Every year at the Search Awards, we see the very best of the best, campaigns smash goals using creativity and sheer brilliance. These winners don’t just follow the rules; they write them. And while the trophies are a great reward, the real prize is the knowledge and passion they pour into their work.
So, what does it take to get a campaign from “great idea” to “award-winning masterpiece? We went straight to the source to find out. We asked some of our recent winners to share their secrets, and their answers are full of the kind of real, lived experience that constantly changes the search landscape. Get ready to be inspired, because they’re about to show you exactly how they made their campaigns stand out and win over the judges.
“Refreshing Daily Meant Budgets Flowed and Reactions Were Fast” – Mark Sansum, Co-Founder, outbloom
One of the things that really made an impact in our award-winning campaign was the script we built to tie search queries back to inventory and product value. This wasn’t just a nice-to-have, it fundamentally changed the way we managed budgets. By refreshing daily, it gave us a live view of which brands, designers, and products had both demand and stock depth, and which were starting to trend up or down. That meant budgets flowed into the right areas quickly, avoiding wasted spend and allowing us to react fast when new stock was added, and stock was sold. It also created a valuable feedback loop with the client, who could see which categories needed focus from a buying perspective, so paid search was working hand in hand with the wider business.
Another key moment came from purchase path forecasting. This unlocked the value of investing in higher ticket items and gave us clarity for budgeting beyond a narrow, short-term view of performance. For a marketplace with over 250,000 products where many products are one of one and customer journeys are naturally longer, this was critical. We surfaced the data showing that those sales often came much later when acquiring new customers, and we segmented this as far down as necessary to get an accurate picture of performance at category level. The analysis showed us which categories were slower to convert but highly valuable, so we could commit budget with confidence rather than pulling back too early. This shift in mindset allowed us to scale with precision and avoid pulling back on categories, driving sustainable growth.
“Timing Played Its Part and Translated into Tangible Outcomes” – Kevin Kapezi, Growthack
We knew early on that this campaign had the potential to win. The new website we delivered broke away from the typical, uninspiring SaaS and HR look and feel. Brand and positioning sat at the heart of everything we did, going far beyond standard SEO activities. In our award submission, we focused on storytelling, taking judges on the journey of how it all came together.
Timing also played its part. The campaign aligned perfectly with a major acquisition, meaning the impact of our work translated directly into a tangible business outcome. That’s what made it stand out: we could clearly demonstrate the role marketing played in driving growth.
For us, the lesson is clear. To create a standout campaign, you need to answer the “so what?” question. Okay, the metrics have increased but this will be the same across every award entry. What business outcome is completely unique to your campaign and separates your story from the rest?
Entry Tip: Tell the story. Show the proof.
“Cutting Through the Noise to Reach What People Actually Cared About.” Didem Himmetli, Zeo
A standout campaign is the one where you can feel the shift while it’s happening. In our case, the turning point was when we stopped just collecting customer feedback and started making sense of it in a structured way. We cut through the noise to see what people actually cared about, the things they loved, the things that frustrated them, and where competitors were getting ahead.
What made it powerful was that the insights didn’t stay stuck in an SEO report. They moved across the business, shaping product tweaks, marketing priorities, and even R&D discussions. That’s when you know a campaign goes beyond rankings. It’s not just about visibility; it’s about changing the way a company makes decisions.
“Clever Ways of Working Alone Don’t Cut It, You Need Evidence to Back It Up.” John Burton, MRS Digital
I believe the ability to demonstrate sophistication in SEO practice is a vital part of the winning formula. Our Best SEO Campaign winning entry showcased several homegrown tactics that gave us a distinct edge. For example, our own Keyword Opportunity Index (KOI) provided a means of rapidly prioritising and reprioritising hundreds of potential content pieces in a dynamic way. Given the performance of what was prioritised, we were able to prove that this did what it was intended to. But clever ways of working alone don’t cut it – you need the evidence to back it up.
The fruitful collaboration between ourselves and the client was a central part of our award story. Narrative components like this often wrap around the award fundamentals, like excellent results and intelligent strategy, contributing to the winning difference. But it wasn’t as simple as saying we were bezzy mates with the client team, but tangibly demonstrating how the positive relationship affected outcomes. In our case we were able to massively streamline our time-to-live on all content and push through new tactics that were initially sidelined. Glowing testimonial from multiple stakeholders also helped, I’m sure.
