The data gap between advertising and sales

Why many RCICs don’t know if their Google Ads are profitable Google Ads can be a reliable source of new clients for Canadian immigration lawyers and consultants. The ads bring enquiries. But there is one question many firms can't answer: Are those leads actually turning into paying clients?

Why negative keywords are becoming less effective in Google Ads Adding negative keywords from the search terms report has always been part of diligent Google Ads management. But while it's still important, it's becoming less and less effective. Here's what's working for me today.

The invisible Google Ads problem: zero-second calls There is an invisible problem that could be draining your ad budget or causing you to miss sales. If you use a call tracking platform for call assets or landing page numbers, you might be at risk.

Why the phone rings but the workshop stays empty I spoke recently with my friend Liam Lezra, who knows more about marketing for auto repair shops than anyone I know. Our conversation turned to a problem he runs into often.

What’s the right bidding strategy for a brand new Google Ads account? Some say you should start by focusing on clicks to build up data, others say that you should use a conversion-based bidding strategy from day one. Here are the exact settings and performance data from a recent launch

You can't run profitable Google Ads if your pipes are leaking You can't run profitable Google Ads without working plumbing - the systems that carry data from the website, to the business and back to Google. The problem is that the plumbing is invisible.

Computer code rusts It decays when people change things without understanding how systems are connected. And this makes life very difficult for anyone managing Google Ads. You end up basing important decisions on distorted data.

The campaign looks good but the ads aren't profitable The root cause is a data-gap. Ad data lives in Google. Business data lives in the office. I’m stuck in the middle, with no way of combining the data in a way that supports better decisions. I think we can change that.

Spent $35,000 on Google Ads, made no sales Over the last few months they'd spent about $35,000 on Google Ads. They'd made no sales, but their ad manager kept telling them how well the ads were doing.

Ignore the AI hype. Watch the engineering. Discussions about the future of Google Ads usually start with what’s announced: new features, calling everything Max-this or AI-that. But often this is PR hype. I prefer to look at where Google continues to invest engineering effort over many years. It gives a clue to what the system will depend on in the future.

Banging your head against the right problems Google Ads always has problems, but they’re not all the same: Some problems are cheap, some are expensive.Some affect one click, some affect every click. Some problems are in our control, some are in Google’s control.

My lead count doesn't match my conversion count The lead count from Google in your CRM almost never matches the number of conversions in your ad account. Trying to reconcile the difference is a shortcut to madness. Here's why.

You can't afford to be sloppy anymore When I started with Google Ads in 2007, it was cheap. You could get away with a sloppy setup. That's not true today. Ads are expensive. You can't expect to be profitable if you haven't done everything in your power to get the setup right.

Google Ads conversion tracking for WhatsApp orders If you accept WhatsApp orders on your e-commerce site, you face two problems: knowing where the orders came from, and tracking them as Google Ads conversions.

Google Ads conversion tracking for WhatsApp bookings If you accept WhatsApp bookings on your site, you face two problems: knowing where the bookings came from, and tracking them as Google Ads conversions.

50% more leads… and still fired I delivered 50% more leads for a client—then got fired. Here’s why I won’t take responsibility for results without control of the landing pages.

Google Ads for long-decision-cycle industries

The Lead Response Problem I’ve Been Trying to Solve Since 2007 If you run ads or rely on online leads, this is for you. After years of testing, I’ve finally cracked a better way to turn leads into sales.

How to Evaluate a Google Ads Expert When You’re Not One Yourself This is for you if you're thinking of hiring someone to manage Google Ads for your business. The problem is simple: you’re hiring for something you don’t have the skills to evaluate.

Can Performance Max campaigns work for lead generation? Can Performance Max campaigns work for lead generation? In this article, I share how I tested PMax for a client whose search campaigns had reached their limits.

The One Follow-up Email Most Businesses Never Send We assume that we lose business to competitors. But, sometimes project might have been put on hold due to changed circumstances, not price. In those cases, a gentle nudge could win the business.

61 leads. 3 sales. What went wrong? One morning, just after sunrise, I was out in the water when I saw a pair of sharks between me and the beach. This morning wasn’t quite so dramatic. I had time to think between waves. I was replaying a conversation I’d had with a grumpy client.

How to Track Which Google Ads Bring Paying SAAS Users If you're running Google Ads for your SaaS, it's not enough to track free trial signups — you need to know which ads are actually bringing in paying users.

