This week, we're covering compelling patient questions about managing client expectations, incremental conversions on Meta, and low ROAS on Google Ads. Got a question for the PPC doctors? Share it here.
Q: I’m a media buyer with 10+ years of experience, specializing in paid social. I’m currently freelancing and having trouble managing expectations with my new clients. They’ll send me mediocre creative from one photoshoot and immediately expect 5x ROAS, not understanding that it takes time to build a social media ad pipeline that consistently converts. Do you have any tips on explaining this to new brands and managing their expectations?
A: I totally get where you're coming from—clients often have high expectations, especially when they’re new to social media advertising. The key is to have an honest conversation right from the start. When they send over mediocre creative and expect a 5x ROAS immediately, it's crucial to explain that social media ads are more of a marathon than a sprint. You might want to break down the process into phases and explain that the initial stage is all about testing and learning.
Frame the early stages as a way to gather valuable data. Let them know that it’s normal for ROAS to take time to ramp up because you’re figuring out what resonates with their audience. Share examples or case studies from your past work experience where patience led to strong results so they see the bigger picture.
Also, be transparent with your updates. Even if the numbers aren’t amazing right away, highlight progress in areas like engagement or click-through rates. This will show the client that their campaigns are moving in the right direction.
You could also be more selective about the clients you take on. Consider thoroughly vetting clients before signing a contract to make sure their expectations are realistic. Ask about their goals and budgets. If a brand’s marketing KPIs don’t align with their overall business metrics or if they have an unrealistically small budget and are unwilling to budge, it’s okay to pass on them. That’s the beauty of freelance work–you don’t have to take the clients who don’t set you up for success. Also, if their creative assets don’t meet a certain standard, it’s often better to hold off until they’re ready to invest in quality content.
Another tip is to consider having a three-month minimum contract length. This will give you the time needed to properly test and optimize, setting both you and your clients up for success. Brands that expect month-over-month miracles might not be the best fit. You deserve clients who are informed enough to set both you and their business up for marketing success!
Q: What are incremental conversions in Meta, and should I optimize toward them?
A: Meta just added the option to optimize towards incremental conversions last week, so I love how on top of your PPC health you are! Incremental conversions in Meta measure the number of conversions that happen solely because of your Meta ads, compared to what would have occurred without them. For example, a user who scrolled past an ad for dresses might have bought the dress regardless of the fact that they saw the ad. That’s a non-incremental conversion. Conversely, some users might buy the dress exclusively because they saw the ad. That would be an incremental conversion. Meta calculates this by comparing conversions from users exposed to your ads with a control group that didn't see the ads.
Optimizing toward incremental conversions is a smart move if you want to understand the true impact of your campaigns. By focusing on this metric, you ensure that your ad spend is driving genuine growth rather than capturing sales that would have happened anyway. However, the option to optimize toward incremental conversions is super new, so there’s not a ton of insight I can share on how well it works. I guess, in the end, it’s an act in trust. If you’ve had good experiences and trust Meta’s cutting edge features, give it a shot! But like any new feature, start by testing it on a small batch of campaigns and see how it performs before going all in.
Q: I launched my online store about a month ago and started running ads on Google right after the launch. However, my overall ROAS for the month is below 1. I need ROAS to be at least 3 for this investment to make sense for my overall business finances. Why is this happening? How can I fix it?
A: Congrats on launching your business! And don’t let the low ROAS get you down just yet. Unfortunately it’s normal to lose money or break even on advertising for the first quarter or two in business, especially if you’re in a saturated industry like online retail where competition is fierce. You’ll need to build an audience and move them through your ad campaign's acquisition and retargeting phases before you start seeing significant conversion volume.
Additionally, the lack of historical data to feed Google’s algorithms is a huge factor. Google’s Smart Bidding strategies need at least a month’s worth of conversion and revenue data to start learning who to serve your ads to. Once Smart Bidding has that data, performance should start improving. You could switch to manual bidding while you acquire more data, then after a few months pass and a couple hundred conversions come through, switch to Smart Bidding.
Manual bidding is a big topic, but my basic recommendation is to set your bids equal to the average CPC for each keyword to start. As time passes, increase bids on keywords that drive clicks and conversions and decrease bids on keywords that don’t.
It may be best to optimize toward a softer metric like click-through-rate (CTR) or even impressions at the start. Even if an ad or keyword isn’t driving conversions, a decent CTR is a good indicator that your ads are resonating. People are simply less likely to make an impulse purchase from a brand they’ve never heard of before. Keep building your reputation and hit those clickers or viewers with retargeting ads. It’ll pay off in the long run!
The companies that invest in marketing early on, despite the low ROAS, are the companies that grow the fastest. You have to grow your brand! Make sure you really understand your value proposition and what sets you apart from competitors. Make it clear in your ads. Build brand awareness through channels like YouTube video ads targeting people interested in the type of goods you provide. Then, turn your video viewers into an audience in Google Ads, and hit them with retargeting ads. That’s how you’ll get your site to grow.
And that's a wrap on this week's paid media questions! Got a Q for the PPC Docs? Ask it here.
Lauren Neels
Marin Software
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