Axley — Waukesha/Madison AdWords Budget Reallocation
Overview
In the November 2025 marketing review, Asymmetric and Axley agreed to cut the underperforming Waukesha AdWords campaign to $500/month and redirect the freed budget toward a new Madison campaign. Simultaneously, the Waukesha Family Law campaign targeting was tightened to focus exclusively on Waukesha County — a high-net-worth market — rather than the broader geographic spread that had been driving up cost-per-lead.
Source: [1]
Decision
| Campaign | Change | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Waukesha AdWords (general) | Cut to $500/month | Underperforming; poor return on current spend |
| Madison AdWords | New campaign funded by Waukesha savings | Higher expected performance |
| Waukesha Family Law | Tighten geography to Waukesha County only | Outside counties show higher CPC and lower conversion rates |
| DWI Campaign | Consider reducing spend | Attorney capacity constraints limiting intake |
| Personal Injury Campaign | Review; consider narrowing to southern Wisconsin | Currently statewide; attorneys unlikely to travel north of Wausau |
Geographic Targeting Rationale
The Waukesha Family Law campaign had been expanded county-by-county to increase lead volume, but data showed that clicks and conversions from outside Waukesha County carried significantly higher cost-per-click and lower conversion rates. The recommendation was to pull back to Waukesha County specifically and dominate that market rather than spread budget thin.
"Waukesha is a very wealthy county, and so the idea of targeting high-net-worth individuals is just seems like a good idea for even the makeup of that region."
This aligns with the broader [2] principle: for service businesses with fixed locations, concentrating budget on the highest-converting geography typically outperforms broad coverage even when the broader area is technically serviceable.
The Personal Injury campaign presents a related issue — it runs statewide, but attorneys are unlikely to travel north of Wausau. Narrowing to southern Wisconsin is under review.
Budget Reallocation Logic
The Personal Injury campaign was identified as budget-constrained but was not selected as the reallocation target due to its high cost-per-client (~$2,500). Adding spend to a campaign with that acquisition cost was not considered a good use of the Waukesha savings.
Instead, the budget moves to a new Madison campaign, where performance expectations are higher and a dedicated [3] is being built to support it.
Supporting Actions
These campaign changes are paired with complementary work:
- Location pages: Waukesha and Madison location pages launching the week of 2025-11-17 to give Google clear, office-specific signals. See [4].
- Family Law SEO: Waukesha County Family Law is the next SEO priority, targeting high-net-worth clients with content on complex asset division (stock options, LLCs, prenups). See [5].
- Google Business Profile: Three fraudulent 1-star reviews are being disputed via Asymmetric's Google rep contact, which will support overall Waukesha local presence.
Key Principle
This reallocation reflects a recurring pattern in local service advertising: geographic expansion to chase lead volume often degrades campaign efficiency. When a campaign is expanded beyond the natural service radius, cost-per-conversion rises and conversion rates fall. The better lever is usually tighter targeting paired with stronger landing pages and SEO for the core geography.
Action Items from This Decision
- [ ] Cut Waukesha AdWords to $500/month
- [ ] Build and launch Madison AdWords campaign
- [ ] Tighten Waukesha Family Law campaign geography to Waukesha County
- [ ] Review Personal Injury campaign; prepare recommendation to narrow to southern Wisconsin
- [ ] Review DWI campaign spend relative to attorney capacity