How Many WhatsApp Clicks Turn Into Leads? You can track clicks on the WhatsApp button as conversions in Google Ads but you can't track leads. This results in overcounting how many clicks turn into leads. Inflated conversion numbers lead to overvaluing advertising and other problems. Here is some data...

How Adding Pricing to Google Ads Headlines Increased B2B Lead Qualification by 27% B2B advertisers often waste money on B2C leads. The thinking was that adding the price to the ad would deter individuals without scaring off B2B buyers.

"We Tried That, and It Didn’t Work” – How to Overcome Resistance to Change One thing still amazes me: people pay for my advice - then ignore it completely. Sometimes they'll dismiss my suggestions without a second thought. Here's how I fix it.

Tracking Google Ads Without the Google Tag or Tag Manager Occasionally, I need to track Google Ads conversions without using the Google Tag or Google Tag Manager. Here’s a simple, non-technical explanation of how I do it.

Does broad match work for lead generation? A better question is When does broad match work for lead generation campaigns?

How I helped a client reduce their risk while scaling up a Google Ads campaign. Scaling up a successful Google Ads campaign by targeting new locations can risk your lead flow. Here's how I helped a client reduce this risk.

Quick Google Ads tip: If you're a service business, and you're showing up in the same auctions as Amazon and other e-commerce stores you've got something wrong with your ad targeting

3 thought-provoking questions I recently came across the work of user experience designer Pavel Samsonov. He shared three thought-provoking questions that really cut through the fluff.

Tracking WhatsApp leads as conversions in Google Ads. There’s currently no built-in way to track WhatsApp leads as conversions in Google Ads. I've fixed this.

"Help. I'm Getting Calls For Competitors From My Google Ads." You're paying Google because you want lots of high-quality leads, not because you want a bunch of wrong-number calls.

Can you improve B2B lead quality by blocking free email addresses? Some say blocking free email addresses from B2B enquiry forms improves lead quality. Here's why I disagree.

Creating an elevator pitch that makes people want to talk to you. I've always answered the question What do you do? with something like I'm a Google Ads guy. Daniel Priestly changed how I think about answering this question.

Why book-an-appointment conversions are so difficult with Google Ads Why wasn't this wedding photographer getting calendar bookings from Google Ads?

Some ideas for improving B2B Google Ads. B2B Google Ads usually faces one of 2 problems: very little traffic, or lots of traffic - but most of it B2C. Here are some ideas to improve B2B Google Ads campaigns.

How I stop Spanish job-seeker leads from Google Ads Most Spanish job-seeker spam comes from click fraud. Here's how I stop it.

Data from launching a brand new campaign using Target CPA bidding. Normally you wouldn't launch a new campaign using a conversion-based bid strategy. I did, here's what happened.

A new Google Ads campaign needs deep data, not wide data. 100 clicks on 100 adverts tells you nothing. 100 clicks on 1 advert and a picture starts to emerge.

How I track WhatsApp conversations as conversions in Google Ads At the time of writing Google has no way of tracking WhatsApp leads as conversions. I've used a couple of work arounds to solve this.

Most Google Ads advice is wrong for small businesses A small account needs a different setup and different management. You see, something that improves a $50 000 a month account might tank a $500 a month account.

Why you might want to pay Google to show an ad when someone searches for your business. It can sometimes be useful to pay Google to show your advert when someone searches for your business by name. Here's why and how...

Modernising a Legacy Google Ads Account Without Breaking It A successful restructure leaves the account easier to understand, easier to optimise and better positioned for the future. Understanding why the account looks like it does is key to getting from sticky mess to well-oiled machine.

How I reduce wrong-business leads from Google Ads This is for you if you advertise on Google Ads and get leads who think they're contacting a different business. They call or fill in a form looking for someone else.

How I improve lead quality by telling Google which leads are good. By default Google Ads believes every lead is good. But that's not true. You can give Google feedback on lead quality and use that feedback to get better leads.

Can you double your Google Ads leads by setting up a second website?

How's your Chinese? Google shows English adverts to people who searched in Chinese even though the campaign language is set to English. Here's how you can stop this and why you might want to.

Should you run Google Ads 24/7 or only during working hours?

Is it safe to use broad match keywords for lead generation campaigns? Google is pushing broad match hard and, some people are reporting good results. But, is it actually best practice now? Or are broad match keywords a waste of money?

Should I split a massive multi-country Google Ads account into separate accounts? At first glance it seems like splitting a big account into smaller accounts will make it easier to manage. But, there are downsides and, there are ways to make big accounts easier to manage.

Why we lost sales. Losing potential sales always hurts. But, if you know why you lost the sale you can make changes that'll help you win more sales down the line.

