English House — 22,700 Qualified Leads at AED 1.38 CPL Across UAE, Qatar, Oman & Saudi Arabia.
A 13-month Google Ads engagement where I architected a high-intent lead generation system for a GCC English language training institute — delivering 22,700 qualified student leads at AED 1.38 cost per lead and a 60% admission conversion rate.
Client
English House · myenglishhouse.com
Engagement
Oct 2022 – Nov 2023 · Freelance
Markets
UAE · Qatar · Oman · KSA
Duration
13 Months
Qualified leads generated
22,700
Cost per qualified lead
AED1.38
Revenue ROAS
76×
Estimated revenue generated
AED2.4M
Overview
The Challenge — Qualified Leads at Scale Across 4 GCC Markets.
English House is an online English language training institute targeting Malayali professionals across GCC countries — UAE, Qatar, Oman, and Saudi Arabia. With a course fee of approximately AED 160, the economics demanded ultra-low cost per lead and a highly efficient qualification and follow-up system to generate profitable enrollments at scale.
As Freelance Performance Marketing Consultant from October 2022 to November 2023, I was responsible for building the complete student acquisition engine from scratch — keyword strategy, campaign architecture, landing page optimisation, CRM integration, and WhatsApp automation.
The primary challenge was not just volume — it was generating admission-ready leads specifically from GCC professionals who were genuinely ready to enroll, not casual browsers. Every element of the system was designed around qualification first, volume second.
4
GCC markets
13 Mo
Campaign duration
AED 160
Avg. course fee
60%
Admission conversion rate
Strategy & Execution
High-Intent Google Search Architecture for GCC Markets.
The strategy was built entirely around bottom-of-funnel search intent — capturing GCC professionals who were actively searching for English training at the exact moment of decision, not at the awareness stage.
Bottom-funnel keyword strategy built independently
Focused exclusively on high-intent queries like "English language course UAE", "online English training GCC", "spoken English course Dubai" — eliminating all informational and comparison-stage keywords through negative keyword management.
Campaign structure by course category
Separate campaigns for Spoken English, Business English, IELTS preparation, and general courses — each with tightly themed ad groups and dedicated landing pages matching ad messaging exactly.
Bidding strategy: Maximise Conversions
With daily performance reviews and continuous bid refinement based on conversion volume, CPL, and lead quality data from HubSpot CRM.
YouTube Ads for brand lift and assisted conversions
Skippable and non-skippable video ads with custom intent targeting and website visitor remarketing — increasing branded search demand and improving first-touch attribution for Google Search campaigns.
Extensive negative keyword management
Eliminating job-related searches, competitor brand terms, and non-GCC geo traffic to maintain lead quality and prevent budget waste on irrelevant audiences. Over 500 negative keywords managed across the campaign lifetime.
Full-Funnel System
From Search Click to Student Enrollment — The Complete Funnel.
The 60% admission conversion rate was only possible because every stage after the ad click was designed and optimised as part of the same system.
Google Search & YouTube Ads
High-intent search campaigns targeting GCC professionals searching for English training — optimised toward form submission conversion events, not clicks or impressions.
Dedicated Optimised Landing Page
Single conversion-focused landing page per campaign — with a short qualification form, social proof, course benefits, and a prominent WhatsApp CTA for GCC audiences.
HubSpot CRM via Zapier
Every form submission pushed automatically to HubSpot CRM via Zapier — tagged with source campaign, ad group, keyword, and submission date for full attribution tracking.
WATI WhatsApp Automation
Instant personalised WhatsApp message sent via WATI within seconds of form submission — the single most impactful element driving the 60% admission conversion rate.
Mailchimp Email Nurture
Automated email sequences providing course details, testimonials, and enrollment urgency — running in parallel with WhatsApp for leads who hadn't converted after initial contact.
Sales Team Follow-Up & Admission
CRM-managed sales follow-up with full lead history visible — which campaigns, pages, and messages each prospect engaged with before converting to a paying student.
Performance Results
Campaign Results — October 2022 to November 2023.
All metrics verified against Google Ads conversion tracking, Google Analytics, and HubSpot CRM admission records.
109,000
Total clicks generated
22,700
Qualified leads (form submissions)
AED1.38
Cost per qualified lead
AED31.3K
Total ad spend
60%
Admission conversion rate
13,620
Student enrollments
AED2.4M
Estimated revenue generated
76×
Revenue to ad spend ratio
Revenue Calculation
Average course fee AED 160 × 13,620 enrollments = AED 2,179,200 gross revenue. For every AED 1 invested in advertising, the campaigns generated approximately AED 76 in student course revenue — across 4 GCC countries in a 13-month period.
Key Insights
What Drove the 60% Admission Conversion Rate.
Four decisions that separated this system from a standard Google Ads account — applicable to any high-volume lead generation campaign in UAE and GCC markets.
WhatsApp response speed was the biggest conversion lever. Leads contacted within 5 minutes via WATI automated WhatsApp converted to enrollment at 3x the rate of leads contacted after 30 minutes. In GCC markets, WhatsApp is the primary communication channel — not email.
AED 1.38 CPL was achieved through negative keyword discipline. The low cost per lead was not the result of cheap traffic — it was the result of eliminating irrelevant searches aggressively. Over 500 negative keywords were managed across the campaign lifetime.
YouTube Ads improved Google Search performance. Campaigns with YouTube brand lift running alongside saw 15–20% lower CPL on Google Search — because GCC audiences recognised the brand before clicking the search ad, increasing both CTR and conversion rate.
CRM tracking revealed the true funnel. Without HubSpot CRM data, the reported 22,700 leads could have been misleading. CRM tracking confirmed which leads actually enrolled — allowing us to optimise campaigns toward enrollment quality, not just volume.
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Want Results Like These for Your Business?
Whether you're an education provider or service business in UAE or GCC — I'll build a lead generation system that delivers qualified leads at a predictable cost.
Based in Muscat, Oman · Serving Dubai, UAE & the GCC · sabarjed@gmail.com