How a Google Ads Conversion Tracking Fix led to $2.6 million in ad revenue for a Tourism Client using FareHarbor

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THE CHALLENGE: “We were just spending that budget, hoping for good returns and not really knowing.”

Sky Railway offers scenic train tours in Santa Fe, with live musical entertainment in every car. It’s owned by investors including George R.R. Martin, the company operates with a board of directors, which means every marketing decision has to be justified with real numbers.

Bryan Deutsch, Director of Sales and Marketing & Head of Operations, knew Google Ads was the way to go in terms of growing their ticket sales, starting with ads in late 2022. Sometime after, Dawn Garcia, their Bookings & Reservations manager, who primarily handles backend programming and the website, took over the account.

“I learned pretty quickly after getting in there that it was just over my head. 

There was definitely a need for a professional to come in who actually knew what they were doing.”

They were facing a wide array of problems that were affecting their conversions:

• Their conversion tracking had completely fallen apart.
• Without accurate tracking, they had no idea if their ads were actually working — they couldn’t understand or fix it on their own — and were in desperate need of a conversion tracking fix.
• They tried working with Google representatives who were just trying to make them dump more money and weren’t concerned about the returns they were getting. 
• Their conversion rate was sitting at 2.12% and their return on ad spend had tanked.

But he didn’t have the numbers or the language to do it. By the time they’d started looking for help, they’d already spent over $100k in ad spend. 

“We were trying and keeping it afloat, but it was pretty clear we didn’t know what we were doing. While we did have a budget, we were just spending it, hoping for good returns, and not really knowing.

We even had thousands of keywords. We thought, the more the better.”

They needed someone who could fix the technical mess, handle everything for them, and speak in terms that would get their investor board to realize the value of investing in Google Ads.

THE TURNING POINT: “It was very obvious we were leaving money on the table trying to do it ourselves.”

When they began the search for a Google Ads Specialist close to mid-2024, that’s when they found Olivia’s website. Seeing how she was based in Austin, sharing that connection with Bryan and Dawn helped. 

During the discovery call, Olivia laid out their options. She’d already reviewed their Google Ads account and helped them understand why their conversion tracking had stopped (a problem that they couldn’t make sense of for months). The problem lay in that FareHarbor, a popular booking platform for tour operators, stopped reading their G4 activity since they switched over to the tool’s provided website.

But what really sealed the deal was that they weren’t getting locked into a long-term Google Ads management contract. 

“A lot of agencies want you to sign all these things and get into contracts. With Olivia,  it didn’t feel really scary going into it. 

It made it a lot easier for us to take it to the CEO and say, ‘We want to try this. There’s no commitment. We’re not out anything except the fee if it goes horribly wrong.'”

Because it wasn’t just about getting better results. Dawn was overwhelmed trying to manage Google Ads on top of her actual job. And Bryan needed to convince an old-school board that paid ads was worth scaling.

“We knew that there were people out there who could do better than we could. And we knew we could trust her.”

THE PROCESS: “Once she got into a rhythm, understood our product, Olivia just became unstoppable.”

Pre-Work to Create a New Google Ads Strategy

After Sky Railway signed on for Google Ads management, Olivia sent them a pre-work form to collect details about their business.

Between pre-work and their kickoff call, Olivia developed her strategy based on the current state of their account and their goals.

During the kickoff call, she walked them through:

• Her strategy for restructuring the account
• The plan for their conversion tracking fix with FareHarbor
• The implementation plan
• What results would look like at various checkpoints

The Conversion Tracking Fix With FareHarbor

The biggest technical challenge? Their conversion tracking.

Olivia quickly realized the problem lay with an update to the FareHarbor Lightframe GA4 integration which doesn’t allow for direct conversion tracking. This directly impacts the ROI you can expect to get. 

Most ad managers just accept this limitation and rely on GA4, which is about 50% less accurate than direct Google Ads conversion tracking.

Dawn had been told multiple times by the FareHarbor team that direct Google Ads conversion tracking wasn’t possible. She’d presumed it wouldn’t work.

But Olivia didn’t accept “no” as an answer. Instead of asking Dawn to handle it however, Olivia took over completely.

“This is what I love about her. She didn’t even say, ‘Hey, can you take this to FareHarbor and have them do this?’ 

She literally asked for a contact at FareHarbor and she went and took care of it between her and the FareHarbor site team.”

Specifically, Olivia’s background in software development is what allowed her to get FareHarbor’s data layer variables, customize the tracking snippets, and format everything in a way their developers could understand and install without hesitation.

After a lot of back and forth between Olivia and the FareHarbor site team, direct conversion tracking was live and accurate within the first week.

Now Sky Railway hasn’t had a problem with their conversion tracking since Olivia took over the account.

Complete Keyword Structure & Account Overhaul

Bryan and Dawn had thousands of keywords running. With conversion tracking fixed, Olivia restructured everything. 

“She just started from scratch. Took almost all the keywords we put in, erased them, and we thought we were so smart, too, when we were putting those in.”

The account was rebuilt from the ground up with:

• Proper campaign structure for their seasonal business
• Targeted keyword strategy (no more “hoping for the best”)
• Optimized ad copy and creative
• Strategic bid adjustments based on performance

Ongoing Google Ads Strategy & Management

After their Google ads went live, Olivia sent a video overview of the structure, ad examples, and clear expectations on performance metrics.

