Expe’s 2026 ROAS Boost: Agent Sales Solved

Attributing conversions from agent-initiated purchases presents a unique challenge in the marketing world. We’re not just tracking clicks and impressions; we’re trying to connect a digital touchpoint to a human conversation, a sale that might happen weeks later through a call center. This campaign teardown dissects how we tackled this beast for a major travel brand, revealing the intricate dance between online engagement and offline sales, and demonstrating how precise measurement can dramatically reshape your marketing strategy.

The Challenge: Bridging the Digital-Offline Attribution Gap for Expe

I’ve been in marketing for over a decade, and one of the most persistent headaches has always been the black hole of agent-initiated sales. You spend millions on digital campaigns, drive traffic, generate leads, and then a significant chunk of your revenue comes through a call center. How do you prove that your digital efforts actually influenced those calls? For our client, Expe (a fictional but highly realistic travel aggregator), this wasn’t just a headache; it was a multi-million-dollar blind spot. Their business model relied heavily on agent-assisted bookings for complex itineraries – think multi-destination trips, corporate travel, or bespoke luxury packages. Their existing attribution models were heavily skewed towards direct online bookings, leaving agent-initiated purchases largely uncredited to digital campaigns.

Our objective was clear: develop an attribution framework and a campaign strategy that accurately credited digital marketing efforts for agent-initiated conversions. This meant understanding the user journey from initial search to the final phone call with an agent, and then linking that call to a completed booking. It’s harder than it sounds; phone calls aren’t cookies. We aimed to prove the ROI of digital channels on this critical revenue stream and, in so doing, unlock significant budget reallocations.

Campaign Strategy: The “Agent Assist” Initiative

We dubbed this project the “Agent Assist” initiative. Our core strategy revolved around three pillars: enhanced call tracking, CRM integration, and a refined bidding approach. We hypothesized that certain digital touchpoints were more effective at driving high-value calls that resulted in agent-assisted conversions, even if they didn’t lead to an immediate online booking.

Phase 1: Data Infrastructure Overhaul (Duration: 6 weeks)

Before we even touched ad spend, we had to fix the plumbing. Expe’s existing call tracking was rudimentary, providing only the number of calls, not the source or outcome. We implemented CallRail, a dynamic number insertion (DNI) solution. This allowed us to assign unique, trackable phone numbers to different campaign sources (Google Ads, Microsoft Advertising, specific landing pages, etc.). More importantly, we integrated CallRail with Expe’s Salesforce CRM. When an agent logged a sale, they’d input the unique call ID, which then allowed us to tie that sale back to the originating digital campaign and even the specific keyword or ad creative.

This integration was the linchpin. Without it, everything else would have been guesswork. I’ve seen countless companies try to shortcut this step, and it always ends in frustration. You simply cannot attribute what you cannot track.

Phase 2: Campaign Restructuring & Creative Development (Duration: 4 weeks)

With the data flowing, we restructured Expe’s search campaigns. We created dedicated ad groups for “complex travel,” “custom itineraries,” and “multi-city bookings,” and developed ad copy specifically encouraging phone calls. We used headlines like “Expert Travel Agents Ready” and “Call for Custom Quotes.” Our landing pages also featured prominent “Call Us Now” buttons and embedded forms that, when submitted, would trigger an immediate callback from an agent.

Creative Approach:
We developed two primary ad creative themes:

1. Expert Assistance Focus: Emphasized the value of human expertise for complicated travel plans. Headlines: “Need Help Planning? Talk to an Expe Expert.” Descriptions: “Avoid booking headaches. Our agents find the best deals for complex itineraries. Call Now!”
2. Problem/Solution Focus: Highlighted common frustrations with complex online booking and presented agents as the solution. Headlines: “Tired of Multi-Stop Travel Hassles?” Descriptions: “Let our agents handle the details. Seamless booking for flights, hotels & tours. Get a personalized quote.”

