustainable levels, with some months yielding only marginal growth in new customers despite significant ad spend.
Low Demand Generation
Compounding the issue, Fergus’s paid social campaigns were rudimentary and were primarily lead generation campaigns with limited creative variation and no strategic funnel planning. Fergus needed a more efficient, targeted, and scalable advertising approach that could not only reduce CAC but also drive high-quality conversions, ensuring a sustainable flow of new customers for the business.
The Solution
Dreamatic was brought in as a specialist paid media partner in November 2024, taking over from the previous agency to re-engineer Fergus’s advertising strategy. Our first step was to conduct a comprehensive audit of Fergus’s ad accounts and current campaign performance across Google Ads and Meta platforms.
We identified significant inefficiencies: campaigns with low conversion rates (often under 5%), and CACs surpassing $5,000 per customer. These levels were clearly unprofitable and unsustainable. Much of the budget was being funnelled into non-converting campaigns while audience targeting lacked precision, leading to triallists with poor ICP fit.
Our solution involved a multi-pronged, data-driven overhaul focused on precision, efficiency, and sustainable growth:
Key Features
1. Account Overhaul and Budget Recalibration
We undertook a large-scale account restructure, reallocating budget towards high-performing campaigns and refining the focus beyond just clicks or trials, to true customer conversion. This included detailed analysis of lag-time factors between trial and conversion, ensuring budget efficiency was measured accurately across the full customer journey.
2. Targeting Optimisation
We refined and re-balanced keyword targeting, removing irrelevant or low-converting search terms, and honing in on high-intent keywords aligned with Fergus’s ideal customer profile (ICP). This greatly improved the quality of triallists, setting the stage for higher conversion rates.
3. Demand Generation on Paid Social
To address the limitations in Fergus’s paid social efforts, we introduced a sophisticated demand generation strategy. We designed a comprehensive funnel-based approach, with creative and messaging tailored for awareness, consideration, and conversion phases. This approach guided prospects through an educational journey, building product awareness and trust, before prompting action.
Importantly, we focused on cross-channel amplification, recognising that Meta efforts would also influence high-intent search conversions, and planned accordingly for channel synergy.
4. Brand Elevation
We delivered a suite of high-quality branded ad creatives, enhancing Fergus’s brand perception in market and ensuring consistency across platforms, helping to build credibility and drive engagement with trade professionals.
Impact
Dreamatic’s strategic overhaul delivered immediate and measurable results, dramatically improving Fergus’s conversion performance and cost-efficiency, while positioning them for sustainable growth across markets.
Benefits & Results
Conversion Rate: Before: 8.9% → After: 37% (315% increase in customer conversions)
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): Before: $5,323 → After: $1,851 (65% decrease in CAC)
Efficiency Gains: These improvements were achieved despite a $30K lower advertising base, proving that quality targeting and precision planning can drive better outcomes without increased spend.
Cross-Channel Impact: Our demand generation efforts on Meta boosted brand conversions in search by 142% in February, despite the shorter month—highlighting the power of integrated, cross-channel campaigns.
Enhanced Brand Perception: The delivery of polished, impactful creative assets helped Fergus stand out in a competitive market, improving engagement and positioning the brand as a leader in job management software for tradies.
Dreamatic continues to support Fergus in its mission to empower trades professionals with world-class software, proving that with the right approach, sustainable growth is not only possible — it’s scalable.
