Let’s say you had $30,000 to spend on ads. That’s a solid budget right? Enough to bring in leads, boost sales, and get real results—if used correctly.
Unfortunately, when we recently audited $30K worth of ad campaigns from different businesses (mostly local service-based ones), what we found wasn’t pretty.
Most of that money was wasted.
Not because the businesses were lazy. Not because the product or service was bad. But because the ad strategy was all over the place, or worse, non-existent.
If you’re running ads right now (even with a smaller budget), this breakdown might just save you thousands.
1. No Clear Goals = No Clear Wins
Imagine driving across the country with no map, no destination, and no fuel plan. That’s how most of these campaigns were set up.
We found that around 40% of campaigns had no clear objective:
- Was the goal to get leads?
- Website visits?
- Sales?
- Phone calls?
One business was running Google Ads with zero conversion tracking set up. They were getting clicks—but couldn’t tell if any of those clicks turned into a customer. That’s like throwing darts in the dark.
2. The “Send Traffic Anywhere” Approach
This one hurt. A good chunk of ad traffic was being sent to homepages—or worse, broken links.
Look at this example:
A plumbing company was running Google ads that said, “Book a Plumber in 2 Minutes.”
Sounds just fine.
But the link led to the homepage, not a booking page. You had to scroll, click twice, and hunt for the form.
Guess how many people stuck around?
Pro tip: Always match your ad with a clear, focused landing page. One page. One action. One job.
3. Money Going to the Wrong Audience
We saw Facebook campaigns targeting entire cities with vague interests like “home improvement” or “fitness.” Great, but way too broad.
One gym owner was targeting everyone between 18–65 in the city. That’s… a lot of people. And only a small % were actually looking for a gym.
Instead, we helped him switch to:
- Age 28–42
- Lives within 10 km of the gym
- Interests in specific competitor gyms + recent website visitors
The result? CTR doubled. Cost per lead dropped by 42%. That’s how powerful tight targeting can be.
4. No Retargeting. At All.
This is where most businesses leak money. Someone clicks your ad, checks your site, and leaves. Now what?
Without retargeting, they’re gone forever.
Smart campaigns always include follow-up:
- Retargeting ads for people who clicked but didn’t convert
- Email follow-ups for partial form submissions
- Lookalike audiences based on past buyers
If your strategy ends after one click, your ROI will too.
5. Creative That Just… Blended In
Some ads we reviewed looked like every other stock-photo-filled, buzzword-heavy ad out there.
“No scroll-stopper = no clicks.”
Instead of “We’re Calgary’s #1 HVAC Experts,” try:
“Why Did 16 People Call This Heating Company in One Day?”
Or
“Cold Shower Again? Let’s Fix That in 3 Hours or Less.”
Be real. Be human. Be bold.
So, What’s the Fix?
You don’t need a $30K budget to succeed. You just need a strategy that works before the first dollar is spent.
At Digital Monk Marketing, we help businesses:
⮞ Set clear campaign goals
⮞ Target the right people
⮞ Build high-converting landing pages
⮞ Track every step
⮞ Optimize based on real data
Want us to review your ad account—free of fluff?
Book a no-pressure ad audit with our team. Let’s stop wasting budget and start getting better results.
