Warning, Read This BEFORE You Take That Meeting!
Your new Google Ads Account Strategist is persistent, calling and emailing you, saying they have recommendations that are proven to improve your ad performance.
Google Ads Expert, Google Ads Specialist, Google Ads Account Representative, Google Ads Success Manager, Google Ads Account Strategist… they go by many titles and by many names because they are actually many different people with a high turnover rate. It seems like every month there is a new guy hungry to help you.
That’s because Google now outsources this work to third parties and provides them with @google.com emails to get you to trust them. Your contact info gets passed around like influenza.
Those proven recommendations are actually AI recommendations and they’re not so proven. The stats they throw at you are an average, meaning there are highs and lows, or a cherry-picked case study performed by the AI. If you asked them how the result was determined or over what timeframe or even which year it was tracked, they would have no clue.
Ask them if this is a result they have personally provided their clients and if that client was in the same industry as you are.
Ultimately, they work for Google. Keeping Google happy is in their best interest. And Google’s best interest isn’t always aligned with yours.
Sure, your new Google Ads Account Strategist may actually want to help you succeed, but most of the time they are just too inexperienced. Learning on your dollar. It takes an expert to analyze data and strategize what to do with it. It takes an expert to train Google’s AI to convert the goals that matter most to you and bypass what doesn’t work.
Here’s How Meetings with a Google Ads Account Strategist Go
Google’s Expert: Please apply the Target CPA (cost-per-action) and Target ROAS (return on ad spend) Google recommendation to all of your campaigns. This bidding strategy is proven to get you more conversions.
Me: But all that will do is go for the easiest, cheapest, most low-quality conversion. More conversions but less conversion value. What’s your statistic on revenue improvements?
Google’s Expert: I don’t have that exact info but it always improves revenue along with conversions. In the end, it’s our goal to help you do your best on the Google Ads platform.
Me: Okay, let’s run it for a month and see what happens. Will we get that proven result you mentioned in 30 days?
Google’s Expert: Let’s set up a follow-up appointment in 2 weeks. Yes, you will see positive results by then. With your high ad budget, you don’t have to wait a month to get out of learning mode and experience performance improvements.
Me: It’s been 2 weeks now and exactly what I said would happen is happening. Conversions are up but revenue is down. The conversion rate is worse and the cost per conversion is more expensive.
Google’s Expert: Um, you have to give it more time to learn.
Me: How much time? I suggested 30 days, a typical test run. You said a positive result would happen faster than that in about 2 weeks; remember?
Google’s Expert: At least a few months. I would say we should review again around the 3-month mark. And we should apply some more Google recommendations today to get you that optimal result.
Me: No, I don’t think so. I’m not interested. I’m going to run this test for 2 more weeks, like I always do, so Google’s AI has time to learn and I have enough data to analyze to see what tweaks I can make. Or if ditching this path and reverting back to what we had before the failure because it’s not salvageable. It doesn’t seem like you understand how to properly train AI.
Google’s Expert: (…silence…)
Me: See, I’m an expert at this and I know my clients AND your platform. I’ve always gotten my clients a solid ROI (return on investment) in the first month if they were currently running ads because I cut out the waste first. That builds confidence and trust, which allows me to continue on month after month. I’m worth the small investment to manage my client’s ads because the ROI covers my services with a lot of profits left over to satisfy my clients.
Me: We were killing it before I made your changes. And you are telling me today to just keep waiting after YOUR initial test period ended in failure. In fact, you were very sure 2 weeks was enough for this test. On top of that, you are telling me to make even more changes beyond the bidding strategy so we will have no idea of what worked and didn’t work. Two months from now, you will be even more confused about what went wrong and what the next steps are. You are just hoping the AI will eventually figure it out itself and reverse this downward trajectory.
Google’s Expert: Sir, Google is going fully automated soon. We just want to give you a head start so you can stay ahead of your competitors.
Me: Two months from now, not only will I get the ad performance back to what it was before, killing it, but I will surpass any expectation your Google recommendations were predicted to generate. Actual is always more important than predicted. I don’t care about the conversions your AI cares about. I care about revenue, which was higher before we ever met. My goal isn’t to make Google more money, it’s to make my client more money. When they succeed, I succeed. There’s a reason why your services are free. There’s a reason why Google Ads Account Strategists have such a high turnover rate.
Take care and I wish you all the best, but my clients are small businesses that deserve and need the best return on investment for every dollar they spend. They can’t afford to take these hits and waste time on the terrible advice you Google Ads Account Strategists give. That your untrained AI gives them.
Update: Google Ads Account Specialist Impact Case Study
After running their bidding strategy changes for 26 days, I decided that the changes the Google Ads Account Specialist told us to implement were not salvageable so I reverted back to how we had the bidding before. I cut the test run short by four days.
I didn’t change anything else at all and the results improved immediately. See the screenshot below. It proves they provided bad advice that negatively impacted our campaigns.
The Google AI recommendations/suggestions that the Ads Account Specialist told us to implement were a complete failure and what we expected to happen, happened. Since we reverted back to how we had it BEFORE our meeting with Google’s expert, we improved across the boards…
- Spending 14.62% less of the budget
- Converting better in the most important places for the conversion goals that matter most to us
- Making 33.83% more revenue
- Stopped the downward trajectory and turned it upward again
We are back to training Google’s AI properly. To work for my client’s revenue goals, not Google’s revenue goals. To go after the conversion goals and buyer audience that brings in the most revenue for my client. Ultimately, providing a much better return on investment (ROI).
