Crane Garden Buildings is a family-owned, premium timber garden buildings company based in Norfolk, with fourteen additional show sites across the UK. With 50 years of experience, they specialize in hand-crafted structures ranging from summerhouses and sheds to studios and workshops, offered in both modern and traditional designs. Crane positions itself as a higher-end brand, emphasizing the lifestyle and luxury associated with its superior-quality products, rather than merely selling a commodity.
In 2023, Maksol Technologies began working alongside Crane’s internal marketing team with the goal of driving year-on-year increases in marketing-qualified leads and revenue through online channels. Our strategy involved funneling traffic to Crane’s on-site Price Builder tool and enquiry forms, ultimately transforming interest into tangible, measurable results.
What We Did
Paid Media Strategy
We attracted fresh customers through a mix of Paid Search, Paid Social, and Programmatic Advertising.
Our approach flexed to align with seasonal trends. For instance, we placed heavier emphasis on summerhouses during warmer months, then shifted messaging and budget to maintain brand awareness in off-peak seasons.
Location-based targeting, dayparting, and weather-based ads were used to drive footfall to physical showrooms, maximizing lead opportunities.
On-Site Experience and Lead Quality
By focusing on the completion of the Price Builder, rather than broader enquiry forms, we achieved higher-quality leads and reduced CPA.
We bolstered Brand Campaigns on Google Ads—dividing efforts between prospecting and retargeting—to outrank competitors, improving both impression share and cost efficiency.
Organic Search Optimization
Despite external factors leading to a drop in 2024’s organic traffic, we emphasized high-intent visitors and user experience enhancements to drive conversions.
Our SEO team adopted a full-funnel content approach: producing blog articles to boost awareness and consideration, and refining category and ‘common use’ pages for better visibility, traffic, and ultimately, lead generation.
As the post-pandemic period unfolded, Crane faced several hurdles in sustaining momentum, largely due to declining interest in home improvement projects. With people spending more time outside of the home, overall demand fell. Seasonality played a crucial role too: budgeting had to adapt to consumer habits, generating demand in quieter seasons to convert during peak buying periods.
Additionally, the UK’s unpredictable climate, combined with Crane’s extended sales cycle of up to a year, meant nurturing prospective customers throughout the year was crucial. On top of that, the landscape of paid and organic search had become more competitive: both traditional rivals and budget-focused companies were bidding aggressively, while Google’s Core Updates impacted organic performance by prioritizing e-commerce sites over lead-generation sites in many cases.
The Results:
Collaborating closely with Crane’s marketing team, Maksol Technologies made significant strides in optimizing strategy and budget to achieve more impact for less investment.
Our integrated Search approach—balancing paid and organic efforts—allowed us to identify areas where Crane needed extra paid support versus where organic strategies could secure prominent page-one rankings. By the end of the year, Crane held a 51.9% share of voice, underpinned by Digital PR initiatives, and experienced stabilized share of search, positioning the brand strongly for growth in 2025.
Moreover, our collaborative partnership extended beyond traditional tactics to include creative consultation and landing page optimization, ensuring a seamless customer journey. We look forward to further developments in this partnership, confident our insights and adaptive strategies will continue to propel Crane’s success in the years ahead.