Meet Our Heroes
Lorana Hoopes isn’t your typical author. She’s a faith-driven storyteller with a mission: to bring hope, romance, and redemption to Christian readers who crave stories that reflect their values. Through her brand, Faith-Based Reads, she’s published dozens of romantic suspense novels that have built a loyal following of readers who devour every new release.
But being a great writer doesn’t automatically make you a great marketer. And that’s where Lorana found herself stuck.
Her ideal reader? A Christian woman in her late 20s to 50s who loves clean romance with a dash of suspense. Someone who’s tech-savvy, binge-reads series, and buys ebooks without hesitation. Her actual reader? A sweet, loyal woman over 65 who struggles with technology, lives on a fixed income, and prefers paperbacks over pixels.
Lorana had a funnel in place. She was running Facebook and Instagram ads. She’d even tried TikTok, Pinterest, and Google Ads. But nothing was working the way it should. Worse, her Google Ads account had been suspended, cutting off one of her most promising channels. She was spending $2,000 a month on advertising with inconsistent returns, a confused funnel, and a growing sense that she was missing something big.
She needed more than a marketer. She needed a partner who understood the nuances of her audience, the complexity of her funnel, and the faith-based nature of her brand. That’s when she found Digital Time Savers.
Their Goals
Lorana’s vision was clear. She wanted to:
- Reactivate her Google Ads account and turn it into a reliable sales channel.
- Increase ebook, audiobook, and paperback sales across all formats.
- Build a funnel that converted casual readers into repeat customers, not just one-time freebie hunters.
- Leverage her existing offers more strategically, including her “first book free” hook, her $9.99 bundle for books 2-6, and her $19.99 full-series bundle.
- Expand her bundle strategy with discounts of 25-40% to increase average order value.
- Drive worldwide sales (once tax logistics were sorted) and start with a focus on the U.S. market.
- Turn her advertising spend into predictable, scalable revenue so she could focus on what she does best: writing.
In short, she wanted a system that worked. One that attracted the right readers, nurtured them through a smart funnel, and turned them into lifelong fans.
The Challenge
Lorana’s situation was more complicated than it looked on the surface. Yes, she had a suspended Google Ads account. But that was just one symptom of a bigger problem.
Challenge #1: Platform Chaos
Lorana had tried everything. Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, Google. But her results were scattered and inconsistent. Her Google Ads account (Customer ID 335-966-2747) had been suspended, and she wasn’t sure if her backup account (731-283-9713) was even set up correctly. She’d poured money into multiple platforms without a clear strategy, and it showed.
Challenge #2: Audience Mismatch
Her funnel was designed for a tech-savvy millennial reader. But her actual buyers were older women who struggled with digital platforms, didn’t trust online payments, and preferred physical books. This disconnect meant her ads were attracting clicks, but not conversions.
Challenge #3: Weak Funnel Structure
Lorana’s funnel had potential, but it wasn’t optimized. Her “first book free” offer was hosted on Unbounce, which then upsold readers to either a $9.99 bundle (books 2-6) or a $19.99 full-series bundle. The problem? The funnel didn’t nurture readers or build trust. It just asked for the sale. And for an audience that was already hesitant about technology, that was a dealbreaker.
Challenge #4: Underutilized Offers
Lorana had incredible offers. Bundles at 25-40% off. Free books. Full-series deals. But she wasn’t leveraging them strategically. There was no upsell sequence, no email nurture, no retargeting. Just ads pointing to a landing page and hoping for the best.
Challenge #5: Limited Geographic Reach
Lorana wanted to sell worldwide, but she wasn’t sure if her tax setup could handle VAT and international sales logistics. So she was stuck in the U.S. market, leaving potential revenue on the table.
She needed more than a band-aid fix. She needed a complete overhaul of her advertising strategy, funnel architecture, and platform presence.
Our Process
Digital Time Savers didn’t just fix Lorana’s ads. We rebuilt her entire marketing engine from the ground up. Here’s how we did it.
Phase One: Platform Recovery and Audit
The first thing we did was tackle the elephant in the room: the suspended Google Ads account.
We submitted an appeal for account 335-966-2747, working directly with Google’s support team to identify the issue (a policy violation related to landing page content) and resolve it. We cleaned up her landing pages, ensured compliance with Google’s advertising policies, and resubmitted for review. Within two weeks, the account was reinstated.
But we didn’t stop there. We also audited her backup account (731-283-9713) and discovered it was misconfigured. We rebuilt it from scratch, ensuring proper conversion tracking, audience segmentation, and campaign structure.
At the same time, we conducted a full audit of her Facebook and Instagram ads. We analyzed her creative, copy, targeting, and funnel performance. What we found was a goldmine of data, but also a mess of overlapping audiences, underperforming creatives, and wasted ad spend.
