Scaling Google Ads isn’t always a good idea

by | Mar 8, 2023 | Uncategorized

> Scale Google budgets up
> In-platform revenue increases
> Store revenue stays the same

Here’s why this happens:

This Ecommerce store looks like it’s doing well, right?
Mid February we started increasing Google spend, and revenue increased as well.

Unfortunately in-platform looks can be deceiving.

Here’s the same view in Northbeam.
We started scaling after the 13th, but revenue actually started going down.

The point is not to rely solely on in-platform metrics because Google is very good at over-attributing.

DTC/Ecommerce Google performance is driven by factors external to Google Ads.

In the case of this store, people are searching this brand because they saw it on social media (paid & organic).

If someone clicks a Facebook ad, then a Google ad, they do not share attribution in-platform.

Facebook will report 100% attribution, and Google will also report 100% attribution for the same purchase.

Same sale, reported twice separately.

This is why you can’t add Facebook revenue + Google revenue and get Shopify revenue.
It’s also why you can’t rely on in-platform metrics to make budget decisions.

Take a look at this account’s branded search in Google Ads.

Now take a look at branded search in Northbeam.

As you can see, it clearly didn’t make sense to scale branded search for this account.
Northbeam tracks and attributes purchases independently of Facebook and Google – sharing the credit between the touch points.

Scaling Facebook spend yields increase in branded search performance, and in Google it often reports 10x+ ROAS.
Turn your Facebook spend off and watch how fast branded search performance drops.

Scaling Facebook spend often increases nonbrand performance too.
When you’re running paid social, you’re not just building awarenss of the brand – but what the brand sells as well.
People try to find “that thing they saw on Facebook”.

I often take over Google Ad accounts, scale them back 50%, and maintain store revenue.

Here you can see the opposite – we scaled successfully in Google Ads, but not holistically.

Brands often get caught in a trap of chasing efficiency by increasing inner funnel budgets.
The problem here is you continue targeting the same people, instead of reaching new eyes.
In-platform looks great, but you eventually burnout your audience – causing revenue to stagnate.

If your in-platform looks great, but holistic picture does not, check your inner funnel to make sure you’re not overspending on retargeting & Google Ads.

I like Northbeam for this.
It isn’t perfect or 100% accurate.

But it isn’t supposed to be 100% accurate – just unbiased.

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