Why Great Stories Deserve Better Ads
The Film Scoring Academy of Europe (FSAE) had something competitors couldn’t fake: a student experience straight out of a Hollywood studio.
Every Master of Fine Arts (MFA) graduate walked away with a portfolio of orchestral recordings — the kind of proof that actually gets you hired. And the Academy had hours of cinematic footage capturing that magic.
Here’s the problem: Google Ads wasn’t using any of it.
Campaigns leaned on static creative and click-now CTAs. Tracking was fragmented. Acquisition costs crept higher every month. Ads delivered applicants, sure — but not the right ones, and not in a way the Academy could scale.
How Video Turned Google Ads Into a Growth Engine
This wasn’t a keyword tweak — it was a rebuild from the ground up.
We moved from a one-dimensional, high-cost setup to a hybrid approach that combined:
- Manual control where precision mattered: high-intent search campaigns capturing bottom-funnel queries with surgical accuracy.
- Automated scale where discovery mattered: Performance Max campaigns powered by FSAE’s studio-quality video, reaching new audiences across YouTube, Display, and Discovery.
Think of it like this: manual campaigns were the scalpel, automation the power drill. Each played its role — but only when orchestrated together did the setup scale without waste.
On top of that, two layers made the difference:
- Remarketing with narrative: guiding prospects step by step, from first spark of curiosity to final application.
- HubSpot CRM integration: feeding Google actual enrolment data, so the algorithm stopped chasing low-intent clicks and started finding students who would truly sign up.
Why It Worked
From Guesswork to Precision
Manual search campaigns locked in on students actively searching for “film scoring MFA” and similar terms. No wasted impressions, no broad guesswork — just bottom-funnel intent.
But precision alone doesn’t build demand. That’s where video came in.
Video That Sold the Dream
Performance Max put FSAE’s cinematic studio footage across Google’s full inventory. Prospects didn’t just see an ad — they pictured themselves in the studio, hearing their own work come alive.
Of course, creative only works if it’s backed by the right signals.
Feeding Google the Right Signals
Instead of rewarding form fills, we fed Google enrolment data straight from HubSpot. The setup stopped chasing dreamers and started surfacing applicants who actually became students.
And here’s the kicker: cost per acquisition dropped by 60% — before we even touched media spend.
From Cost Centre to Profit Engine
The rebuild flipped Google Ads from a fragile cost centre into a channel FSAE could finally trust to scale. And the numbers proved it:
For the first time, paid ads weren’t just filling the top of the funnel — they were directly driving the Academy’s long-term profitability.
The Playbook That Made Google Ads Work
FSAE didn’t win by spending more. They won by rebuilding Google Ads around four decisive moves:
- Manual precision: high-intent search captured students already searching for a film scoring MFA.
- Automated scale: Performance Max and Smart Bidding expanded reach, trained only on the right signals.
- Video as the hero: studio footage showed prospects exactly what their future could look like.
- CRM-fed signals: HubSpot data taught Google to optimise for enrolments, not empty leads.
That’s why Google Ads stopped being a cost centre — and became a reliable revenue driver that empowered the team to work smarter, not harder.
And this was only one piece of FSAE’s transformation. The full case study reveals how Google Ads, CRM integration, website optimisation, and paid social worked together to generate €1M+ in revenue.
📄 Want the full breakdown? Download the complete case study here.
