In this episode of Marketing, Properly!, Sean Makin tackles a question many business owners and Managing Directors eventually ask: Are we spending too much on Google Ads?
“We’re spending quite a lot on Google Ads.”
How much?
“About £8,000 a month.”
And is it working?
“We think so.”
Ah.
The answer might be yes.
But you could also be spending too little.
Because the important question isn’t how much you’re spending. It’s whether you’re spending the right amount, and whether anyone can clearly explain the commercial return you’re getting from it.
Google Ads can be extremely effective. It can put your business in front of potential customers at precisely the moment they’re looking for what you sell.
But clicks aren’t customers. Impressions aren’t revenue. And a cheap lead isn’t necessarily a good lead.
We look at why businesses need to follow leads beyond Google and into the sales pipeline, connecting campaigns with qualified opportunities, customers, revenue and ultimately profitability.
There’s also the awkward question of whether Google Ads is genuinely creating demand or simply taking credit for customers who were already searching for your business.
Then there’s the website.
Because you can target the perfect audience, choose the right keywords and write an excellent advert, only to spend money sending people to a confusing website that immediately makes them wonder whether they’ve come to the right place.
Increasing your advertising budget doesn’t fix a broken customer journey.
It just sends more people through it.
We also explore how Google Ads can gradually become a habit. The campaign runs. The agency manages it. Leads arrive. The invoice gets paid. Another month begins.
Eventually nobody asks: “If we had this entire budget back today, would we invest all of it in Google Ads again?”
Perhaps you would.
If £15,000 of advertising is reliably generating £120,000 in profitable new business, the size of the budget isn’t necessarily the problem.
The objective isn’t simply to spend less. It’s to waste less.
So before dramatically increasing your Google Ads budget, or slashing it because the monthly invoice looks frightening, ask: “What commercial result are we actually getting from this?”
If nobody can answer, start there.
Because the most dangerous marketing spend isn’t necessarily the expensive stuff.
It’s the spending nobody can properly explain.
Marketing, Properly! – practical marketing thinking for business owners and Managing Directors who want clearer strategy, better decisions and marketing investment that actually makes commercial sense.
Produced in Scotland.
