Your Google Ads Permission Slip

The other day I had a coaching call with a new client. It started something like this:

"I launched my campaigns and everything was going great. Then I made a bunch of changes that Google recommended, and now everything is worse."

It's beyond frustrating.

Whether you're a newbie to Google Ads or a seasoned pro, it can be tough to ignore their advice.

When you're neck-deep trying to solve account problems, it's easy to forget that the company behind the recommendations is actually a $2 trillion Fortune 10 company using very sophisticated sales tactics to get you to spend more.

To make things a little easier, I've made you an actual permission slip, along with some follow up questions for when you get stuck.

This is what I wished I could have given this coaching client a few months before he called me. And it's what I hope you'll use every time you find yourself tempted to do a thing you really know better than to do.

Strategy questions

Now, if you're still on the fence as to whether or not to follow Google's lead, I have some more questions for you. After all, not every recommendation is "wrong" 100% of the time.

But before you take action on anything Google tells you, I want you to answer these questions:

• Do I understand why this would work?​
  If it doesn't make sense, don't do it.
  ​

• What data supports applying this recommendation?
  ​Just because a tactic got a "15% lift" in one case study doesn't mean it's the right move for your business type.
  ​

• What are the risks?​
  If you don't see results, will the campaign go back into "learning mode" and burn spend for an additional week?

​Bonus question

And finally, if you still aren't sure, try this:

Imagine you're writing me an email, explaining that what you tried didn't work.

Are you happy you tried it because it was a strategy worth testing? Or are you saying that you did a thing that you really knew better than to do?

No more “because Google said so.”