Ohio

In 1948, Kenneth Bowman and Dennis Landes turned a small Ohio farm into Bowman and Landes Turkeys, a company dedicated to raising premium turkeys. Today, third-generation co-owner Andrew Bowman continues that legacy, blending traditional farming with modern innovations. “The turkeys that we raise are still free-range, with access to open air and sunshine. They're given no antibiotics and fed a vegetarian diet,” Andrew says. The farm grows their own row crops to sell as well as to provide feed and bedding for the turkeys, making them self-sufficient. In the 1980s, Bowman and Landes decided to diversify beyond their main Thanksgiving and Christmas sales, adding a meat plant to produce everything from sausages to deli meats which they sell online and at the farm. The company is committed to sustainability–50 percent of their energy comes from solar panels atop the turkey barns. “We like to be responsible stewards of the environment,” Andrew says.

Performance Max campaigns help Bowman and Landes reach new customers. “We use them mainly to drive retail sales to our seasonal turkey operations,” Andrew explains. “We set up the campaigns and let Google optimize them. Then we can customize and tweak them as needed.” Their Google Business Profile showcases store hours, directions, and photos, giving new customers a strong first impression with an average rating of 4.8 stars. “People come back here time and again because of customer service, and that's reflected in the reviews,” Andrew says. “A lot of people found us through Google, and we’ve been able to retain and grow those customers.” Retail sales have grown by 50 percent since 2020, and Bowman and Landes plans to expand their wholesale operations to supply even more restaurants and universities with high-quality, ethically sourced turkeys.

Travis Samson liked to shop local, but his Short North neighborhood in Columbus didn’t have many options for men’s clothing. He opened SAMSON Men’s Emporium in 2015 to fill the gap, and now the proudly LGBTQ+ owned shop, which sells menswear, accessories, grooming products, and barware, is an anchor in the area’s vibrant retail scene. It’s “a modern general store for the modern day gentleman,” Travis says. The store’s aesthetic and Travis’ personal style were inspired by both of his grandfathers–a dairy farmer who utilized practical clothes, and a furniture store retailer whose uniform was a suit. Travis describes it as “rugged English countryside.” He markets his haberdashery with Google products: “Why wouldn’t you take advantage of all these great free tools?” he asks. In a two-month period, SAMSON’s Google Business Profile was viewed 9,000 times, sent over 1,000 potential customers to the website, and provided directions to 300. “The photos, reviews, map, and business details get customers excited to visit,” he says. “And it helps all of Short North. They may discover me online, but then they spend in the neighborhood.”

Travis began running Google Ads in 2019. “Our traffic grew by leaps and bounds,” he says. “We’ve had over a million impressions–that's way more than we ever had with social media.” As a result, SAMSON’s revenue has averaged 15-percent growth annually since the shop opened. Says Travis, “These tools have kept customers walking through the doors.” Now he plans to expand his e-commerce website and launch a branded style and grooming tutorial series on YouTube. Nevertheless, meeting and serving his customers is what he loves the most. “The reason I have my shop is that I love the customer service part. I enjoy hearing people’s stories, finding out where they're from, and how we can assist with our products. Everyone walks out with a smile on their face.”

After a decade of tending bar, Kyle McElfresh’s frustration with substandard barware reached a tipping point. “Hospitality work isn’t always viewed as a legitimate profession,” Kyle says. “No one was making quality tools for this underappreciated workforce.” So, he and his Marine Corps buddy Marshall Sterling founded Crew Supply Co. in 2018. The Columbus-based company designs and produces professional-grade supplies that look good, work better, and are built for rugged daily use. Features like screw-off bottle bottoms for easy cleaning, and sturdy, color-coded pour spouts ease bartenders’ pain points every shift. Kyle, now Crew’s brand director, explains that the company develops products through their customers’ lens. From the start, Crew has used Google Analytics to find out which channels perform best with those customers and which of their Google Ads get results. They turn to Google Search Console to maintain their website and understand which search queries people are using.

In 2020, the Crew team expanded their focus on at-home mixologists, who had already begun to discover Crew’s quality barware for making craft cocktails, infused olive oils, and flavored syrups. “Google Analytics helps us understand how we’re getting discovered, how best to connect with customers, and how to adjust our marketing strategy,” Kyle says. Crew currently has a 60/40 split of industry/home customers. Web visits and sales–now in the U.S. and 27 other countries–have soared. But it’s not all about the products: A recent Pride campaign raised awareness about issues facing LGBTQ+ workers in the industry and educated business owners about why inclusion is good for business. For Kyle, rave reviews from his hospitality peers make it all worthwhile. “Developing a professional brand that solves some of their problems is really fulfilling,” he says. “It’s why we’re doing this.”

Blue Label Packaging Co.’s middle name should be “Pivot.” For over 50 years, the company has kept business going by adapting to changing times. Founded to print church envelopes, they soon expanded to printing envelopes for local businesses in Lancaster, Ohio, gaining a reputation for speed, precision, and outstanding customer service. But in the late 2000s, electronic communications began taking over, and the printing business went into decline. The 2009 downturn almost put Blue Label out of business. Andrew Boyd had just graduated college, and when his father asked for help he came up with a big idea, pointing to the rise of craft beer makers with their creative, colorful, and often quirky labels. “It was a completely new line of business—and we had no room for failure,” says Andrew. Blue Label leaned on Google products to pull off its latest pivot. They didn’t even have a traditional sales team. “Our marketing strategy? Use Google Ads to drive people to our website,” says Andrew, who says that Google Ads made up 75 percent of his marketing spend. And it worked. A decade later, the business was thriving, with 90 employees and 40-percent annual revenue growth. Customers were now global, from Mexican tequila makers to Scottish whiskey distilleries.

Then COVID-19 forced many restaurants and bars to close. Those that stayed open couldn’t sell tap beer, so they ordered more packaged beer. People also tended to drink more in quarantine. Blue Label’s business shot up. Andrew’s new challenge: keeping up with demand. “We scrambled to source materials, and ran operations 24/7,” says Andrew, who hired 30 new employees in six months. Through all this, Google kept working for Blue Label. Today, 85 percent of leads come through Google Ads. Google Analytics was recently used to complete a major content audit to see which keywords and content were relevant in today’s beer industry. “And Blue Label’s Google [Business] Profile is our preferred method for reviews and feedback,” says Andrew.