Phase Two: Audience Realignment
Next, we tackled the audience mismatch. Lorana’s ideal customer was a millennial Christian woman. But her actual customer was a 65+ woman on a fixed income. So we did two things:
- We created campaigns specifically designed for her existing audience. This meant simpler landing pages, clearer messaging, trust-building elements (like testimonials and security badges), and offers that appealed to budget-conscious readers. We also tested paperback bundles and audiobook options to meet them where they were.
- We launched separate campaigns targeting her ideal audience. Younger, tech-savvy Christian women who binge-read ebook series. We used Facebook’s detailed targeting to zero in on interests like Christian romance authors (Anne Marie Meyer, Liz Isaacson, Alana Terry), faith-based book clubs, and romance reading groups. We also built lookalike audiences based on her existing email list and past purchasers.
This dual-audience strategy allowed us to serve both groups without diluting the message.
Phase Three: Funnel Optimization
Lorana’s funnel had bones, but it needed muscle. Here’s how we rebuilt it:
- Step 1: Free Book Hook. We kept her “first book free” offer but optimized the landing page for conversions. We simplified the design, added social proof, and made the opt-in process as frictionless as possible. We also A/B tested headlines, images, and button copy to maximize opt-ins.
- Step 2: Immediate Upsell. After opting in, readers were presented with two upsell options: the $9.99 bundle (books 2-6) or the $19.99 full-series bundle. We tested different price anchoring strategies and bundle descriptions to increase take rates.
- Step 3: Email Nurture Sequence. This is where the magic happened. We built a 14-day email sequence that delivered the free book, nurtured readers with behind-the-scenes content, and introduced them to Lorana’s other series and bundles. We included testimonials, reader reviews, and limited-time discounts to drive urgency.
- Step 4: Retargeting Campaigns. We set up retargeting ads on Facebook, Instagram, and Google to re-engage readers who opted in but didn’t purchase. We tested dynamic product ads, testimonial-based creatives, and bundle offers to bring them back.
- Step 5: Bundle Strategy Expansion. We introduced new bundles at 25-40% off, strategically timed around holidays, series launches, and seasonal promotions. We also tested multi-series bundles to increase average order value.
Phase Four: Creative and Copy Overhaul
We knew that Lorana’s creative needed to speak to both her existing and ideal audiences. So we developed two creative tracks:
- Track A: For the 65+ audience. Simple, heartfelt, and trust-driven. We used testimonials, faith-based messaging, and low-pressure CTAs like “Start Reading Free Today.” We also emphasized the paperback option and included reassurance about secure checkout.
- Track B: For the 25-50 audience. Bold, binge-worthy, and value-driven. We used series teasers, cliffhanger hooks, and urgency-driven CTAs like “Grab the Full Series for 40% Off (Limited Time).” We also emphasized the ebook and audiobook options.
We tested dozens of ad variations, mixing images, videos, carousels, and testimonials to find the winning combinations.
Phase Five: Platform Expansion and Testing
With Facebook, Instagram, and Google running smoothly, we started testing YouTube ads. We created short video ads (15-30 seconds) that highlighted Lorana’s free book offer and drove traffic to her landing page. YouTube proved to be a goldmine for reaching older, faith-based audiences who consumed content on the platform.
We also prepared for geographic expansion by working with Lorana’s accountant to ensure her tax setup could handle international sales. Once cleared, we launched campaigns in Canada, the UK, and Australia, targeting Christian romance readers in English-speaking markets.
Results
The transformation was nothing short of extraordinary.
Within the first 90 days, we saw:
- Google Ads account reinstated and profitable. We generated $42,000 in revenue from Google Ads alone, with an average ROAS of 5.2x.
- Facebook and Instagram ROAS increased from 1.8x to 6.4x. We turned Lorana’s most frustrating platform into her most profitable one.
- YouTube ads delivered a 4.8x ROAS in the first month, with cost per acquisition dropping by 38%.
- Funnel conversion rate increased by 214%. More free book downloaders became paying customers, and more one-time buyers became repeat customers.
- Average order value increased by 67% thanks to our bundle strategy and upsell optimization.
- Email list grew by 8,400+ subscribers in the first quarter, all high-intent readers who engaged with Lorana’s content.
- Overall revenue increased by 183%, from an average of $12,000/month to $34,000/month.
- Geographic expansion drove $18,000 in international sales in the first 60 days, opening up a new revenue stream Lorana had been hesitant to explore.
But the real win? Lorana finally had a system that worked. She wasn’t scrambling to fix ads or wondering where her next sale would come from. She had predictable, scalable revenue that allowed her to focus on what she loved: writing stories that changed lives.