After one week, they received another video update covering initial performance — conversion tracking, CTR, CVR, and conversion value.

“Once things started rolling, we knew we’d made the right decision and found the right person. 

From there, Sky Railway receives:

• Monthly video updates with performance breakdowns
• A custom real-time dashboard that they can access anytime
• One monthly 1:1 call (if they even want it — most months, they don’t)

“What I really like is that she’ll actually go and look at the other stuff we might not. She’ll say, ‘Oh, this looks wrong. I would talk to this person. I would start here.’ 

It’s really nice to have a person like that in your back pocket when you’re a tiny company that doesn’t really have an IT team of any kind.”

Even though, like they mention, “it’s not part of the service she’s providing to us”, they can reach out to Olivia anytime to get any technical questions answered. 

And perhaps most importantly for Dawn? She used to get a ton of emails and notifications for Google Ads and salespeople trying to get her on the phone. Now? Olivia’s the one who handles it all.

Visual Monthly Reports That Win Over Their Board

One of the biggest challenges wasn’t just getting the ads to work — it was convincing old-school investors that paid ads were worth scaling.

“We had to sell it to our investors who are a little bit more old school and believe in magazine ads and billboards. And so we were able to share all of their questions with her, explain our challenges, and she’s then able to cater her presentations to those concerns.”

Olivia’s monthly reports aren’t just data dumps. She creates in LookerStudio and because it’s directly connected to their ad account, they know exactly what’s happening with the numbers, have real-time access to it, and don’t have to wait around for a pretty PDF that nobody gets.

They’re clear, visual, and designed for people who don’t live in Google Ads like she does.

“We don’t even have to explain anything because the proof is in the numbers. She’s made our life extremely easy — before we’d have to beg and fight and try to explain. 

Now, Olivia provides a lot of ways to look at the results. She strips it down and sends monthly updates that we can send right to the higher-ups. The information she sends us in her videos influences a lot of the owners’ decisions with ad spend.”

THE RESULTS: “The proof is in the numbers. She really made us look good.”

Since they started working together in June 2024, Sky Railway has spent over $200,000 in ad spend and generated $2.6 million in ad revenue.

The numbers tell the full story:

• Return on ad spend (ROAS): 1,274%
• Cost per acquisition (CPA): Reduced by 87%
• Conversion rate before (June 2024): 2.12%
• Conversion rate after (Dec 2025): 4.7%
• Monthly ad spend: Scaled from $6k-$7k/month to $10k/month (and up to $14k/month during peak summer season)

But the transformation goes beyond the numbers.

Google Ads Accounts for 50% of All Ticket Sales

Google Ads plays a massive role in selling their tickets, being their second-highest revenue source besides direct bookings. 

“While we were doing well with Google Ads in the beginning, our return on ad spend just tanked. Olivia came in and did a total overhaul of our account, slowly starting to put the pedal to the metal.”

Confidence to Scale Profitably with Paid Search

One of the biggest wins? Being able to forecast their marketing budget with confidence because of their conversion tracking fix and strategic reports that help them plan it out.

“She gave us the confidence to increase our ad spend and show us why it was a smart decision to throw thousands of dollars into ads and explain to the people we have to answer to why we were doing it.”

Their ad spend has grown. Not because they had to spend more to get results, but because the account could scale profitably.

“It’s definitely not one of those instances where, ‘They’re getting results because they end up spending double the money.’ 

It’s just that we’d gotten to a point where we could scale profitably.”

Over the last 18 months working together, Olivia isn’t just a contractor, but a member of their team.

Long-term relationships with her Google Ad management clients are a top priority for Olivia, which is why she and the Sky Railway team continue to work together long after they first started in June 2024. 

Like Bryan says,

“You can tell she gives a sh*t. We’re not just an account. You can tell that with the time that she allots to our account, she puts in maximum effort. 

She really cares about how well we do. Not just for her, but for us as well. So, she’s definitely a part of the team. One of our favorites.”

Dawn put it even more bluntly:

“I mean, the CEO’d probably get rid of us before he got rid of her.”

For a seasonal tourism business like Sky Railway, handing off Google Ads to a specialist like Olivia didn’t just improve their return on ad spend.

It gave them the confidence to scale, the numbers to convince their board and the time to focus on other marketing streams.

“If you’re on the hunt to supercharge your ad spend, Olivia is your golden ticket!

Teaming up with Olivia has been nothing short of spectacular! Ever since she took the reins of our Google Ads account, we’ve witnessed a steady spike in conversions.”

Dawn Garcia
Bookings & Reservations Manager

“Since Olivia has taken over our Google Ads accounts, we have seen drastic changes in our conversions.

This has given us the confidence we need to confidently invest in marketing, knowing what our potential returns can be. Highly recommend to anyone putting a significant amount of money into their ad spend.”

Bryan Deutsch
Director of Sales & Marketing and Head of Operations

This case study was built on a conversation with this specific client, going through our work together. Anything in quotes is a word-for-word statement said by the client on a recorded call or in feedback.

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If Google Ads conversion tracking is broken (especially if you’re using FareHarbor), or you need to convince a board that paid ads is worth scaling?

Let’s fix what’s broken and get your ads working for your business — and growing it. Because you can scale your other marketing efforts while I take good care of your Google Ads.

With a fully hands-free service that includes strategy, tech setup, conversion tracking and ongoing performance optimization.