Harborview case study
From paying for its own name to a private events engine.
The account we inherited was spending most of its budget advertising the restaurant's own name to people already searching for it. That budget now works the demand that was going unanswered: private events and catering.
The numbers at a glance
Proof box.
Published July 22, 2026. Updated July 22, 2026.
| Client type | Waterfront restaurant and bar, Embarcadero, San Francisco |
|---|---|
| Objective | Stop paying for branded demand; build a private event inquiry pipeline |
| Channels | Google Search, Google Business Profile, Maps |
| Measurement period | 2024 baseline vs 2025 to 2026 operation; profile figures May 2026 year over year |
| Primary outcome | 5 to 12 private event inquiries per month, about $5,000 average event value |
| Pipeline | $14,000 to $22,000 in monthly booked-event pipeline at roughly 40% close |
| Budget context | A single booked event covers the monthly investment |
| Attribution status | Inquiries tracked to form submissions; event values and close rates from the venue's own booking records; estimates labeled |
Starting condition
In one 2024 month the account bought more than 735 clicks on the restaurant's own name for under a dollar each. Those guests were already coming. Brand clicks were driven to roughly zero by late 2025 and the budget reassigned to demand the restaurant was not capturing.
The work
Private event and catering campaigns built around the venue's real capacity, paired with the Google profile run as an active surface. Holiday windows get their own attention: Maps views in the seasonal window rose 70% year over year.
Deliberately excluded: continued spend on branded terms, and inflated pipeline math. Close rates and event values come from the venue's own records, not from industry averages.
Methodology and limits
Inquiries are counted at form submission and cross-checked with the venue's event platform. Pipeline multiplies inquiries by the venue's observed average event value and close rate; it is a forecast, not booked revenue, and is labeled that way. Paid campaigns are one source of the venue's total event inquiries, not all of them.
Results
What the spend produced.
"Right people, right message, right time."Karen Wong, Owner, Harborview Restaurant & Bar