You’re spending thousands of dollars on Google Ads or Meta campaigns, but the ROI just isn’t there. What’s going wrong?
Here’s the thing: Paid media is like a puzzle. It only works when all the pieces align—targeting, creative, messaging, and user experience. If even one piece is out of place, it can derail your entire campaign.
After years of working on paid media campaigns across various industries, I’ve seen some common (yet fixable) issues that hold businesses back. Let’s break them down—and I’ll give you actionable steps to turn things around.
Poor Targeting: Casting Too Wide (or Narrow) a Net
The Deeper Problem:
Businesses often misunderstand their audience. Either they try to target “everyone” (wasting budget on people who will never convert) or go overly granular, excluding segments that could have been profitable with the right messaging.
Why This Happens:
- Overconfidence in assumptions about the audience without data to back it up.
- Misuse of platform targeting options—defaulting to broad, interest-based targeting without layering in behavioral or demographic filters.
- Failure to use customer data (CRM, past purchases, website activity) to build lookalike or retargeting audiences.
Example:
A fast-casual restaurant running ads targeted to “everyone in a 20-mile radius” may burn through their budget showing ads to retirees, teenagers, and people who prefer fine dining—missing their core audience of busy families and office workers.
How to Fix It:
- Start with your existing data. Use past customer insights to build a clear buyer persona.
- Leverage retargeting campaigns to re-engage users who have already interacted with your brand.
- Test narrower audience segments and let the algorithms expand intelligently once you’ve seen initial success.
- Use A/B testing for audience targeting to identify your most profitable groups.
Weak Ad Creative: Forgetting to Stop the Scroll
The Deeper Problem:
Ad fatigue and lackluster creative are silent ROI killers. With so much competition, your ads need to stop the scroll within seconds. But many businesses fail to invest in compelling visuals and messaging that resonate emotionally with their audience.
Why This Happens:
- Limited creative resources or budget, leading to generic, templated ads.
- Not tailoring creative to specific audience segments.
- Relying on text-heavy ads or uninspiring visuals that don’t grab attention.
- Failure to refresh ad creative regularly, resulting in audience fatigue.
Example:
An online fitness brand running static ads featuring generic stock photos might struggle to compete with competitors showcasing vibrant, user-generated content or success stories from real customers.
How to Fix It:
- Invest in quality creative. Even a short, well-shot video on a smartphone can outperform expensive but uninspired static ads.
- Use visuals and messaging that evoke emotion—think about what inspires, excites, or solves a pain point for your audience.
- Regularly A/B test ad copy, images, videos, and CTAs.
- Incorporate UGC (user-generated content), testimonials, or behind-the-scenes content to add authenticity.
Landing Page Disconnect: A Broken Customer Journey
The Deeper Problem:
Driving traffic is only half the battle. The disconnect between the ad and the landing page can completely derail conversions. Many businesses drive paid media traffic to generic homepages or pages that don’t match the ad’s promise, creating friction in the customer journey.
Why This Happens:
- Lack of dedicated landing pages for campaigns.
- Poor alignment between ad messaging and landing page content.
- Weak landing page design—too cluttered, slow loading, or missing key trust signals like reviews or testimonials.
Example:
A home services company runs an ad offering “50% off spring HVAC tune-ups” but directs users to their homepage, forcing them to hunt for the offer. Most users will bounce out of frustration.
How to Fix It:
- Build dedicated, campaign-specific landing pages that deliver exactly what the ad promises.
- Keep the user experience seamless—make sure the page loads quickly, has a clear headline matching the ad, and includes a single, prominent call-to-action (CTA).
- Use persuasive elements like testimonials, trust badges, and clear pricing to build confidence.
- Optimize landing pages for mobile users, who often account for the majority of paid media traffic.
“If you’re stuck in the ‘low ROI’ loop, let’s talk! I specialize in paid media strategies that drive real results for industries. If you’re needing help with paid media, I would love to chat. Contact me today.