Facebook is undoubtedly the most preeminent social media network in the world. More than two billion people use Facebook. That’s nearly ⅓ of the entire world population. If you’re considering promoting your products and services, improving brand awareness, and driving sales and conversions, then Facebook is the perfect option.
Getting started with Facebook advertising is as simple as owning a business page and investing a few dollars into your first campaign to see what strategies will work best for you.
Though, if you’re new to Facebook Ads (or any other PPC advertising platform, for that matter), you may quickly figure out that attracting eyes to your campaign is simple. Convincing these complete strangers to show interest in your product and service and buy is a completely different obstacle.
But, it’s not impossible and you may find that improving Facebook Ads conversions is more straightforward than you originally thought.
To help you save and make more money with your budget, here are some very effective strategies to improve Facebook Ads conversions.
A conversion means something different to every business involved in marketing and advertising campaigns. If your audience is B2C, then a conversion may mean a sale or purchase.
If your audience is B2B instead, then you may consider a conversion of a new email list subscriber. In either case, conversions are valuable to your bottom end and considered to be a success, rather than impressions.
With that said, what is considered a conversion event in your campaign? In other words, what do you want people to do once they see your ad?
Facebook Ads support standard conversions, such as:
You also have the option to create custom conversion events, if you want your target audience to do something else. Don’t expect all of your ads to serve the same purpose. Therefore, create separate ads for different conversion events.
First, consider how your goals will fit into your buyer’s journey, and plan accordingly.
An ad’s success is ultimately based on the performance of its landing page. When you decide where your planned conversions will take place, make sure that your landing page has everything in place to be successful.
Here is everything you should do to ensure your landing page’s success:
Did you know that it only takes 2.6 seconds for a person’s eyes to scan a website page. Using eye-catching visuals is a great way to improve the chances of consumer eyeballs landing on your ad instead of somewhere else.
Generally speaking, your ad’s visuals will be either a great or horrible first impression. Therefore, treat your visuals like a first handshake by following these core principles:
Following these practices will help your ads stand out directly in front of your target audience.
Copywriting doesn’t have to be difficult. In fact, effective copywriting involves psychology and human nature more than prose. Writing jargon-filled essays won’t hold well with your audience.
Instead, strive to create crisp copy. Otherwise, your audience may not even read it. Here are some effective copywriting tips every advertiser should strive for:
Copywriting is all about communicating in a way that doesn’t make you appear like an unscrupulous salesperson. The more natural and concise your copy appears, the more willing your target audience will be to read it and convert.
The call-to-action (CTA) is the singular most important aspect of your ad. When a person is finished observing your ad’s copy and visuals, the next thing they may do is click on the CTA.
A CTA motivates someone to commit the action you want them to do. Therefore, they must be persuasive and dynamic. To do so, use strong verbs like explore, find, discover, and start if you want to direct potential consumers to visit a product page.
If you want to drive subscriptions and purchases, use more direct phrases like “sign up” and “buy now”. Creating the right CTA is a paradox. The best CTAs are both direct and clever.
As you can see, using “buy now” in eCommerce ads is a straightforward way to compel someone to buy something. It’s important to note that your CTA should not be doing all of the heavy lifting for your ad.
Your ad’s copy and visuals should explain what the offer is. The CTA should seal the deal. Therefore, don’t spend too much time trying to come up with flamboyant CTA phrases to inspire conversions.
Oftentimes, the simplest approach will work best.
When creating your ad, check the box for “target expansion”. This will allow more groups similar to your audience to be targeted by your ad. However, you must indicate the parameters of this feature in the “interest targeting section”.
Not only will this feature allow you to reach more people. You can also improve your conversions while reducing your cost per conversion (CPC). Make sure that you create custom audiences before continuing.
What’s more is that if you already have an email subscriber list or other data sets, you can integrate them into Facebook Ads to automatically find similar people on Facebook. You can take all of this work a step further and use custom audiences to discover lookalike audiences.
These are people who have similar demographics and profiles to your existing target audience. Audience targeting is essential in making sure that the right people are seeing your ads.
Naturally, if your ad is targeting the right people, your conversion rate will improve on its own. Luckily, Facebook employs a bunch of helpful features to aid in creating both broad and granular audiences.
This will ultimately help you to achieve laser-focused ad delivery and boost your conversion rate.
Facebook Ads has a bunch of settings that are obscure to many beginners. Some prefer to run their campaigns on autopilot, forgetting to make use of certain functions like this one.
In the Budget and Schedule section, under the “Optimization for Delivery” function, make sure to select the “conversions” option. This will automatically optimize your ads to prioritize conversions instead of traffic.
As you can guest, choosing this option is optional. Nonetheless, there are a lot of case studies that prove how effective this feature is. Save the Children ran a test campaign pitting both ads optimized for traffic and conversions against each other.
They wanted to find out which option would help spur the most donations. Interestingly, they found that ads optimized for conversions received four times more donations than the alternative.
