The Client
Firefly Solar is a residential and commercial solar installation company operating through firefly.solar. They design, install, and maintain solar panel systems for homeowners and businesses looking to reduce energy costs and transition to renewable power. Their service territories span multiple states with a focus on markets where solar incentives and electricity costs make the switch most financially compelling.
The Challenge
- The solar installation industry is one of the most competitive advertising verticals, with national brands, local installers, and lead aggregators all bidding aggressively on the same keywords.
- Lead quality is paramount -- a single solar installation contract can be worth $15,000-$40,000, but most form submissions require extensive qualification before becoming viable projects.
- Many solar searches are informational ("how do solar panels work," "solar panel cost calculator") rather than transactional, requiring precise intent filtering.
- Aggressive lead generation companies like EnergySage and Solar.com dominate top-of-page positions with massive budgets, making it costly to compete on generic terms.
Our Approach
- Built hyper-local Search campaigns targeting city and county-level solar installation queries, where Firefly Solar's physical presence and local reputation provide a competitive advantage over national aggregators.
- Created intent-tiered keyword groups separating "get a quote" and "solar installer near me" terms (immediate intent) from "solar panel cost" and "solar savings" terms (research phase), with separate bidding for each.
- Developed ad copy emphasizing Firefly Solar's local presence, installation warranties, and financing options -- differentiators that national lead aggregators cannot match.
- Deployed Performance Max campaigns targeting homeowners in high-electricity-cost zip codes with solar tax incentive messaging and estimated savings calculations.
- Implemented robust call tracking and form submission attribution to measure not just leads, but qualified leads that progressed to site assessments and signed contracts.
The Results
- Generated $1.04 million in tracked revenue on $171K in total spend, achieving a 6.1x ROAS across all campaigns.
- Drove 2,900+ conversions including qualified lead forms, phone consultations, and site assessment bookings.
- Local-focused Search campaigns outperformed national-term campaigns by 3x in cost-per-qualified-lead, proving the value of geographic precision in solar advertising.
- Performance Max campaigns targeting high-electricity-cost zones generated leads at 40% lower cost than Search campaigns by reaching homeowners through Display and YouTube before they started actively searching.
- Contract close rate from Google Ads leads was 35% higher than leads from third-party aggregator platforms, reflecting the superior intent quality of direct-response campaigns.
What the Client Says
"The solar industry is flooded with lead-gen companies selling the same leads to five different installers. Live PPC Ads gave us our own pipeline -- exclusive leads from people specifically looking for us in our service areas. The difference in lead quality is night and day."
-- Sales Director, Firefly Solar
About This Campaign
This engagement covers Google Ads Search and Performance Max campaign management with geographic targeting across multiple service territories. Revenue attribution tracks from initial ad click through signed installation contracts.