Paying for ads that don’t yield leads can be frustrating. You want your investment to count, and so does your paid search specialist—so your biggest question becomes, “Why am I not getting leads from Google Ads or one of my other platforms?”
While many variables could factor into a dry spell in paid ads, here are a few of the top reasons you may have fewer conversions than you hoped.
You’re Targeting the Wrong Audience or Platform
Audience matters. Imagine you are trying to sell a property in a 55+ community and you run an ad on TikTok. Considering users over 55 only make up about 14% of U.S. TikTok users, you’re probably not going to see a huge return on this spend.
Paid ads can help you be in the right place at the right time, but only if you actually know the right place. You need to properly research where your audience is, whether that’s a geographical location, Google page, or social media platform. Once you find where your audience spends the most time, you can tailor your ads to reach the perfect audience.
I’m Still Not Getting Leads From Google Ads or Bing Ads
Search campaigns on Google Ads or Bing Ads can be highly effective when executed correctly. But how can you ensure these campaigns deliver the desired results? Often, the key is to target individuals actively searching for your product.
For example, if you’re selling maternity dresses, you can use a search campaign to target the keyword “maternity dress” and other similar keywords so your ad will appear when someone searches that term. You can also target people within a certain location if your services are specific to a region.
LinkedIn, Meta, and Reddit are also great options if there’s a significant demographic overlap between the platform’s users and your audience. Getting your ads in front of the right audience is crucial to efficient ad spend and minimized waste.
Your Website or Landing Page Isn’t Optimized
Once you get qualified traffic (users within your audience) to your site or landing page, what do they see? Is the page easy to navigate if they have a question or a problem they want solved? If they’ve decided your services are a good fit, is it easy to contact you?
If your audience clicks on your ad only to find a website full of massive text blocks, lack of design, and no call to action, they are very unlikely to convert.
You want a potential buyer to make their way down the sales funnel quickly once they find you. That means learning about you and your product or service and buying it within the same browsing session. Think about how Amazon added a “Buy Now” button to every product page. This is a clear call to action—it encourages immediate action by simplifying the buying process.
Whether you want your audience to buy your product right off your website or contact you to discuss your service, your website should be optimized to encourage further action from the user. Web and SEO specialists are great resources to get your website primed for higher lead yield.
You’re Not Spending Enough
Paid ads are an investment. On average, you should start seeing leads around the third or fourth month or running ads—but your ad spend greatly impacts this timeline.
High Ad Spend Means Higher Amounts of Data
Lower ad spend in a competitive market means less data on what’s working and what’s not. For example, if your ad spend is $500 per month and your cost per click is $30, you’ll only get about 16 clicks in a month to learn from. On the other hand, a $1000 per month budget at the same cost per click would yield double the data. You don’t have to wonder why you’re not getting leads if you utilize data-driven decisions from a higher ad spend to optimize your ads.
You Need the Proper Budget to Invest in Paid Ads
One of the biggest pitfalls I see as a paid specialist is when a business is set on doing paid ads even when they lack the budget for it. If you aren’t able or willing to spend “learning money” to get the data you need, even though it offers lower immediate returns and higher long-term returns, paid ads probably aren’t a viable option for you.
Don’t Use Paid Ads to “Save” Your Business
In the same breath, do not stretch your company budget with the expectation that paid ads will keep your business afloat. I’ve managed many paid ad accounts for companies nationwide; ad platforms are not designed to rescue a business. If you’re not getting leads and your business is declining, it’s in your best interest to start with the right product, well-written content, and SEO before using paid ads to increase lead volume.
Your Product Isn’t Valuable or Unique
This may sound harsh, but as a business owner, it’s critical to take a step back and evaluate your product or service. Is it filling a need? Are you able to close sales once leads do come through?
The reality is that paid ads are no longer plug-and-play; visibility no longer equals leads. Google’s and social platforms’ goal is to show users exactly what they’re looking for, not just on the organic side but on the paid side. If your product isn’t valuable or unique, you’ll struggle to stand out from the competition and attract potential customers.
Your lead volume also depends on how well you set yourself apart from other businesses. There may be five other IT providers in your area, so who would your audience choose and why? To generate more leads, it’s critical to clearly define and advertise your differentiators.
You Don’t Have a Value Offering
Before you race to add “excellent customer service” or “30+ years of experience” to your landing page, does that really set you apart from other companies, or are they advertising the same thing? These aren’t bad claims, but they also aren’t unique enough to persuade someone that you’re better than your competitor.
Depending on the service you provide, it can often be difficult to convince users to take the leap. This is especially true if you offer a service with a high upfront cost, as these companies often struggle with not getting leads. Using micro leads can help you get your foot in the door and capture leads later on.
Consider offering zero contracts, a seasonal promotion, or a highly specialized service to convince a potential buyer to choose you. Offer something that no one else is offering, even if your main product or service isn’t a unicorn.
A good example of this is offering a downloadable piece of content. If you sell cybersecurity services, you can invest in a high-quality long-form content piece such as a “Complete Guide to Cybersecurity” which the user can download in exchange for their email. Content can give the user some value at no cost while benefiting you with leads.
Plus, with users’ emails, you can use retargeting ads that show the same interested users additional ad content to keep your company top of mind. And if the user finds your content helpful, they’ll be more likely to purchase services from you in the future.
You Aren’t Using a Specialist Like Lemonade Stand
Even with all of the above factors working in your favor, creating a successful ad campaign is often more of an art than a skill. You might still be asking, “Why am I not getting leads from Google Ads?”
At Lemonade Stand, our experienced paid ads specialists are well-versed across platforms and can identify technical issues that might be why you’re not getting leads. They can also tailor your ads to better align with your audience, help you determine valuable differentiators, and write ad copy designed to bring in leads.
Want to find out if paid ads are the right fit for your business? Get a free consultation with our experts at Lemonade Stand. We’ll take a deep dive into your business to get you the right marketing services for your needs.
