Venda o Seu Carro
Briefing
Venda o Seu Carro is a Portuguese platform specialised in buying and selling used cars.
Their business model is lead-driven: every person who requests a free car valuation is a potential deal. When they came to us, they relied exclusively on Google Ads to generate those leads. It worked, but they wanted to grow without being hostage to a single channel.
Challenge
Depending on a single channel is always a risk — any increase in competition, algorithm change or auction spike on Google can drive up the cost per lead without warning.
The goal was to find a second acquisition source that could generate leads of similar quality at a competitive cost. Meta Ads was the logical bet, but in the automotive sector you need to get the message and creative right to convert.
Solution
We built the Meta Ads strategy from scratch — from the pixel and conversion events through to campaign structure and creatives.
We used Lookalike Audiences based on existing customers to reach people with a similar profile to those already selling their car through the platform.
The creative focused on the simplicity of the process: 3 steps, free estimate, no commitment. A clear value proposition that reduces friction and lifts the click-to-lead rate.
Results
Meta Ads not only worked — it outperformed Google Ads on the metric that matters most: cost per lead.
With a CPL below €1 — roughly half of what Google was costing — we generated hundreds of qualified leads.
The client now has two channels running in parallel, with lower acquisition costs and far less exposure to single-channel risk.
Creative Examples
Horto do Campo Grande
Briefing
Horto do Campo Grande is the market leader in Portugal in their niche — nurseries, plants and garden products.
They came to us with active Google Ads campaigns but no clear structure and results well below the brand's potential. The goal was simple: scale online sales without sacrificing profitability.
Challenge
The client had a Google Ads account but it was inefficient — overlapping campaigns, no segmentation by purchase intent and no coherent bidding strategy.
The brand's potential was being wasted: plenty of traffic, little return. It was time to start fresh with rigour, without losing the useful historical data.
Solution
We did a complete account restructure. We separated campaigns by type and intent: Search for direct demand capture, Performance Max with integrated Shopping to cover the catalogue intelligently, and Branded to protect the brand at minimal cost.
In PMax, we worked on audience signals using the client's own customer data and quality assets aligned with the brand's visual identity.
Each campaign was assigned defined ROAS targets and monitored by product segment.
Results
ROAS more than doubled compared to the prior period — from around 3.5× to 7.8×, with the same level of investment.
Sales volume increased by nearly 95% and average CPC dropped 38%, reflecting far more targeted campaigns with better user relevance.
The Branded campaign delivers ROAS above 17×. Performance Max exceeded the defined target and has remained consistent month after month.
This account is managed on a white-label basis for our partner agency Fuzeflift.
Bonte Filipidis
Briefing
Bonte Filipidis is a luxury real estate agency with high-value residential projects in Portugal.
They came to Payoff Marketing with no Google Ads history and a clear objective: generate qualified contacts from potential buyers — people genuinely interested in booking a viewing or getting information about available properties.
Challenge
Luxury real estate has a long decision window. A potential buyer can actively research for months before giving any real signal of intent.
This creates a structural problem in Google Ads: macro conversions — the contact form, the visit request — happen rarely and with a significant time lag. Without enough volume, the algorithm has no data to optimise on, and CPL climbs.
The additional challenge was starting from zero: a new account, no history, no audience data, no calibrated Smart Bidding.
Solution
We designed a two-layer conversion strategy.
Macro-conversions — contact form submissions — are the ultimate goal and carry a naturally high CPL, in line with the product's ticket price.
Micro-conversions — newsletter sign-ups, key page views, contact clicks — serve as signals to the algorithm and to nurture potential clients. They cost far less and feed the system with the volume it needs to learn.
We structured Search campaigns with high-intent keywords (properties, property types, locations), segmented by project. Tracking was implemented via Google Tag Manager to ensure every event counts correctly in the attribution model.
Results
The account launched with a macro CPL above €100 — expected and justified by the product's value.
Micro-conversions are costing a fraction of that and providing the algorithm with the quality signals needed to refine targeting.
The pipeline of qualified contacts is growing consistently, with the campaign still in accelerated learning.
This account is managed on a white-label basis for our partner agency Fuzeflift.
