How Aira helped Hagerty UK increase traffic, clicks and revenue in a highly competitive marketplace
The Challenge
Traffic, customer and revenue growth for Hagerty in the UK
Hagerty, the world’s largest provider of specialty insurance for classic vehicles, had a stable position in the UK but wanted to grow further in the highly competitive automotive and financial market. The goal was to build on its brand recognition and expand across the classic car insurance and valuation space.
They wanted to increase traffic and customer acquisition while continually reducing CPA and maintaining a high conversion quality.
Andrew says, “At that point, Hagerty had a stable position in the UK. But we saw an opportunity to further grow our brand recognition, expand awareness across the classic car insurance and valuation spaces, and raise the bar with paid media.”
Unlocking local expertise in paid search
Andrew knew what he wanted to achieve—to reach more buyers on the web and turn them into customers. Before he could do that, there was an urgent knowledge gap to fill.
He says, “We have our own digital marketing team that does everything for Canada and the U.S. But we wanted to make sure we understood the nuances of the digital marketing space in the UK and how it was different from North America.”
Andrew didn’t just need to build local acumen. While he’s backed by a digital team with a wealth of experience, he wanted to look outside the organisation for specialist support on paid search.
That’s when Andrew turned to performance marketing leaders Aira. Hagerty had teamed with Aira before and knew they had proven expertise in marketing financial services.
Andrew says, “We knew that Aira does very well in the specialisation of paid search. At that stage, we weren’t confident of performing at the specialist level Aira could achieve right off the bat. So we were happy to work with them to achieve our paid performance goals.”
Ambitious goals to leave competitors behind
Aira took the baton to help Hagerty grow online—and Andrew set big targets.
The business wanted to increase year-over-year traffic and customer acquisition in a highly competitive market. Like any cost-conscious business, they also wanted to drive maximum value and set ambitious targets to continue decreasing their CPA each year.
'At that point, Hagerty had a stable position in the UK. But we saw an opportunity to further grow our brand.'
The Solution
Aira started by fully understanding Hagerty’s unique audience and objectives.
We crafted a comprehensive strategy focusing on driving targeted traffic from new leads.
Andrew says, “Aira did a good job of understanding our audiences. We’re a unique company. Our main business is insurance and that’s where we earn a lot of our income. But we also run events, share valuation knowledge, and get broad media coverage. Aira were smart about recognising all those pillars to help us build campaigns and support around them.”
Devising a cohesive strategy with big impact
Next, Aira built an action plan based around Hagerty’s KPIs. They needed to ensure their strategies would generate traffic from people who already knew the brand—as well as newcomers to it.
At every step, Aira communicated ideas and progress and quickly established a relationship built on trust.
Andrew says, “Something I appreciate is the quality of the communication with Aira. When we have a conversation, they bring all the information that they need to tell the story and show us what’s going on. If they don’t have something, they provide it within 24-48 hours.”
Innovative paid search strategies
- Dynamic search ads (DSA): Introduced in 2019, this campaign boosted conversion volume by capturing previously missed search opportunities. DSA uses website content to create highly targeted ad text based on users’ searches. This tactic is still running across campaigns today.
- Improved account efficiency in 2024: We refined the account’s efficiency by focusing ad spend on high-converting users
- Split branded and non-branded search terms: Keywords were split into separate campaigns for better budget control and more accurate CPA assessment
- Discontinued underperforming keywords and campaigns: To improve budget control and focus resources, less valuable keywords were removed
- Improved ad effectiveness: We added more ad variants and leveraged Google’s machine learning for split testing
- Explored new keyword opportunities: Conducted thorough research, focusing on specific classic car makes and models to identify new opportunities
- Ongoing innovation: Constantly investigating new paid search strategies to increase visibility and reduce wasted ad spend, helping Hagerty stay ahead of competitors.
Andrew appreciates Aira’s forward-thinking tactics on paid media.
He says, “A massive USP with Aira is that they present innovative ways that paid search campaigns can be set up. They show us different features within paid search that a lot of people don’t take advantage of. We’ve seen a lot of site traffic growth based on features that some companies aren’t even aware of.”
'We’ve seen a lot of site traffic growth based on features that some companies aren’t even aware of.'
The Results
With Aira’s ongoing support, Hagerty has exceeded their targets, achieving substantial growth in traffic, conversions, and revenue:
- 150% increase in paid search clicks from 2020 to 2023
- 51% increase in clicks for ‘classic car insurance’ paid search ads
- 98% increase in search impression share and 91% increase in CTR from Q1 2024 to Q4 2024, directly attributed to Aira’s work improving account efficiency
- Exceeded completed quote targets by 7%, thanks to campaigns that directed traffic to a new quoting platform
- As a result of targeted optimisations, CPA has consistently reduced while improving the quality of conversions
Andrew says, “Aira set up specific campaigns to support the flow of visitors to a new quoting platform. They direct a lot of traffic there and we’re seeing a lot of new business come from that tool, which is a great feeling.”
Trust translates to time savings
Andrew appreciates how transparent, knowledgeable, and personable Aira’s team are. He’s developed such a deep level of trust, he doesn’t waste time cross-checking or validating what they’re doing.
He says, “There is a really big level of trust with Aira, which having worked with a lot of different third parties, is not a common thing. We don’t have to double-check what they’re telling us, because we’re seeing the figures and the impact it’s having on our business. This gives us valuable time back.”
A true creative partner that strengthens their team
There’s another benefit to having Aira in the paid search driving seat. Andrew gets an impartial perspective from them, which helps raise the bar on campaigns.
He says, “It’s super valuable to have an unbiased third party to throw ideas against. We work closely with our digital marketing and marketing strategy teams, but we’ve also got Aira to throw ideas around with. This helps us come up with the best-possible campaigns and solutions.”
Conquering financial marketing
Andrew recommends Aira as the ideal partner for conquering the challenge of marketing financial organisations.
Andrew says, “With the campaigns that Aira drives to our website, we see additional traffic and higher-quality traffic. They also drive a lot of awareness of the Hagerty brand through the campaigns they develop.”
He concludes, “It really just comes back to trust. You know that once Aira has a complete understanding of your business—which they take the time to do—they come up with good ideas that take campaigns to the next level using features you might not have known before. So your business is more successful.”
'There is a really big level of trust with Aira, which having worked with a lot of different third parties, is not a common thing.'