"Forget about reducing the CPC" In money terms my client paid Google about $1 400 per client he contracted with. He could live with spending $500 per new client. Here's how we're going to hit that target.

Why did Google charge me $300 for a $20 click? Every now and again Google would charge an outrageous amount for one click. As much as 15 to 20 times what they normally paid. Here's how to prevent that.

An easier way to sell services. Bigger value projects take a lot of work to sell. You have to have the discovery calls, meeting notes, customised proposals and quotes. And, you often need several follow-up meetings. There is another way.

Why I don't just delete fake leads from my inbox If the only thing you do with fake leads from Google Ads is delete the lead delivery email you risk getting swamped by fake leads. Here's why and what to do to improve lead quality.

Leads ghosting you? A business owner complained that his leads were ghosting (ignoring) him after initially showing interest. As we worked together we uncovered a mismatch between lead temperature and his response.

60 leads a week and no sales Their first instinct was to change the adverts. It sort of makes sense. Adverts aren’t producing sales so the adverts must be broken. Fix the adverts and you'll get more sales. But, they could change their ads, spend a load more money and get no sales. This is because the adverts might not be the real problem

Getting a lot of junk leads from Google Ads? You can spot conversion fraud because the leads have genuine email addresses and phone numbers but when you call them they don't remember filling in your form.

About 25% of online leads are lost before they speak to a sales person. Losing 1 in 4 of possible sales before the process even starts is a huge waste. It's also a huge opportunity...

A warning about Google Local Service Ads for doctors, lawyers and other professionals I investigated using Google Local Service Ads for a law firm client. Turns out that there are some privacy issues which were of concern. They may be of concern to you too.

The one number you must know if you're going to use Google Ads to generate leads. How much can you pay for a lead and still be profitable? It is obvious, and it should be advertising 101, but I've lost count of the number of people paying Google who don't know the number.

Ever get to Friday and feel like you’ve accomplished nothing? That's been me for many months. I’ve been busy but not productive. I've felt burned out, tired and bored. This all changed after I implemented time blocking.

How do you get value from "low quality" Google Ads leads? One kind of "low quality" Google Ads lead is a genuine enquiry for something adjacent to what you offer. Here's how I helped one client make sales to them.

Do I really need 7 websites? Two groups of people visit your website: people who know what you sell and strangers who don't know you but want what you sell. One website can't serve both groups effectively.

Does PPC work for accountants? The short answer is “Yes, but only sometimes”. Google suggests that AdWords will work for any business but this is not true in real life.

Google Ads for industries with long sales cycles A client installs billboard size video screens. Here's how we used AdWords to get him in front of the decision makers early enough.

How do you test a business idea? You don’t want to invest time and money on a business idea unless you’re sure that it’ll get traction. Read on to learn how to use Google Ads to test an idea before committing to it.

How much is a Facebook like worth? I've just run a quick calculation and can confidently say that a Facebook like is worth $0.007. Let me explain

How to turn leads into sales. Two businesses in the same industry. One converts 5% of website leads into sales. The other converts 60%. Read on to find out why.

How we turned no-shows into $185 150 worth of new business every month No-shows cost my client $283 328 a month. Here’s how we turned them into $185 150 worth of new business every month - without spending more on Google Ads.

I can’t get to the decision maker. "I‘ve got a great product but I can’t get to the decision maker." That’s a problem we smaller business owners face a lot. Can I tell you about how a former client of mine got the decision makers to come to her?

Is AdWords scaleable? There are a finite number of people who want what you sell, can afford what you sell and are in an area you can reach. Some portion of those people will use Google. That number is the upper limit of AdWords scaleability.

Is AdWords worth it? "Is Google Ads really worth it? I have found that through tracking my CPC, I am not having that much success." was asked on Quora. My answer saved below.

Make more sales from PPC leads by understanding why people enquire. Understanding why people buy is key to making more sales. Here's how you can get started right away.

Marketing Lessons from a Chimney Sweep There was nothing special about his customer-finding system. But, his customer-keeping system was the best I've ever seen for a small business.

Nobody is buying! Can’t you write better ads? Nobody is buying! Can’t you write better ads? That's the last thing you want to hear in a meeting with a new client...

Selling to strangers is different Ask 100 small business owners how they find customers and 99 of us will say "word-of-mouth". What we won't tell you is that our word-of-mouth marketing is not well tuned engine that spits out a steady stream of great prospects. They arrive by luck or magic.

