# Case Study: What a Business's First Digital Campaign Actually Costs to Build | Crank Source: https://wearecrank.com/case-studies/speciality-chemicals-first-time-advertiser-2025 No audience sizing, no budget model, no content, and a first forecast that came in 47% short, from a business with no historical data to base it on. --- ![Speciality chemicals case study: What a Business's First Digital Campaign Actually Costs to Build](/images/case-studies/speciality-chemicals.png?dpl=dpl_2uJjggmfov9ibhArygujfRBb3pax) Speciality Chemicals, 2025, First-Time Advertiser # What a Business's First Digital Campaign Actually Costs to Build No audience sizing, no budget model, no content, and a first forecast that came in 47% short, from a business with no historical data to base it on. Challenge A business with no digital marketing history at all needed the audience sized, the budget derived from that sizing, and eleven content assets created, none of which existed, before a single campaign could run, and its own first forecast still came in 47 per cent short on volume. A £55,000 budget divided across five campaigns over five months meant none of them produced a clear enough answer on its own, and enquiries were stopping dead at the handover between marketing and sales, so interest generated wasn't being converted. Approach Size the audience, derive the budget from that sizing, and build eleven content assets before a single advert runs. Offer a direct quote request and a technical paper in parallel so sales receives a priority order between hot and warm interest rather than one undifferentiated list. Recommend running fewer campaigns for longer. Outcome Cost per enquiry ranged four-fold between five campaigns run side by side on the same platform to the same market, from £226 to £886, turning one blended average into a clear case for which product was worth scaling and which was worth stopping. £53,176 of the £55,000 budget was spent, and the shortfall against the original forecast is the honest expectation to set for a business with no historical data to base one on. 01 ## Building the plumbing before running a single advert The business had never attempted digital marketing. Before any campaign could run, the audience had to be identified and sized, the budget derived from that sizing, and eleven content assets created, none of which existed at the start. This is the part of a first campaign that doesn't show up in any performance report, because there's no performance yet to report. 02 ## A first campaign's honest miss The forecast for the first campaign was 311 enquiries at £169 each. It produced 166 at £275, 47 per cent below volume and 62 per cent above target cost. The forecast had no historical data behind it, because none existed. Setting an honest expectation for a first-time advertiser is what stops a successful market entry being recorded as a failure against a number that was always a guess. 03 ## Five campaigns competing with themselves Across five product campaigns run simultaneously on the same platform to the same market, cost per enquiry ranged from £226 to £886\. One campaign hit 123 per cent of its target; another reached 7 per cent before it was stopped, despite the message, creative and audience all being changed mid-flight. A £55,000 budget divided across five simultaneous campaigns over five months meant none of them produced a clear enough answer on its own, the closing recommendation was to run fewer campaigns for longer, so each could be learned from individually. 04 ## What was learned for the next one Unpaid company-page activity achieved a click-through rate of 3.57 per cent against 0.43 for paid, but reached 2,000 people against 275,361 for paid, and was read on a different device entirely. Read correctly, this doesn't mean unpaid activity performs better; it means it was reaching a self-selecting audience 137 times smaller. Offering both a direct quote request and a technical paper download in parallel gave sales a usable priority order between warm and hot interest, rather than one undifferentiated list, and the closing recommendation, drawn from this same £55,000, five-month campaign of which £53,176 was spent, was to join marketing and sales enablement together, because enquiries had been stopping dead at the handover throughout. 05 ## What five months of real numbers let the business decide Once the four-fold cost spread was visible product by product, one blended average turned into a clear case for which line was worth scaling and which was worth stopping: Light Plus reached 123 per cent of its lead target and Bead Polymer 110 per cent, while Recycled reached 7 per cent and was halted after messaging, creative and audience had all been changed. £53,176 of the £55,000 budget was spent, volume came in below a forecast that had no historical data behind it, which is the honest expectation to set for a first campaign rather than a failure against a number that was always a guess. 06 ## What this means for you The real cost of a first campaign is the audience work, the budget model and the content, none of which appears in any performance report, because there is no performance yet to report. ## What a genuine first campaign costs, and what five months of real numbers changed 311 @ £169/166 @ £275 First campaign, forecast vs. actual £226 – £886 Cost per enquiry, across five simultaneous product campaigns 123%vs7% Of lead target reached, best product (Light Plus) vs. worst (Recycled, halted) £53,176 of £55,000 Budget spent, once cost per enquiry was visible product by product Drawn from Crank's account work conducted in 2025 for this speciality chemicals business. Client not named. ## Want to know what this looks like in your own account? These findings came from asking straightforward questions before any budget moved. We're happy to do the same for yours. [ Talk to Wearecrank](https://wa.me/447457416922?text=Help%20my%20business)[Get in touch](/contact) [← Back to all case studies](/case-studies)