A premier sailmaker based in San Diego, serving a wide range of sailors from weekend cruisers to offshore racers. As part of the global brand, they combine world-class technology with local expertise to deliver high-performance racing sails, durable cruising sails, and expert sail repair services tailored to the Southern California sailing community.
They came to Portside looking to strengthen their presence in Southern California’s competitive sailmaking market. The goal was to win market share from established competitors, educate local sailors on their global reputation, and turn digital attention into real-world sail orders.
Their key objectives were:
Drive revenue growth through targeted lead generation
Capture and nurture warm leads across multiple platforms
Increase brand awareness among both racing and cruising sailors
With no prior digital advertising in place, our mission was to build a full-funnel marketing strategy from scratch – on a tightly managed budget.
The challenge was twofold:
Budget Constraints: We couldn’t afford to treat Google Ads and Meta Ads as isolated tools. The strategy had to work across both platforms to generate leads, traffic, and awareness simultaneously.
Niche & Seasonal Market: Sail replacements aren’t impulse buys. They’re expensive, infrequent, and often planned well in advance. This meant we needed to build long-term engagement, not quick conversions.
So we developed what we call an Integrated Paid Marketing Strategy: a coordinated approach using Meta to build audiences and Google to convert them.
1. Google Ads:
Launched Search campaigns for high-intent terms like “racing sails,” “cruising sails,” and “sail repair San Diego”
Built Performance Max campaigns using remarketing signals from Meta and past site visitors
Rolled out Display campaigns using In-Market and Affinity audiences for broad awareness
Focused on driving consistent, affordable leads and helping Google learn the right audience over time
2. Meta Ads:
Designed creatives to drive quality traffic with engaging videos, carousels, and Reels
Optimized for landing page views, not just clicks – preparing warm audiences for Google to close
Layered in remarketing and lookalike audiences after the initial 6 months
Integrated email subscriber lists to further refine Meta’s targeting
We aligned all campaigns to build toward a more refined and conversion-ready audience week after week, constantly testing and optimizing.
Time Period Compared:
1 Nov 2023 – 29 Feb 2024 vs 1 July 2023 – 31 Oct 2023
+158.6% increase in conversions
+16.25% increase in CTR, thanks to sharper ad copy and refined keyword targeting
+188.07% increase in conversion rate, indicating a stronger funnel and more qualified clicks
Google’s machine learning became significantly more effective over time, lowering cost per lead and improving traffic quality across the board.
Drove thousands of high-quality visitors at $0.09 CPC with strong engagement
CTR peaked at 8.2% on top-performing creatives
Successfully shifted from “free sail inspection” conversions to “request a quote” leads
Meta stayed in the learning phase by prioritizing more frequent, mid-funnel conversions – producing better campaign performance over time
Eventually, the volume of leads was so high, the team asked us to scale back on certain campaigns while they caught up with demand.
We built their digital engine from the keel up. Through integrated paid media, we increased brand visibility, drove consistent high-quality leads, and helped them grow into one of the most recognized sailmakers on the West Coast.
The usiness owner is willing to provide personal feedback on request.