Running paid ads can be an effective way to fill your sales funnel, but only if your funnel is optimized. Without the right foundations in place, you risk wasting resources and missing out on potential customers. 

In this blog post, I’ll walk you through the essential steps you need to take before diving into paid ad campaigns. Whether you’re considering Google Ads, display ads, or paid social media, these strategies will help you build a solid foundation, maximize your conversion rate, and ensure a high return on investment (ROI).

Why Start with a Sales Funnel?

Before you even think about running paid ads, it’s crucial to understand the role of a sales funnel in your overall marketing strategy. A sales funnel is a series of steps that guide potential customers from the moment they first learn about your product or service to the point where they make a purchase. It’s a way to nurture leads, address pain points, and ultimately convert visitors into loyal customers.

To make it simpler, the sales funnel is the backbone of your marketing efforts. Without a well-structured funnel, your paid ads are like throwing money into the wind. You might generate some traffic, but without a clear path to conversion, that traffic won’t translate into meaningful results.

Common Mistakes Before Running Paid Ads

Too many small business owners rush into running paid ads without having a fully built and optimized sales funnel. They believe that simply turning on Google Ads or launching a paid social media campaign will bring in a flood of customers. Unfortunately, this is rarely the case.

Here are some common mistakes businesses make when launching paid ad campaigns too soon:

1. Skipping the Foundation: Many businesses think that having a website is enough. However, a website without a well-thought-out sales funnel is like a storefront without a sales team. It might look nice, but it doesn’t do much to convert visitors into customers.

2. Neglecting Organic Efforts: Some businesses view paid ads as a shortcut to success and neglect organic marketing efforts like content creation and SEO. Paid ads should complement your organic strategies, not replace them.

3. Overlooking Brand Consistency: When a potential customer clicks on your ad and lands on your website, the experience should be seamless. Inconsistent branding, messaging, or design between your ads and your landing page can confuse visitors and lower your conversion rate.

4. Failing to Optimize for Conversions: Driving traffic to your website is only half the battle. If your website isn’t optimized to convert that traffic, you’re wasting money. This includes having clear calls to action, optimized landing pages, and a streamlined sales process.

Building a Sales Funnel

Before you launch a paid ad campaign, you need to ensure that your sales funnel is fully built out and ready to convert. Here’s what you should focus on:

1. Clear Brand Message

Everything starts with your brand message. If your message isn’t clear, it won’t resonate with your target audience. When you start running paid ads, you need to know exactly what message you’re sending and how it aligns with your potential customers’ needs and pain points.

Your brand message should be consistent across all touchpoints—from your ads to your website to your email marketing. This consistency builds trust and ensures that when a customer clicks on your ad, they know exactly what to expect.

2. Optimized Website

Your website is the hub of your digital presence. It needs to be more than just aesthetically pleasing; it needs to be a conversion machine. Here are the key elements to focus on:

• Landing Pages: Each of your ads should direct traffic to a specific landing page tailored to that ad’s message. This ensures that the visitor lands on a page that speaks directly to their interests, increasing the likelihood of conversion.

• Call to Action: Your landing page should have a clear, compelling call to action (CTA). Whether it’s “Book Now,” “Get a Free Quote,” or “Sign Up Today,” the CTA should be the focal point of the page.

• Load Speed: A slow website can be a deal-breaker. Ensure your website loads quickly, as slow load times can drastically reduce your conversion rate.

• User Experience (UX): Make sure your website is easy to navigate. A visitor should be able to find what they’re looking for without frustration. If your website is hard to use, they’ll leave before taking any action.

3. Google Business Profile

Before you dive into paid ads, make sure your Google Business Profile is fully optimized. This is especially important if you’re planning to run Google Local Service Ads (LSAs). Your Google Business Profile plays a critical role in your local SEO efforts and helps increase your visibility in local search results.

• Accurate Information: Ensure all your business information—address, phone number, hours of operation—is accurate and up-to-date.

• High-Quality Images: Include high-quality images of your business, products, or services. Visuals can make a big difference in how potential customers perceive your business.

• Customer Reviews: Encourage satisfied customers to leave positive reviews. A strong review profile not only boosts your local SEO but also builds trust with potential customers.

