Google Ads is a powerful channel, but sometimes the biggest levers for growth are outside our control. This article is about stepping out of the safe zone and kicking some backside to get things moving, both for our clients and for our own sanity.
We’ve all been there, optimising a client’s account, analysing data and labouring on strategies and tweaks, hoping to get those graphs climbing. But their website sucks, their messaging isn’t clear, tracking’s dodgy, and their competitors are selling similar products for 25% less. Good luck! Our job isn’t always easy. If only we could have our way and get those issues fixed, our campaigns would rock and our clients would give us the love and appreciation we deserve.
Google Ads is a powerful channel, but sometimes the biggest levers for growth are outside our control. They could be in the hands of clients, web developers, designers, copywriters and other stakeholders or suppliers.
This article is about stepping out of the safe zone and kicking some backside to get things moving, for our clients and for our own sanity.
Speaking of sanity, my approach has its pros and cons. I’ll aim to be transparent and share both sides so you can take what you want, or learn from my mistakes.
Why bother moving a mountain?
As a PPC’er you’re often stuck between a rock and a hard place. You work the ads machine (Google or Meta), constantly battling changes, trying your best to make the right choices and get those conversions rolling in.
But beyond Google Ads, you’re dependent on what you’re given with limited authority and control.
But when you run ads for years, you develop a ‘spidey sense’ for optimisation. It’s because the job is so tightly tied to measured performance and involves analytics, messaging, some elements of conversion rate optimization and so much more.
You also get that rare glimpse into what your client’s customers are typing into Google. You get to know what makes them tick, what they’re asking when they research and before they purchase. It’s almost creepy at times.
On top of all that, there’s client money and the stakes are high. So the pressure’s on you have to make it work.
But your work, as good as it is, is part of a larger system or chain. The weakest links in that chain can derail your efforts, and a strong system can propel your ads to become a money-generating machine.
What you need to change
Here’s a non-exhaustive list of external elements that typically affect PPC performance. Ideally, they all need to be of a high standard and work harmoniously like a well-oiled machine.
- Website
- UX
- Load speed
- Clear message
- Benefits
- Social proof
- General design
- User journey
- Enticing calls to action
- Products
- Price
- Photos
- Videos
- Descriptions
- Landing pages
- Clear benefits?
- Demand
- Services
- Are they easy to understand?
- Is there search volume and demand?
- Tracking and technical (sometimes within your control)
- Can you track conversions accurately?
- Is the user journey broken, leading to many ‘direct’ conversions?
This list doesn’t cover everything, but it gives the most common opportunities I come across.
Why you?
With great power comes some responsibility
Officially, you’re not responsible for anything outside your ad platform. There are probably a bunch of people who are each responsible for a piece of the puzzle, but no one can understand and coordinate it all.
In some cases, there’s a person in the client’s team that oversees all of it. But more often than not, it’s a bunch of suppliers who don’t talk to each other, doing work that your client doesn’t fully understand.
So why should you care? It’s not what you’re paid for, it’s not part of Google Ads, it’s someone else’s problem.
It doesn’t really matter whose job it is, if your campaigns are suffering, you’ll feel the pain. They hired you to run ads, but you’ve been gifted with a vision and understanding and the ads’ success depends on it.
In some cases, you’re the only person who can see the full picture and understands what needs to change and how impactful it would be. You are the Chosen One! It’s a blessing and a curse.
The barriers to affecting change
Different viewpoints
The people you need to act won’t always see things like you do.
For example: For you, a 0.5% improvement in conversion rates means the world but many people just don’t get it. Sure, they understand the maths but they don’t ‘feel’ it like you do. They don’t connect the dots.
Also, they might have different concerns. You might be pushing for a clear explanation while they might be glued to lofty brand guidelines.
Others shut down when things get analytical. Have you ever seen a client’s eyes glaze when you explain some data?
Everybody’s busy
You’re reaching out to people who already have a lot on their plate. Their schedules are packed and you’re asking them to take on more. Egos are often involved which doesn’t help.
To affect change you need to gain attention, time, budget and decision-making, often associated with risk.
Logic isn’t your friend
We work with data and base our decisions on numbers and what we regard as solid proof. But humans are an odd bunch. We act on emotional triggers. The most unexpected forces of resistance can come up and making sense doesn’t always make sense.
Communicating change
The key to getting things done in a wider team of clients and suppliers is in communication.
Focus on the bottom line and paint the picture
When you’re coming to present and persuade, it might make sense to arm yourself with data. But unless you’re dealing with the head of data science, focus and edit down to the most meaningful figures. The bottom line. The money in the bank.
Talking about conversions, leads, clicks, impressions, campaigns or keywords all means very little to an outsider to the world of PPC.
Try to be bold and clear. EG: “You can be making £153,000 more in revenue next month if we do this”.
Also, people don’t always have the imagination to connect the dots. Spell it out for them, showcase the scenario. Don’t be afraid to project ahead. If your prediction of £153,000 only turns out to be £63,000 your client will still be happy with the extra revenue. Of course, you can’t promise any result, but you can present the potential and possibilities.
Improvement is bad
No, it’s not! But surprisingly, trying to explain that something needs to improve can trigger resistance.
Improving means that there’s something wrong, that something isn’t good enough. Nobody wants to admit this. It causes friction, denial and delay.