Miguel Alves Horses
Brief
Miguel Alves Horses is an equestrian school at Quinta da Marinha, Cascais. Miguel Alves has been a certified coach by the Portuguese Equestrian Federation (FEP) since 1997 — over 25 years in the saddle.
The school offers a wide range of services: individual and group lessons, horse riding in the Guincho dunes, horse boarding, school holiday camps and competition training. Clients range from children taking their first steps to riders preparing for federation events — plus tourists looking for a memorable experience near Lisbon.
Challenge
A business with multiple services and very different audiences — each with distinct motivations, language and search patterns.
The existing digital presence didn't reflect the school's quality or clearly communicate what was on offer. A solid foundation had to be built from scratch to generate consistent organic traffic and turn visits into real enquiries.
The added complexity is the local context: a proximity business competing for attention in local searches where Google Maps carries as much weight as the website itself.
Solution
We built the website from scratch, with an architecture designed for technical SEO from day one — URL structure, speed, structured data, service pages optimised for the relevant search queries.
We put in place a blog strategy with regular publishing to build topical authority and capture long-tail traffic: articles on equestrian topics, Cascais, the Guincho and the school's services that answer what potential clients are actually searching for.
The Google Business Profile is actively managed — photos, posts, review responses and continuous optimisation of categories and attributes — to maximise visibility on Google Maps, critical for a proximity business like this.
More recently, we adapted the content for GEO (Generative Engine Optimization): an approach designed to ensure Miguel Alves Horses is cited by AI systems like ChatGPT, Gemini or Perplexity when someone asks about equestrian schools in Cascais or horse riding near Lisbon.
Results
The website has a consistent volume of organic visits with high-quality sessions — users who arrive with intent and work through the service pages.
The Google Business Profile is now a relevant source of visibility and direct contact, with strong presence in local Google Maps searches.
Enquiries arrive consistently across all the school's services — lessons, rides, boarding and holiday camps.
Presence in generative AI results is growing, with Miguel Alves Horses appearing in responses when AI systems are asked about equestrian activities in the Cascais and Lisbon area.
Crenato Consulting
Brief
Crenato Consulting is an energy efficiency company based in Linda-a-Velha, serving the Greater Lisbon area. Carlos Renato brings over 22 years of experience in the sector and personally oversees every project — from the initial technical study through to installation.
The offer covers the full spectrum of residential energy efficiency: solar photovoltaic self-consumption, solar thermal for hot water, heat pumps and air conditioning, and battery storage.
Challenge
The solar energy market is competitive, and the product carries a high average ticket — purchase decisions are rarely immediate. A potential client will research, compare proposals and request several quotes before committing.
Generating qualified leads — with genuine intent and the right profile — is what separates profitable campaigns from those that simply burn budget. The added complexity is communicating multiple services, each with distinct audiences and messaging, within the same account.
Solution
We built the website from scratch in static HTML: fast, lightweight and technically solid — the foundation a Google Ads campaign needs to convert well.
Search campaigns are segmented by service, each pointing to a dedicated landing page. Every page carries a service-specific value proposition, an optimised study-request form and a single clear CTA — no distractions, no navigation, one objective.
This structure — segmented account plus per-service landing pages — allows granular CPL control and budget allocation where margin and demand justify it.
Results
Google Ads is today Crenato's primary source of new clients, with a consistent flow of qualified enquiries throughout the year.
The relationship with Payoff Marketing has lasted several years — a clear signal that the campaigns deliver results that justify the investment month after month.
Other Clients
Our track record
We have been Google Partners for over 15 years.
In that time we have managed paid traffic campaigns for dozens of companies in Portugal — e-commerce, real estate, tourism, healthcare, professional services and much more.
Today we have a portfolio of several dozen active clients. We operate as a boutique agency: small by choice, close by principle.
Every client has direct access to the people managing their campaigns — no account managers in the middle, no reports sent into the void.
Our retention rate is among the highest in the sector. There are clients who have worked with us since they ran their first Google Ads — over a decade ago.
Some, over the years, have moved away from paid media or taken different paths, but the relationship stayed.
Among Payoff Marketing's clients are names such as Dom Pedro Hotels, Chaves do Areeiro and many others, across sectors as varied as hospitality, retail, healthcare and B2B services.