Fitzroy Café — Google Ads
A Fitzroy café was spending $800/month on ads and getting 2 bookings — we turned that into a 4.2x return.
TL;DR
- Challenge:
- A Fitzroy café burning $800/month on broad-match Google Ads with only 2 bookings/week to show for it.
- Approach:
- Campaign rebuild with intent-based keywords, dedicated booking landing page, 5km radius targeting, peak-hour bid adjustments.
- Result:
- 4.2x ROAS, cost per booking down 68%, weekend bookings up 175%.
Key Results at a Glance
4.2x
ROAS
-68%
Cost per booking
+175%
Weekend bookings
Client Context
Business Type
Independent brunch café
Founded
2019
Team Size
8 staff (owner + 7 baristas/kitchen)
Market
Fitzroy + Collingwood + Carlton North
Revenue Tier
$500K annual revenue
Stack Before
Square POS, Google Ads (broad match), no booking platform
The Challenge
Broad-match keywords were draining the budget on irrelevant searches like "café jobs" and "café furniture". The landing page was the homepage with no booking option.
Goals & KPIs
North-Star Metric
Achieve profitable ROAS on Google Ads (3x+) and double weekend bookings within 90 days
Supporting KPIs
ROAS
Target: 3x minimum
Cost per booking
Target: Under $20
Weekend bookings
Target: 20+/week
CTR
Target: 4%+ on branded, 2%+ on generic
Quality Score
Target: 7+ across all keywords
Discovery & Research
Audit Findings
- •Broad-match keywords burning 62% of budget on irrelevant terms ("café jobs", "café furniture")
- •No negative keyword list
- •Landing page = homepage (no booking CTA)
- •Ads running 24/7 with no time-of-day bid strategy
- •Zero conversion tracking beyond phone calls
Baseline Issues
- •0.9x ROAS (losing money on ads)
- •$47 cost per booking
- •8 weekend bookings/week
- •Quality Score averaging 4/10
Competitor Insight
Top-ranking Fitzroy cafés used dedicated booking pages, had 90+ negative keywords, and clustered ads around brunch/coffee-specific terms with 4.8% avg CTR.
Audience Insight
Fitzroy brunch searches peak 7-11 AM Sat/Sun and 8-10 AM Mon-Fri; 82% of clickers were on mobile within 3 km walking distance.
Strategy
Core Hypothesis
“If we restrict targeting to high-intent brunch keywords within a 5 km radius during peak hours, then ROAS will hit 3x+ because Fitzroy café-goers convert 4x higher on branded booking pages than homepages.”
Positioning Shift
Positioned as "Fitzroy's go-to weekend brunch spot" — sharpening from generic café to specific occasion.
Channel Mix
Search — Booking intent · 60%
"brunch Fitzroy", "café booking Melbourne"
Search — Menu intent · 20%
"best coffee Fitzroy", specific menu items
Google Maps ads · 15%
Walk-in capture
Remarketing · 5%
Return visits
Our Approach
Campaign restructure
Rebuilt campaigns around high-intent keywords: "brunch Fitzroy", "café booking Melbourne". Added 140+ negative keywords.
Dedicated landing pages
Created a mobile-first booking page with menu highlights, Google reviews widget, and one-tap reservation via phone or form.
Location radius targeting
Tightened targeting to 5 km radius during peak hours (7–11 AM, 11:30 AM–2 PM) with bid adjustments for weekends.
Phased Roadmap
Weeks 1–2
Account Restructure
- →Killed broad-match keywords
- →Built out exact/phrase match campaigns by intent
- →Added 140+ negative keywords
- →Set up conversion tracking with call tracking
Weeks 3–4
Landing Page Build
- →Built mobile-first booking landing page
- →Integrated OpenTable widget
- →Added Google Reviews social proof
- →One-tap phone + reservation CTAs
Weeks 5–8
Optimisation
- →Tightened radius targeting to 5 km
- →Peak-hour bid multipliers (+45% weekend mornings)
- →A/B tested ad copy (winner had +38% CTR)
- →Improved Quality Score to 7-8 across campaigns
Weeks 9–12
Scale
- →Expanded budget on winning campaigns
- →Added Google Maps ad placements
- →Launched remarketing to past clickers
- →Weekly performance reviews with owner
What We Built
The Results
Weekly Bookings (Google Ads Attributed)
Before vs After — 90 Days
Conversion Funnel
-96% drop-off
-14% drop-off
-76% drop-off
-74% drop-off
| Metric | Before | After | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| ROAS | 0.9x | 4.2x | 4.2x |
| Cost per booking | $47 | $15 | -68% |
| Weekend bookings | 8/week | 22/week | +175% |
“I was ready to quit ads entirely. Now they fill our weekends — we had to hire a second barista.”
Sophie L.
Owner, Fitzroy Café
Key Insights
- →Broad-match on hospitality keywords is a black hole — exact + phrase always won
- →A dedicated landing page converted 4.2x higher than the homepage
- →Saturday 7 AM was the highest-intent hour — worth a +80% bid multiplier
- →Google Maps ads captured walk-ins the search campaign missed — added 18% more bookings
What's Next
Adding Meta ads for evening dinner events, launching an Instagram Reels content strategy, and testing YouTube pre-roll for hyper-local brand awareness.
Ready to see similar results?
Book a free strategy call — we'll audit your current setup and map out what growth looks like for your business.
Services Used
Representative case study. Figures illustrate the type of outcomes achievable through these strategies for Australian businesses; individual results vary based on market, budget and starting position.