Executive Summary
UniFirst’s paid search program underwent a strategic transformation to support performance goals during a key business cycle. The uniform and facility service experts partnered with iQuanti to focus on optimizing performance across Google and Microsoft Ads, ensuring reach, efficiency, and lead generation aligned with evolving customer demand.
Through smart segmentation, strategic targeting during high-engagement periods, and budget reallocation, iQuanti, working closely with the UniFirst marketing team, transformed paid search into a high-efficiency lead engine. The result: a 3.7X year-over-year increase in paid leads via Google and Microsoft Ads, and reducing cost per lead (CPL) by half, all implemented in the first quarter of 2025.
The Client
Headquartered in Wilmington, Mass., UniFirst Corporation (NYSE: UNF) is a North American leader in the supply and servicing of uniform and workwear programs, facility service products, as well as first aid and safety supplies and services. Together with its subsidiaries, the company also manages specialized garment programs for the cleanroom and nuclear industries. In addition to partnering with leading brands, UniFirst manufactures its own branded workwear, protective clothing, and floorcare products at its three company-owned ISO-9001-certified manufacturing facilities. With more than 270 service locations, over 300,000 customer locations, and 16,000-plus employee Team Partners, the company outfits more than 2 million workers every day.
During periods of heightened activity across the uniform and facility services industry, opportunities to acquire new clients and strengthen existing relationships increase. In such cycles, digital visibility becomes essential not just for UniFirst, but for competitors across the space.
The Challenge
UniFirst, a leader in the B2B uniform rental service industry, was looking to ramp up paid lead generation to support ongoing growth and market expansion. To achieve this, the team needed to scale performance while maintaining cost-efficiency in a competitive digital landscape. Some challenges UniFirst faced included:
- Legacy strategy required a revamp to boost lead growth.
- Increased competition led to a spike in CPLs
- Customer intent & keyword performance visibility was limited, restricting optimization efforts.
- The limited use of Microsoft Ads, despite its potential to reach high-value B2B audiences.
The goal was clear: acquire more high-quality leads while staying inside a certain CPL guardrail, in a highly competitive landscape where competitors were also ramping up their digital investments.
Objectives
To fully capitalize, UniFirst’s paid search strategy was guided by four key objectives:
- Scale high-quality lead volume without exceeding a specific CPL target.
- Improve campaign efficiency by segmenting and optimizing keyword themes based on performance.
- Maximize reach during periods of heightened user activity, especially on platforms where B2B audiences are more accessible.
- Targeted campaigns were executed to capture incremental market share & digital share of voice.
Strategy & Execution
Channel Focus: Google & Microsoft Ads
To fully capitalize, UniFirst’s paid search strategy was guided by four key objectives:
To effectively engage UniFirst’s B2B audience, the campaign strategy focused on Google and Microsoft Ads. Google Ads was positioned as the core performance driver, with tailored budget allocation across branded, non-branded, high-intent campaigns, and PMAX campaigns to capture intent at various stages of the decision journey.
Both Microsoft Ads and Google Ads played a strategically important role in the media mix. The team leveraged each platform’s strengths to effectively reach B2B decision-makers during key moments in their workday.
Key Strategic Levers
“We focused every optimization around business behavior: right platform, right time, right message.”
- Budget & Bid Optimization
Budget was redirected from lower performing verticals and moved to high-intent categories where lead quality and conversion rates were significantly higher.
- Ad Scheduling
Ad schedules aligned paid media with high-intent buyer activity on high-activity days, particularly boosting phone call conversions from branded and Performance Max campaigns.
- Search Query Analysis & Quality Score Improvements
Ongoing optimization efforts including keyword refinement and management improved ad relevance and performance, leading to higher quality scores, lower CPCs, and stronger engagement.
- Performance Max Campaigns
These campaigns were scaled to support both branded and non-branded queries. With strong creative performance and broader targeting, these campaigns helped drive record-low CPLs in the first quarter of 2025.
Tactical Campaign Execution
| Campaign Type | Key Actions |
|---|---|
| Branded (Google and Bing) | Budget and bid adjustments; strategic ad scheduling to maximize phone call volume |
| Non-Branded | Reallocation from low-performing sectors to high-intent sectors; better CTR & QS |
| Conquesting | Broadened competitive positioning to drive incremental lead volume. |
| Performance Max | Optimized for key-engagement windows; boosted phone leads and reduced CPL |
Results (Q1’25 vs Q1’24)
The paid search strategy displayed significant gains in both volume and efficiency, perfectly timed to UniFirst’s business requirement. By aligning audience behavior, channel strategy, and campaign structure, the team delivered measurable outcomes across every key performance metric.
| Metric* | Change |
|---|---|
| Paid Leads | ↑ 3.7X |
| Paid Traffic | ↑ 1.2X |
| CPL | ↓ 0.5X |
| Form Fills | ↑ 2.2X |
| Phone Calls | ↑ 5.1X |
*Data includes from Google ads and Microsoft ads
Despite a significant increase in investment, CPL dropped by more than half year-over-year, showing clear media efficiency. A significant improvement in lead rate validated the strategic focus on optimized campaign timing, audience intent, and structural refinements.
Client Impact
“iQuanti has been a valuable partner in our growth, bringing a data-driven and process-oriented approach that aligns closely with our business strategy. They serve as an extension of our team.”
“It’s a delight to work with iQuanti, and what truly stands out is their ability to execute quickly and adapt to our changing needs. Their data-driven support across strategy, reporting, and optimization consistently helps us deliver results.”
Why It Worked
The success of UniFirst’s paid search strategy came down to precise alignment of media execution with business timing and buyer behavior.
- Targeted scheduling captured B2B traffic during peak decision hours.
- Channel-specific strategies maximized returns from both Google and Microsoft Ads.
- Smart budget reallocation prioritized high-performing segments based on intent and conversion potential.
- Continuous keyword and query refinement improved relevance, ad quality, and conversion rates.
- Conquesting and Performance Max campaigns scaled efficiently, delivering more leads at lower CPLs.
By focusing on when, where, and how buyers search, the iQuanti team, guided by UniFirst’s strategic input, turned paid media into a growth lever at exactly the right time, powered by data, insight, and platform expertise.
