Helping people make better Google Ads decisions

You might find this useful if you’re responsible for training or mentoring others.

I advise a handful of agencies and in-house Google Ads teams.

Over time, I’ve noticed a recurring problem creep in. Some people start outsourcing their thinking to me. They throw proposed changes at me and expect a yes or no on the fly. Gradually, my role drifts from mentor to bad idea filter.

At first, I tried to give the right answers. I thought that was the job. I’ve since realised that this helps nobody.

• Without proper context or time to think, there’s a real chance my answer will be wrong.
• More importantly, the people I’m working with become dependent on me instead of developing judgment of their own.

Here’s how I address this now.

Rather than evaluating ideas for people, I teach them a way to evaluate ideas themselves.

Years ago, I started documenting larger Google Ads changes using a framework I borrowed from first-year chemistry at university.

I’ve since turned this into a standard approach. Before proposing any meaningful change, I ask my mentees to write down answers to a series of questions.

Here are the questions:

• Why are we doing this? What are we hoping to achieve?
• What is the potential upside in terms of ad performance?
• How does that upside translate into business value?
• What is the potential downside or risk to ad performance?
• How does that translate into business value?
• How much upside makes the trade-off worth it?
• How can we mitigate the downside risk?
• What exactly will be changed, and who will make the change?
• When will we check the results?
• What metrics will we use?
• What does success look like?
• What does failure look like?
• What early warning signs might indicate failure?
• How do we undo or kill this change if something goes wrong?

I still help evaluate ideas, but now we’re discussing a considered proposal rather than a raw suggestion. This shifts my role from filter back to mentor and helps people build judgment instead of dependency.

It does slow things down a little. I’m comfortable with that trade-off because the goal is growth, not speed.

If you’re responsible for training others, a framework like this might work for you.

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