Sugar Valley Case Study: B2B Google Ads Lead Generation
Sugar Valley had never run a Google ad, and almost all of its new trade enquiries depended on free search results. This case study shows how our Google Ads management launched their first account in February 2026 and turned it into a B2B lead generation channel for hospitality buyers, with enquiries up 5.3x and the cost of each one falling as the campaigns learned.
Last Updated: 26 October 2026
Project Summary
Sugar Valley is a Bradford-based wholesale manufacturer of desserts and cakes. Its range takes in cheesecakes, puddings, traybakes and cookie dough, made for hotels, restaurants, pubs, cafes and caterers across the country. The business holds SALSA accreditation.
About Client
Client: Sugar Valley
Industry: Wholesale Dessert Manufacturer
Website: sugarvalley.co.uk
The Team
Ben
Daniel
Project Results
In a little over eight months, Google Ads has become a reliable route to new trade buyers for Sugar Valley. The account has produced 1,268 contacts, and the cost of each one has fallen as the campaigns have found what works. Across the whole website, phone and email enquiries are more than five times higher than in the same period last year.
The Numbers
5.3x
phone and email enquiries, year on year
£5.58
cost per contact, down from £9.54
91%
of brand searches covered in October
6 days
from building the account to ads going live
The Problem
Sugar Valley makes desserts for the hospitality trade, and one new hotel, restaurant or caterer can turn into repeat orders. Even so, the business had never run a single Google ad.
That left it heavily reliant on free search results. In 2025, around 70% of its phone and email enquiries came from organic listings, and the website was averaging roughly 34 enquiries a month. Whenever rankings slipped, the flow of new trade customers slipped with them.
Sugar Valley needed a second, dependable route to buyers: one it could control, measure and grow.
The Solution
We built Sugar Valley’s paid search from the ground up, with accurate tracking at its heart:
1. Launching Their First Google Ads Account
- A brand new account created on 4 February 2026, set up in Sugar Valley’s own name
- Ads up and running six days later
Why we did this: Moving quickly meant hospitality buyers could find Sugar Valley through paid search within a week, instead of waiting on organic rankings alone.
2. Measuring Every Real Enquiry
- Tracking for phone taps, email taps, WhatsApp messages, enquiry forms and calls straight from the ads
- Results cross-checked against Google Analytics, which logged 397 email taps against 396 in Google Ads
Why we did this: Counting real contacts rather than clicks shows exactly what the budget is buying, and the near-identical figures prove the tracking can be trusted.
3. One B2B Campaign Across Search and YouTube
- A single campaign covering Search, YouTube, Discover and Gmail
- Search themes such as “wholesale desserts” and “dessert supplier for restaurant” to reach hospitality buyers
- Plenty of creative to test, including 20 headlines, 5 videos and 18 images
Why we did this: Giving Google a wide choice of ads lets it learn what works. From June, it moved more of the budget into YouTube, where contacts were coming in more cheaply.
4. Protecting the Brand Name
- A dedicated brand campaign live from 1 September 2026
- Ads appearing on 91% of searches for the Sugar Valley name during October
Why we did this: Someone searching for a business by name is already interested. Covering those searches cost just £1.27 per contact, roughly 20% of the account’s average cost.
The Outcome
The numbers show more enquiries, at a lower cost, from a channel Sugar Valley had never used before:
| KPI | Before | Now | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phone and email enquiries (Feb to Oct) | 290 | 1,542 | 5.3x |
| Contacts from Google Ads (per quarter) | 208 | 632 | 3x |
| Cost per contact | £9.54 | £5.58 | 42% lower |
| Brand campaign coverage | No campaign | 91% | New |
Enquiry figures: Google Analytics, 4 February to 18 October 2026 against the equivalent dates of 2025. Contact and cost figures: Google Ads, February to April against July to September 2026.
- Phone and email enquiries up 5.3x on the equivalent dates of 2025, from around 34 a month to around 180
- 1,268 contacts from trade buyers, at an average cost of £6.77 each
- Contacts per quarter roughly tripled, from 208 to 632, while the cost of each one fell by 42%
- Brand searches protected, with ads appearing on 91% of searches for the brand name during October, at £1.27 per contact
- Tracking Sugar Valley can rely on, with Google Ads and Google Analytics agreeing almost exactly on email taps
Key Takeaways
For a manufacturer that leaned on free search results, Google Ads has added a second source of trade buyers the business can see, control and grow. What made it work was a simple combination: accurate tracking, a campaign aimed squarely at hospitality buyers and enough creative for Google to learn from. As the campaign learned, the cost of each contact fell, so the same budget now goes much further.
Want more trade enquiries for your manufacturing business? Find out how our Google Ads management drives PPC lead generation for B2B businesses, or see how we work as a marketing agency for manufacturers.
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