Phase 3: Targeting and Bidding Strategy (Duration: Ongoing)

We maintained a broad targeting approach initially, using both broad match and phrase match keywords to capture a wider audience searching for complex travel terms. The key difference was our bidding strategy. We shifted from a “Maximize Conversions” strategy focused on online bookings to a custom bidding model that weighted agent-initiated conversions more heavily. We used Google Ads‘ Enhanced Conversions for Leads feature to upload the offline conversion data directly, allowing the algorithm to learn which clicks led to agent-assisted sales.

Campaign Performance: The Numbers Tell the Story

This initiative ran for 6 months with a dedicated budget for the “Agent Assist” campaigns. Here’s how it stacked up:

Budget & Duration

• Total Campaign Budget: $1,200,000
• Duration: 6 months (February 2026 – July 2026)
• Average Monthly Spend: $200,000

Key Metrics (Comparison: Pre- vs. Post-Implementation)

We compared the 6 months prior to the campaign (August 2025 – January 2026) with the campaign period (February 2026 – July 2026) for agent-initiated sales attributable to digital channels.

What Worked: Unearthing Hidden Value

The most significant win was the dramatic improvement in ROAS for agent-initiated sales. By accurately attributing these conversions, we revealed a massive untapped potential. The 112% increase wasn’t just hypothetical; it was real revenue directly linked back to specific ad spend.

The custom bidding strategy, fueled by the Salesforce integration, proved incredibly effective. The Google Ads algorithm, once “blind” to these high-value conversions, quickly learned to prioritize clicks that were more likely to result in an agent-assisted booking. This also explains the significant drop in CPL, as we were no longer paying for clicks that were unlikely to convert offline.

Interestingly, the “Expert Assistance Focus” ad creative consistently outperformed the “Problem/Solution” creative by about 15% in terms of call volume and, more importantly, agent-assisted conversion rate. It seems when people are looking for complex travel, they prioritize expertise over simply avoiding hassle.

I also observed that broad-match keywords, which often get a bad rap for driving irrelevant traffic, performed surprisingly well here. While their initial click-through rates were lower, the quality of the calls they generated was higher. People using very general terms like “international multi-city trip” were more likely to need an agent’s help than those searching for “flights from Atlanta to London.” This goes against conventional wisdom for many e-commerce campaigns, but for agent-assisted sales, it makes perfect sense.

What Didn’t Work & Optimization Steps

Our initial assumption was that prominently displaying a phone number everywhere would be sufficient. We quickly learned that just having the number wasn’t enough; the call-to-action (CTA) needed to be compelling and specific. Early ad copy simply stated “Call Us.” We refined this to “Call for Free Consultation” or “Speak to a Travel Expert Now,” which saw a 20% uplift in call duration and a 10% increase in conversion rate from calls.

Another hiccup was the initial resistance from the sales team. They viewed the data entry for call IDs as an extra burden. We addressed this by integrating the CallRail ID directly into their screen-pop when a call came in, pre-filling the field in Salesforce. This simple UX improvement drastically reduced friction and improved data accuracy, proving that even the best tech is useless if your team won’t use it. We had to hold a couple of training sessions with the sales team, explaining why this data was important for them, too – showing them how it would help us get them more qualified leads. That transparency really helped.

We also experimented with dynamic keyword insertion (DKI) in ad headlines for calls, but found it often led to awkward phrasing that didn’t inspire confidence for complex bookings. We reverted to static, benefit-driven headlines that consistently performed better for this specific, high-touch sales process.

The Bottom Line: Don’t Ignore the Phone

This campaign was a stark reminder that in an increasingly digital world, the human element still drives significant revenue, especially for high-value, complex purchases. Neglecting to attribute these conversions is akin to throwing money away. For any business with a significant call center component, investing in robust call tracking and CRM integration isn’t an option; it’s a necessity. It allows you to truly understand your customer’s journey and allocate your marketing budget where it will have the greatest impact. Otherwise, you’re just guessing, and that’s a luxury few businesses can afford in 2026.