“The Right Mix of Structure, Data, and Modern Search Tactics Elevates a Campaign from Effective to Standout” – Monika Siwek, Monsoon Agency
We believe that the strongest paid search campaigns are built on precision segmentation and high-quality data. Structuring campaigns around intent-based keyword themes allows Google’s smart bidding strategies to work at their full potential, while clean, robust conversion tracking ensures the system can optimize against meaningful outcomes. Equally important is evolving how we use keyword match types: broad match is no longer a gamble when paired with smart bidding and exact match in the same campaign. Exact match locks in proven, high-converting terms, while broad match uncovers new growth opportunities (often at lower CPCs) by reaching high-intent queries beyond your existing keyword set. Combined with branded search and Performance Max, this “search-led Performance Max” approach creates a dual engine of efficiency and scale.
Our work with Candle Shack’s market entry into Germany is a clear example of this strategy in action. By applying this structured, data-led approach, Google quickly became the brand’s main acquisition driver, delivering enormous growth in a new market. The consolidation around intent-based themes, the careful balance of match types, and the integration of search with Performance Max gave the system the right signals to scale effectively. The success of this campaign didn’t just drive measurable business outcomes – it was also recognized with a European Search Award, underscoring how the right mix of structure, data, and modern search tactics can elevate a campaign from effective to truly standout.
“Even With A Limited Budget You Can Do Great Things!” – Fabiënne Elshout, Fingerspitz
We recognized that understanding the psychological triggers of consumers was just as important as reaching them at the right moment. We combined creativity with data-driven insights, focusing on audiences who had recently experienced a financial windfall, such as lottery winners or people with successful investments. The idea was to tap into the emotions tied to sudden wealth, as these feelings often enable significant purchases and investments. By crafting messages that resonated with this emotional state, we encouraged people to invest their newfound wealth in a luxury car.
Through various experiments, we gained deeper insights into how these audiences behaved and when they were most likely to act. This allowed us to tailor our ads and reach people at the perfect moment, amplifying their emotional response and increasing the likelihood of a purchase.
To validate our approach, we conducted a test that revealed which audiences were most responsive. By combining data and creativity, we achieved measurable uplifts in both sales and brand engagement, proving the effectiveness of our strategy.
The results were remarkable: Louwman saw an additional €4.6 million in revenue and a 46.6% growth in market share. The Match Market test also confirmed the success, showing an 11.95% uplift in car sales.
This campaign demonstrated that with limited resources, a well-thought-out strategy, leveraging creativity, data, and psychological insights, can drive extraordinary results.
“A Shift in Perspective Made All the Difference.” – Karolin Furca-Ktapa, Midero
The foundation of our award-winning campaign was courage – the courage to step away from the traditional mindset that SEO success is only about “evergreen traffic growth” or increasing the number of keywords in the Top 10 for the sake of reporting. From the very beginning, we challenged ourselves to think differently: instead of chasing rankings that look impressive on a chart, we focused on what truly drives impact for the client – converting visibility into measurable business results.
This meant rethinking our content strategy and analyzing topics not just for their search potential, but for their ability to directly influence purchasing decisions. Every piece of content we developed was evaluated against one key question: Will this help the client generate real sales, not just traffic? By aligning SEO efforts with commercial priorities, we bridged the gap between visibility and profitability.
What made the difference in engagement and results was this shift in perspective. We treated SEO not as a vanity metric exercise but as a growth engine. That approach gave us the confidence to cut through the noise, focus on high-value opportunities, and deliver outcomes that went beyond expectations.
Is The Next Great Campaign Yours?
As you’ve seen from the winners, the secret to a standout entry lies in the detail—the creative problem-solving, the strategic pivots, and the irrefutable results that came from understanding the landscape and of course hard work. Their success wasn’t an accident; it was the result of focused effort and a drive to go above and beyond.
Don’t let your incredible work go unrecognised. If you’ve delivered a campaign, you have a story worth telling. Use the inspiration from these Search Awards champions to structure your own submission. Show the judges how your campaign was different and why your results deserve the trophy.
Head over to the search awards websites, download the entry pack, and start drafting your submission.
APAC Search Awards / European Search Awards / US Search Awards / Global Search Awards / UK Search Awards
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