Changed my mind about paid ads after seeing real numbers from a client

I was dead set against running any paid ads for our small business clients, but last month I tested a $300 Google Ads campaign for a local bakery in Austin and their online orders jumped 80% in 3 weeks. Has anyone else seen that kind of direct ROI from paid search after swearing it off?

2 comments

2 Comments

hugo5025d ago

Hold your horses. An 80% jump off $300 sounds good but that's one data point from one month. Ask them what their numbers look like six months from now when people stop clicking and Google cranks up the cost per click because they saw a bakery was willing to pay. I've seen small businesses get HOOKED on that initial spike and then bleed cash month after month chasing the same results. Paid search is basically renting customers for as long as your budget holds out. If that bakery stops running ads, those orders will probably fall right back down to where they started.

west.alice25d ago

Yikes, @hugo50, you might've just convinced me on this one honestly. I used to think paid ads were a no-brainer for small shops like that, but the whole "renting customers" thing really clicks now - that spike is real but so is the crash when the money dries up. Makes total sense that Google would squeeze them once they know the bakery's willing to pay, and then you're stuck in a cycle of spending more just to keep the lights on.