How Workwise Used Google Ads to Hit 90% Occupancy in Under a Year
Our case studies showcase how coworking space operators around the globe use industry-specific Google Ads strategies to fill their locations, generate revenue, and create waitlists.
Meet Eric Hinkle: The Serial Entrepreneur Who Acquired a 35-Year-Old Executive Suite and Rebuilt It From the Ground Up
After a career that included building companies, selling them, and eventually retiring from corporate, Eric Hinkle decided he wasn’t done working.
“I’ve started a couple of companies on my own, sold them, and enjoyed that at the time,” Eric says. “I went to work in the corporate world, retired from that, and decided I was not done working, but didn’t have the energy to do a startup on my own.”
So, he bought Workwise, a flexible workspace in Glen Allen, Virginia, instead.
The company’s original founder had owned the business for 35 years and was ready to step away.
Eric acquired it, upgraded the space, and set about learning an industry he’d never operated in.
Through Jamie Russo at Everything Coworking, he got up to speed on the flex office world quickly, and it was through that same connection that he found Spacefully.
Private Offices in a Suburban Market: Why Standard Coworking Marketing Doesn’t Apply
Workwise is built around private offices, five meeting rooms, virtual memberships, and a newer part-time office product for clients who want privacy on a flexible schedule.
The business’s member profile is equally specific: professionals and small businesses that need a dedicated, private environment to run their work, not a shared floor plan.
That specificity shapes the entire Workwise marketing strategy.
Keyword selection, ad copy, and targeting all have to reflect a fundamentally different kind of search behavior than what drives coworking inquiries.
Why Some Marketing Channels Didn’t Work for the Unique Marketing Needs of Workwise (But Google Ads Did)
When Eric took over Workwise in February 2023, the space sat at 69% occupancy. The previous operator had been running Google Ads through a local generalist agency, and the campaigns were underperforming.
Eric moved fast.
“When I bought the business, they were working with a different digital agency,” he says. “Their Google Ads were not performing at all, so I moved on from them pretty quickly.”
Eric also tested a number of other marketing platforms as he worked to fill offices at Workwise.
CoStar and LoopNet both got a fair shot.
“With CoStar and LoopNet, we filled maybe one or two offices in total,” Eric says. “I tried their gold package, stepped it down to the silver package, and finally threw in the towel.”
Social media followed the same trajectory, garnering clicks without meaningful conversion.
On the social media front, the root issue wasn’t budget, but intent.
People scrolling social media aren’t necessarily shopping for office space. On the other hand, people clicking a Google search ad almost always are.
“The biggest difference, comparing Google Ads to the social media strategy we tried, is that people who click on a Google ad are somewhat serious about looking,” Eric says. “People coming through social are much further from a decision.”
So, he decided to invest more heavily in Google Ads, with the caveat of working with a coworking-specific agency.
Why Switching to a Coworking-Focused Agency Supercharged Google Ads Performance
When Eric moved on from his old agency, he wanted a partner who already understood the nuances of the flex office industry.
“The agency I inherited was a local firm, and probably a good firm for some businesses,” Eric says. “But it was pretty clear to me that they didn’t understand the coworking business. As soon as I started talking to Reuben at Spacefully, it was very clear from day one that he knew our industry.”
He adds, “He knew both the industry and the technical side of Google Ads.”
For an operator running a niche product in a suburban market, working with someone who already understands the flex office industry changes the quality of every subsequent strategic decision.
There’s no time spent explaining what a private office is, who rents one, or why the search behavior is different from a coworking inquiry. That knowledge comes built in.
The Targeting Shift That Produced a 21-Point Occupancy Jump in 7 Months
Within 7 months of engaging us, Workwise climbed from 69% occupancy to over 90%. The growth didn’t come from a bigger budget or more platforms. It came from more precise targeting.
“There was definitely a change in targeting,” Eric says. “In the simplest terms, that’s primarily what drove it. The details of how we changed it are where it gets more complicated.”
One tactic stood out above the rest.
“We targeted people who are visiting our competitors, and that has been converting far better than anything we’ve done before,” Eric says. “Alongside that shift, Spacefully added keywords that were producing results and suppressed the ones that weren’t, tightening the campaigns until the ad spend was consistently reaching people most likely to book a tour.”