If you present your change as an opportunity, you stand a better chance of rallying support. An opportunity for further growth doesn’t offend those who probably worked really hard to get to the current situation. It suggests building on existing strengths rather than fixing problems.
Fear of missing out
Fear can be an even more powerful motivator than wanting to improve. Fear evokes pain and some form of pain is usually the trigger for change.
Don’t believe me? Just think how many processes sped up during lockdown causing a leap that would have otherwise taken years to reach the mainstream. Think online meetings, remote work and online shopping. The tech was there with plenty of case studies to support it, but unfortunately, it often takes fear to push us into action.
Fear of being left behind, fear of missing out on what others are already cashing in on and fear of missing a chance. Looking at competitors can trigger the urge to act in almost any business owner. How many times has a client emailed because their competitor’s ads are showing above theirs?
Seeing other businesses implement who’ve already taken action is also a strong social signal. We’re wired to copy the herd—safety in numbers. After all, if other businesses are doing it, there’s probably a good reason, right?
Of course this isn’t always true, and copying isn’t necessarily the path to success. But it can help drive your points home and get you the needed emotional triggers to green light your request.
Showcase competitors, indirect competitors or brands your client looks up to. Fear can also work hand in hand with opportunity. You can highlight the positive effects of the opportunity together with the negative effects of not acting on it.
Positive vibes – Being nice is free
Whenever I email developers, I make an effort to be super nice (hey, I’m usually nice so it’s easy). I know developers are busy and won’t respond to all requests, so I try to get in their good books.
I follow up and send polite reminders and try to highlight the importance of what they’re doing.
If things don’t move, I’ll ask clients to get involved.
Persistence and tenacity
It’s rare that things move after the first email. Schedule follow-up dates and be ready for the long haul. You might want to bookmark important conversations or keep them in a separate folder for quick reference in the future.
It usually takes several months and multiple emails to get changes across the line.
Do it yourself
In some cases, you might know enough to implement the changes yourself, but you don’t have the access to do it. I like to get proactive. If it’s a website change, I’ll use developer tools to manipulate the client’s site so that they can see the change for themselves.
I’ll also use Photoshop for mockups and write suggested content. It’s usually more powerful to show the change than to explain it.
Position yourself from the get-go
If you’re seeing these issues before you take the client on, position yourself as someone who understands this and offers some level of consultancy on fixing it. I’m going to be controversial and say that the more you charge, the more likely it is that clients will listen to you, but it’s also about what role you want to play and how you want to be perceived.
True story, don’t try this at home
A few years ago, I was working in-house, part-time for a company. I was in charge of PPC and SEO. Essentially, website leads were my responsibility. Our web hosting was horrifically slow. I knew this affected organic rankings and conversion rates. Site speed reports always mentioned the long server response time and I had a better host to move to. I booked a meeting with company heads.
During our meeting, I explained the issue and offered an alternative that was actually cheaper. It was a classic win-win, and I didn’t foresee any problems with getting my request approved.
Of course, life rarely goes as planned and one of the founders objected to moving hosts. I tried to reason, to explain and talk logically, but there was no chance. I was given a no, which I knew meant poor results and little hope of growth.
I resented my bosses, their answer made no sense. I’ve been freelance most of my life and taking meaningless orders was something that I wasn’t used to. So without them knowing, I went ahead and bought a hosting package.
I waited for the weekend which had lower traffic and late at night that Friday I pointed their nameservers to the new host. I gulped and prayed for a seamless transition with no unexpected crashes. All was fine.
The following weeks went by and nobody knew. Organic traffic was growing and leads from both channels became frequent. My bet had paid off.
In our next monthly meeting, I didn’t say a thing, but when one of my bosses said that leads were good, I told him what I’d done. They never really mentioned it.
I’m not promoting this kind of risk, but it worked for me at the time. I think it’s OK to be a bit bold and cheeky if the cause is good and there’s not much downside. In this case, I could have always switched back and no one would have known.
The pros and cons of this approach
There are many pros but also some cons to being proactive beyond PPC and spending your time and energy on changes outside your jurisdiction. Let me start with the pros:
- PPC performance can really shine when you fix the wider issues.
- You can make a huge difference for your clients, often affecting other channels too.
- You become a more roundedl marketer with a wider vision of marketing and business.
- This type of involvement brings variety and excitement to the work.
But there are also cons to be aware of:
- Spending time and energy on non-PPC tasks can lead to less focus on your PPC work.
- The state of mind of looking and trying to fix other things can make you miss the opportunities available in the platform itself.
- Sometimes, you’ll make enemies when you try to overstep your boundaries and make a dent in other people’s territory.
- You can easily spread yourself thinly as this type of involvement requires a lot of headspace.
Overall, I tend to be very proactive in this way and present myself in this manner in my initial proposals. It works for me, because I really like the other elements of marketing, I like getting involved and find it rewarding. In some cases, I’ve managed to reduce client’s CPA by a factor of x10, something I could never do just by running the ads.
On the other hand, over the years, I’ve learned to tone down and focus more on my ads. I’m more accepting of the imperfections out there and more content with my share of responsibilities than I was in the past. I’ll communicate suggestions but will spend less effort sweating over them. But I like to think that I offer a holistic approach to marketing and guidance that my clients appreciate.
I believe that many PPC professionals have the skill set to see opportunities for growth that go way beyond their formal responsibilities. It’s up to us to decide, with each client, how far we want to stick our necks out, what’s best for our clients and also, what’s works best for us.