Should I use my competitors' names as keywords in Google Ads? Should I use my competitors' names as keywords in Google Ads? The answer is, it depends. Read on to find out how to make the right decision for your business.

The cost of zero. Every small business owner needs to understand the cost of zero before they next invest in marketing. It does not matter what medium it is: Google Ads, Facebook, LinkedIn, magazines, radio, or anything else. The reason these campaigns fail so often is never as obvious as you might think.

Things you should never advertise on Google. Making money advertising identical branded goods on Google is really hard.

Which are the specifically right targets for a small paper pallet company? This question was asked on Quora. Saving my answer here.

Will Google Ads work? Thinking about advertising on Google? There are thousands of people who've used Google Ads and never made a sale. You don't have to be one of them. Read on to learn how.

Zombie Hunting Wednesday 3pm. You in? We’ve all got zombie leads. These are people we’ve quoted who haven't said yes. They haven’t said no either. Instead they’re ignoring us - our emails go unanswered and they’re always too busy to talk.

"I have no idea if his recommendations will increase my conversions..." A friend is trying to hire someone to manage her Google Ads. She's worried that they'll cost more than they bring in. Or, worse, they'll kill the flow of leads her business depends on. Here's how to reduce that risk.

How do I know which of my leads came from Google Ads? Here's the problem... Conversion tracking or analytics can tell you how many leads you got, but not who they are. Read on to see how to fix this.

A love letter to statistics This is for you if you’re interested in making data-driven decisions about your Google Ads. Amy Hebdon, founder at Paid Search Magic, wrote a fantastic article she described a love letter disguised as a how to about PPC data interpretation.

Allocating budget How do you know the best way to split your ad budget between search and display, between Facebook and Google, between one keyword and another?

Does Google rip advertisers off? I'm not saying that everyone who's paid for Google ads has turned a profit. That's definitely not the case. But, when people lose money on Google ads its likely to be because Google Ads was a poor fit for their business, or because of the way they did Google Ads. I can't see Google risking their future to steal your advertising budget

Don’t believe every recommendation from Google. The optimisation score is Google’s newest way of telling you how to run your Google Ads account. Read on to see how following it blindly can hurt your business.

Don't believe my writing I'm not trying to bamboozle you, it's just that my - and everyone else's - writing isn't always right for your circumstances. Read on to find out more...

Google showed your ads to the wrong people today. Google showed your some of your adverts to the wrong people today. You (or someone you hire) must deal with this or your ads are going to start costing more and generating fewer leads. Here's how.

Has Google jumped the gun on mobile? How much commercial activity happens on mobile phones? Is it enough to justify a mobile-first approach to development? Case study with mobile vs desktop AdWords generated leads across 7 industries.

How do you get more leads from Google Ads when you’ve maxed out impression share? How do you get more leads from Google Ads when you’ve maxed out impression share? Here's how we solved this problem...

How to get fast traction on a brand new Google Ads campaign. I worked out a process for getting fast results from new AdWords campaigns so I didn't have to worry as much. You're welcome to copy (and improve) my process.

I’m getting too many B2C leads. I want only B2B. I’ve bumped into this problem with almost every client who sells to other businesses (B2B) not to consumers (B2C). Here are some options ..

I'm scared I'll break my campaign If you don't feel confident making changes to Google Ads campaigns this might help...

Improve conversion rates by adding extra calls to action. Need to improve your conversion rate? Here's a tested approach that takes only a few minutes.

Putting a little science into AdWords In the past I relied on a combination of the change history in AdWords, some rough notes and my memory to keep track of my testing. It worked but it wasn't great. It became more difficult as my business grew. I started to feel like I was losing control. I couldn't answer questions about an account without having to root around in Google docs, AdWords and email. Read on to see how I fixed this.

Should you advertise on Search Partners? We check the campaigns we manage regularly to see how much it costs to generate an enquiry on Google search versus search partners. Most of the time it costs more or less the same. Sometimes the difference is huge.

Should you show ads to people on their phones? It is a fact that more people use the internet on their phones than they do on computers these days. But are these glued-to-their-phone types going to buy from you?

The hidden trade-offs of automated bidding I like automated bidding. But, there are some trade offs with automated bidding that are not well documented.

Using the Search Terms Report to find negative keywords. The Search Terms Report is a great place to find negative keywords to add to your AdWords campaign. It shows (some of) the actual words and phrases that triggered your ads.

You don't have enough data to be confident that you're making the right decisions. Here are 3 rules of thumb I use to to help me make more of the right decisions when data is scarce.