Eric adds, “Spacefully also created a dedicated landing page for our Google Ads, which helped improve our results.”
The lead quality reflected the change: prospects arriving through Google were already searching for office space in the area, with intent that existed before they ever saw an ad.
What Happened When Eric Turned His Google Ads Off for Six Months
As Workwise approached full capacity, Eric had a reasonable question:
Were the Google Ads actually responsible for the website leads, or was something else driving the traffic?
He ran the experiment himself.
“We started getting pretty close to full occupancy, so I turned off my Google Ads for six months,” Eric says. “We had talked about attribution through the website. I thought it was because of Google Ads, but I wasn’t sure.”
The answer arrived quickly.
“As soon as I turned off the Google Ads, our website leads started drying up too,” he says. “That confirmed what I thought. I restarted them and haven’t looked back. We’ll never turn them off again.”
Most operators treat Google Ads like a faucet: on when there are vacancies, off when the space fills.
That approach quietly drains the pipeline momentum they’ve spent months building.
For Workwise, the campaigns haven’t gone dark since Eric restarted them. Spend adjusts based on inventory and demand, but the system stays live.
Managing Demand When the Space Is Nearly Full
With only two private offices remaining, we adjusted the Workwise strategy to reflect what’s actually available to sell:
Ad spend was scaled back to match current inventory, and attention was shifted toward converting a segment that had previously been harder to capture.
“We get a lot of low-end leads,” Eric says. “But we’ve been able to convert enough of them to make it worthwhile. Instead of just a mail plan, we might be able to convert them into a part-time office.”
The part-time product offers Workwise a compelling option for prospects who want a private space without a full monthly commitment, turning a previously untapped segment into recurring revenue.
The two remaining private offices are being held with intention.
“Because of the Google Ads, we only have two empty offices,” Eric says. “We’re holding out for the best of the best to fill those last two. We have a good problem right now.”
That’s not passive waiting. It’s a position built on a pipeline that keeps producing qualified leads, which means Workwise can afford to be selective.
Why Google Ads Are Only One Part of What’s Working
Google Ads bring the right people to the door. The product and the follow-up process are what close them.
Eric invested in the physical renovation before scaling up the marketing, because leads that arrive at a space that doesn’t hold up leave without converting.
“We invested quite a bit into the product itself,” he says. “We created something that has a little bit of the flavor of a traditional coworking space, but we didn’t go too far in that direction.”
On the follow-up side, Workwise runs a structured sequence: an initial phone call, followed by a cadence of emails.
“If they’re not responding after the first three emails, they’re probably not going to,” Eric says. “Our CRM tracks the entire process, ensuring no qualified inquiry gets dropped, and no budget goes toward someone who was never going to move forward.”
Workwise’s competitive environment reinforced the approach as well.
When a regional leading flex office brand opened a new location one mile from Workwise, the response was measured rather than reactive.
“We were about 90% occupied when they opened, and we’ve gone up close to 100% since then,” Eric says. “We leaned into our positioning and how we’re different. There’s plenty of business out there for all of us.”
Eric’s Advice for Operators Looking to Fill Their Spaces Faster
For anyone who’s buying or opening a coworking space, Eric’s advice is grounded in what actually worked at Workwise, not what sounds good in theory.
Get the product right before the ads go live.
Leads that arrive at a dated or misaligned space won’t convert, and no targeting strategy compensates for a product that doesn’t deliver. The renovation at Workwise came first, followed by the campaigns.
He also advises that you build a follow-up system before you need one.
“If you’re going to get that many leads, you have to have some way of keeping track and making sure you’re following up,” Eric says. “Most people are not going to respond to you on the first contact. Without a CRM and a defined cadence in place, paid leads go to waste.”
Last but not least, he believes you should work with people who already know your industry.
The efficiency of every conversation changes when the agency doesn’t need to be educated on what you sell and who buys it. Eric didn’t have to explain the private office model to Spacefully. That knowledge was already there.
Ready to fill your coworking space, generate more revenue, and create a waiting list so you’re never scrambling to fill vacancies? Spacefully can help. Book a free introductory call to learn how Google Ads can bring new members into your space starting today.
