17/03/2025
Don’t Let Your Google Ads Budget Go Up in Smoke
After 16 years managing pay-per-click campaigns for a living, I’ve seen huge changes in the industry. AI is being integrated across the workplace, and Google Ads is no exception. While Google Ads remains one of the fastest ways for a business to reach new customers, without the right strategy, it can just as easily burn through your budget.
Take for example the owner of an e-commerce business who, despite having zero experience of managing a PPC campaign, decided to have a go themselves. After all, how hard could it be? They launched their first campaign over a weekend with no budget restrictions, no targeting, and, by their own admission, not much of an idea of what they were doing. Come Monday morning, they were horrified to discover they’d spent £18,000
The result?
ONE sale.
For an item that sold for £25.99.
Ouch.
Or a client who sold luxury house awnings, who, prior to working with us, were unknowingly wasting thousands of pounds a year on clicks from people searching for campervan awnings.
A small oversight with a big price tag.
Then there was the automotive client we began working with recently. Literally within minutes of working on their account, we identified a lot of wasted spend. After making some simple adjustments to their keywords and targeting we saved them six times our monthly management fee - -and we then went on to improve the account even further.
Key Takeaway:
Google’s automation and AI-driven features can be a double-edged sword. While they can help optimise campaigns, they also push broader targeting that may not always align with your ideal customer. If you’re not actively managing your campaigns, you’re likely wasting money on clicks that will never convert.
The solution?
This will vary from campaign to campaign, but as a quick guide consider the following:
✅ Regularly review your search terms report to see what you’re actually paying for.
✅ Implement negative keywords to filter out irrelevant traffic.
✅ Ensure your ads appear in the right placements, target the right geographic locations, and are shown at the right time—where your customer is and exactly when they are searching.
✅ Don’t rely solely on Google’s “smart” recommendations—they’re not always in your best interest.
✅ Set clear budget controls and bid strategies to prevent overspending.
If you’re running Google Ads—or thinking about it—let’s make sure your budget is working for you, not against you. If you’d like to find out how we can help you get more out of your digital marketing budget, please get in touch via our website.
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