Case Study: TNHS Helps Phoenix MSP Create Path To Sustainable Inbound Lead Volume

In the fall of 2024 a Phoenix based MSP reached out to Tortoise and Hare Software for help with the Google Advertising account. This MSP had used Google Ads in the past to grow their business but had seen declines in advertising performance and were running out of time to stay abreast of the fast changing landscape of Google Ads as their business had grown.

They had worked with several agencies before and were apprehensive about working with another but were attracted to Tortoise and Hare because we offered hourly consulting for one off support instead of requiring a retainer relationship. They had also heard of our strong reputation for running Google Ad campaigns for MSPs so it wound up being a great fit for an engagement.

Running A 10 Hour Marketing Audit

The first step with the client was running a brief audit of their marketing infrastructure. The client had a outsourced marketing person on staff that managed certain aspects like the website, email campaigns, social posting, and blog content. They were looking for a 2nd opinion on marketing efforts across a range of areas like Google Advertising, email marketing, SEO, and website feedback. The goal was to provide them insights they could use to go make edits and adjustments to increase marketing performance.

We ran an initial 10 hour audit of their marketing infrastructure and gave them pointed feedback across the designated areas for improvement. We provided a Word document with action items and several pre-recorded videos walking them through the feedback items.

Performing A Google Advertising Account Setup

The client was pleased with the audit feedback and passed off some of the action items to their internal marketing person, but decided to leverage Tortoise and Hare to perform a on time account re-build on their Google Advertising account. They realized the scope of change needed to put together a successful advertising effort was larger than they originally estimated and like what we had to say about how we could improve the performance of their account.

We re-structured their advertising account to send traffic to their key landing pages, swapped their campaigns to a broad match style campaign and inserted many of the known high converting keywords that we have developed a list of throughout our time running ads for MSPs.

We installed new conversion tracking and gave them instructions and feedback on how to successfully manage the account moving forward.

Impact Of Account Setup Changes

The client was very happy with the ad account changes. They had this to say after seeing the impacts shortly thereafter.

These guys are great!! Tortoise and Hare did an incredible job enhancing our Google Ads, reduced CPC, increased impression share, and we went from 1-2 conversions to 4-6 per month on a lower budget thanks to their work. We have been through many “experts” in the MSP marketing industry and nobody comes close to the expertise and professionalism as TNHS. Looking forward to working with them on SEO for our MSP company website next. Thank you Hunter and team!!

Coming On Board For Active Ad Account Management

4-5 months after the initial work completed the client reached back out to Tortoise and Hare. They shared feedback about getting a material increase in lead volume, but shared concerns about quality and close rates of incoming leads.

We opened up the ad account to review the history of changes over the months since handoff of the initial setup and quickly noticed that there was no active management of the advertising account. We discussed with the client the importance of active account management and handling activities like:

• Adding negative keywords
• Adding new keywords and ad groups
• Modifying keyword match types
• Removing low performing keywords
• Improving ad copy

And other activities involved with advertising account management. The client decided to bring us on board to actively manage their advertising account and work to improve performance. They had an increased level of confidence after seeing the uptick in volume that an account setup presented and trusted us to work to improve quality as well.

Progressing To A Website And Brand Refresh

Quality did improve as we took over the account management activities however there was still a desire for improved performance.

Throughout the process of the prior activities mentioned there had been on and off discussions with the client about a website and brand refresh. As part of managing the advertising account we install screen recording capturing software. We were able to show the client issues discovered reviewing screen recordings on their site, show them low quality score metrics presented as feedback from Google Ads and supported the notion of a website and brand refresh as a means to improve conversion rates and lead quality. Since the client was spending close to 10k/month on ads the cost of a website was sensible investment if it would add incremental leads and improve lead quality in the pipeline.

Building The Website

Refreshing the website was a team effort with multiple parties involved. MSP Camp provided updated brand materials, a refreshed logo and brand character mascots. The client’s internal marketing resource performed the actual build and Tortoise and Hare provided landing page feedback and showed them how to build high converting lead generation oriented landing pages on their website using the PRESTO landing page framework while we continued to manage the advertising account.

We also showed them how to make structural changes to their website that would improve their performance on organic search and advised them to tackle those as part of the refresh.

Impacts of Website And Brand Refresh

The website and brand refresh was a tremendous success. The client went live their new website in July 2025. There was an immediate uptick in both volume and quality and the client got 2 leads from 100 user deals in the first month after launch.

Scaling Upwards And Looking Ahead To 2026

The client has very happy and increased their advertising budget shortly thereafter in anticipation of the fall busy season. We have continued to collaborate on improving the advertising account and move into more advanced concerns like getting specific types of leads looking for specific types of services (cloud) and from specific areas. These are luxuries afforded to clients who have cracked the code of volume and quality and can move into getting even more picky with their ICP.

We have continued to create positive results for the client and have developed a game plan for 2026 that adds in more attention to local SEO to supplement the success of the advertising account. We are working on a plan to double the clients revenue in a 2 years period with advertising being a key driver of growth from here on out.

Running Google Ads For Your MSP

At Tortoise and Hare we’ve managed about 1.5 million dollars in MSP advertising spend and that number grows every year. We’ve helped multiple MSPs improve the performance of their online advertising efforts and create sustainable inbound lead volume for their businesses. Reach out to Tortoise and Hare today and learn more about how we can help you leverage Google Ads to grow your revenue.