ACCL Chicago: Google Ads Growth Campaign Delivers 134 New Intakes in 9 Months
Case Study Overview
ACCL Chicago, a growing therapy practice, partnered with Solas to turn Google Ads into a consistent source of new client intakes. Over nine months and on a modest ad budget of $1,200–$1,500 per month, I built and refined a performance-focused campaign that kept the schedule full while making every ad dollar work harder.
The result: 134 new client intakes at target cost-per-acquisition, an 83.6% drop in cost-per-click, and enough steady demand for the practice to grow from 4 to 6 full-time therapists.
Services Provided
Google Ads Strategy & Campaign Management
Account Build & Keyword Strategy
Ad Copy Testing & Optimization
Conversion Tracking & Performance Reporting
The Challenge
For a therapy practice, growth depends on a reliable flow of new clients, and on reaching people at the moment they decide to look for support. ACCL Chicago was ready to expand, but adding therapists only works if there's demand to fill their caseloads.
With no Google Ads account in place, I built the program from scratch. Starting fresh, the practice faced a few common hurdles:
No existing account, performance data, or conversion history to build on
New client intakes weren't predictable enough to plan hiring around
Every dollar had to work hard to reach the people most likely to book
The practice needed a steady, cost-efficient intake engine it could build a growing team on.
The Objective
My role was to lead paid search strategy and execution to:
Generate consistent monthly intakes at a sustainable cost-per-acquisition
Lower cost-per-click so the budget could reach more potential clients
Improve ad relevance and engagement with high-intent searchers
Support the practice's capacity to grow its team
The Approach
1. A New Account Built Around Intent
Built the account from the ground up, with structure and tracking in place from day one
Organized campaigns around the specific services and concerns people search for: individual therapy, couples counseling, anxiety, depression, and more.
Focused targeting on the practice's Chicago service area
Built tightly themed ad groups so every search matched a relevant ad
2. Ad Copy That Speaks to Real Needs
Wrote warm, clear ad copy aligned with what prospective clients were looking for
Tested headlines and descriptions to find the messages that earned the most clicks
Grew click-through rate from 2.4% to 5.47% through ongoing testing
3. Efficiency Through Ongoing Optimization
Ongoing search term reviews and negative keyword expansion to cut wasted spend
Bid and budget adjustments toward the best-performing campaigns
Higher ad relevance and quality, driving cost-per-click down from $1.34 to $0.22
4. Measuring What Matters
Tracked intakes as the core conversion, not just clicks
Managed toward a target cost-per-acquisition so growth stayed profitable
Used performance data to guide scaling decisions as the team grew
The Results
9 months of Google Ads management on a $1,200–$1,500/month ad budget
New Client Intakes
134 new client intakes
Delivered at target cost-per-acquisition
👉 A consistent intake pipeline the practice could plan around.
Practice Growth
Grew from 4 to 6 full-time therapists
👉 Steady demand gave the practice the confidence to expand its team by 50%.
Ad Efficiency
Cost-per-click: ↓ 83.6% (from $1.34 to $0.22)
Click-through rate: +128% (from 2.4% to 5.47%)
Estimated return on ad spend: 10.6x – 14.9x
👉 More qualified clicks for far less, so every dollar reached more people looking for care.
ACCL CHICAGO CLIENT TESTIMONIAL
"We have the pleasure of working with Justine, a talented Google Ads manager, and we are very happy to recommend her to others. From the moment we started our collaboration, it was evident that she was dedicated to helping our business succeed.
Her level of knowledge and understanding of the intricacies of Google Ads really impressed us after years of trying to figure it out ourselves. She was able to craft highly effective and targeted ad campaigns that not only increased our online visibility but also brought in a significant boost in qualified leads and conversions.
We also appreciated how she took the time to learn our business (a small psychotherapy practice) so that she knew how to manage the keywords and ads to be most effective.
Moreover, communication with Justine was always great. She gets back to us in a timely manner and scheduling our meetings with her is always very easy.
We wholeheartedly recommend Justine to any business seeking to elevate their online presence through Google Ads."
— Cynthia Bassuk, Owner of ACCL Chicago