4. Data-Driven Decisions

As you build your sales funnel, use data to guide your decisions. This includes everything from the keywords you target in your SEO efforts to the content you create for your blog. Tools like Google Analytics, SEMrush, and heat mapping tools can provide invaluable insights into how visitors interact with your website and where you might be losing them.

By analyzing this data, you can make informed decisions about where to focus your optimization efforts. For example, if you notice that a particular landing page has a high bounce rate, it might be worth revisiting the content or design of that page.

When to Start Running Paid Ads

Once your sales funnel is built and optimized, you can start thinking about running paid ads. However, it’s important to approach this strategically. Here’s how to get started:

1. Google Local Service Ads (LSAs)

For local service businesses, Google Local Service Ads (LSAs) can be a game-changer. These ads appear at the top of Google search results and are designed to help local businesses connect with customers in their area.

Why LSAs Are Effective:

• High Intent: People who see your LSA are actively searching for your product or service in your area. This means they’re more likely to convert.

• Pay for Leads: With LSAs, you only pay when someone contacts you directly through the ad, either by calling or sending a message. This makes LSAs a cost-effective option for many local businesses.

• Builds Trust: LSAs come with a “Google Guaranteed” badge, which can increase trust and credibility with potential customers.

Before you start running LSAs, make sure your Google Business Profile is fully optimized. The strength of your profile can impact your ad’s visibility and ranking in search results.

2. Google Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Ads

After LSAs, the next step is to consider Google Pay-Per-Click (PPC) ads. These ads allow you to target specific keywords related to your business, ensuring your ads are seen by people actively searching for what you offer.

Benefits of PPC Ads:

• Targeted Reach: PPC ads allow you to target specific keywords, locations, and even demographics, ensuring your ads reach the right people.

• Immediate Results: Unlike SEO, which can take time to see results, PPC ads can drive traffic to your website almost immediately.

• Measurable ROI: With PPC ads, you can track every click and conversion, allowing you to measure the effectiveness of your campaigns and adjust as needed.

3. Retargeting Ads

Once you’ve started driving traffic to your website with LSAs and PPC ads, you can begin using retargeting ads. These ads are shown to people who have already visited your website but didn’t take any action, such as making a purchase or filling out a contact form.

Why Retargeting Works:

• Keeps Your Brand Top of Mind: Retargeting ads remind potential customers about your product or service after they’ve left your website. This can help increase brand awareness and encourage them to return and convert.

• Higher Conversion Rates: People who have already shown interest in your product or service are more likely to convert than those who are seeing your ads for the first time.

• Cost-Effective: Retargeting ads typically have a lower cost per click than cold traffic ads, making them a cost-effective way to re-engage potential customers.

4. Cold Traffic Social Media Ads

Only after you’ve optimized your sales funnel and tested it with LSAs, PPC ads, and retargeting ads should you consider running paid social media ads to cold traffic. These are ads shown to people who have never interacted with your brand before.

Challenges with Cold Traffic Ads:

• Lower Conversion Rates: Because cold traffic ads are shown to people who are unfamiliar with your brand, they typically have lower conversion rates.

• Higher Costs: It often takes more impressions to convert cold traffic, which can drive up your ad spend.

Best Practices for Cold Traffic Ads:

• Strong Creative: Make sure your ad creative—images, videos, copy—clearly communicates your value proposition and captures attention.

• Precise Targeting: Use the targeting options available on platforms like Facebook and Instagram to ensure your ads are shown to the most relevant audience.

• A/B Testing: Continuously test different ad creatives, copy, and targeting options to find the combination that works best.

Conclusion

Running paid ads can be an effective way to fill your sales funnel, but only if you have the right foundation in place. By building and optimizing your sales funnel before launching paid campaigns, you’ll ensure that every dollar you spend is working to bring in new customers.

Start with a clear brand message, an optimized website, and a fully built-out Google Business Profile. Use LSAs to drive high-intent traffic to your website, and then expand your efforts with PPC and retargeting ads. Only after you’ve tested and optimized your funnel with these strategies should you consider running paid social media ads to cold traffic.

If you are ready to boost your ROI with an optimized sales funnel, schedule a call to see how I can help you turn your paid ads into powerful conversion tools. Let's get started!