This test was conducted by a non-profit organization. If you sell products and services, just imagine the type of results you can achieve. Ads optimized for conversions are modeled after Facebook’s organic algorithms to reach your desired audiences.
No one knows the exact manner in which Facebook “optimizes” these ads, but this option is well worth a try.
Specific Facebook ad formats may best suit your campaign needs better than others, depending on your goals. For example, Adidas conducted a case study showing that using video was the perfect format to unveil different visuals of their Z.N.E Road Trip Hoodie.
Because of this, Adidas reduced their CPC by 43%. If you want to achieve the same results, here are some key things to consider:
As you can see, setting up a successful Facebook ads campaign goes beyond creating ad copy and captivating images. Choosing the right ad format can position it to reach and convert your target audience.
Using the right ad format can also help you reduce your CPC by a considerable margin.
No matter where you plan for your conversions to take place, you should ensure that all your conversions can be tracked from desktop to mobile devices. This is helpful, especially if you want to drive traffic to a mobile app.
You can’t assume that everyone who visits your mobile app will download it, interact, and convert. Therefore, tracking potential customers to your mobile app is a great way to figure out if you need to make changes to your ad or your app.
Even if you don’t intend to drive traffic to your mobile app, you should still install Facebook’s SDK for your app. This will help Facebook receive more data about your audience and expand it for better results.
Once you run your campaign, you’ll receive analytical data about how it’s performing. Essentially, it’s up to you to determine what worked and what didn’t to make the necessary changes.
Take note of all of the analytics of your campaign and transform them into insights. Take what you learned from your previous campaign to elevate your next one. Not every campaign will be successful.
However, if you’re learning from your mistakes and willing to try new things, you’ll quickly figure out how to run a successful and affordable Facebook Ads campaign.
Running Facebook ads is a full-time job. If you’re busy running your business, you may find that you don’t have the time or expertise to manage your campaign. On top of that, your campaign may not be as successful as you imagined.
If that’s the case, then we can help. At PPC.co, we specialize in managing successful PPC campaigns. If you want to learn more about how we can help you, contact us today to speak to a member of our team.
%201.svg){kind=logo}
When you’re a plumber relying on a steady flow of leads to be profitable, it’s not enough to get your leads through word-of-mouth alone. That may work if you’re only a two-person team, but if you plan to grow your business, you’ll need to start marketing your services, specifically with PPC advertising.
Pay-per-click (PPC) ads are a beneficial form of advertising, but they can be a source of leads or a money pit for plumbers. When done right, PPC helps plumbing companies generate targeted leads looking for services, but poorly-crafted PPC campaigns can burn through a budget without results. The good news is with smart targeting, strategic bidding, and continual optimization, plumbers can generate qualified leads at a cost that provides a positive ROI. Here’s how pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is done for lead generation for plumbing businesses.
The biggest mistake plumbers make is targeting a broad area rather than a specific local area. Hitting your target audience by demographic and location will be critical to be most efficient in your PPC ad spend. Even when your company serves customers throughout several counties, you’ll want to create ad campaigns that target each individual city or county. If your ads are reaching people outside of your service area, you’re paying for clicks that won’t turn into paying customers.
An easy way to prevent this problem is to use location targeting inside of your PPC account to set your target location by zip codes, cities, or a custom radius around your main location. This will ensure your ads will only be seen by leads you can actually convert.
You’ll also want to explicitly exclude areas you don’t serve. For example, you might serve a whole county with the exception of a couple cities or neighborhoods because of traffic congestion or licensing issues. Make sure to add these locations as exclusions in your ad campaign settings to avoid wasting money.
The keywords that will bring you the best leads are keywords that signal high intent to purchase. This includes terms like “emergency plumber near me,” “24-hour plumber,” “toilet overflowing fix,” or “fix for busted pipe.” The people who search for these terms aren’t just casual browsers. They’re people who need a plumber immediately.
This type of expert keyword research isn't necessarily rocket science, but it's critical for your rankings in search engine results pages.
Prioritize these keywords and increase your bid to capture more of these leads.
Avoid using the kinds of keywords that will attract people who aren’t likely to hire you for plumbing services. For example, terms like “DIY toilet repair” or “how to fix (fixture)” will rarely lead to calls. People who search for these phrases are usually just looking for ways to fix their own problem, so filter them out.
When people need a plumber, they want to call and get someone out fast, especially if their basement is flooding or they’re dealing with a busted pipe in the house. Google offers call-only ads that let users tap to call you immediately from search results rather than click to visit your website, where they’d need to search for a way to contact you. This ad type alone will increase your conversions.
It’s crucial to use ad tracking tools like Google’s call forwarding or third-party platforms that track which ads generate your phone calls. Knowing what ads are driving your best leads will help you do more of what works and eliminate what doesn’t.
Since most leads will want to call you immediately, only schedule your ads to run when you’ll be available to answer the phone. If you don’t offer 24/7 emergency services and don’t answer your phone at 2 AM, don’t schedule your ads to run until the start of your business day.
Depending on your location and services, you might get more calls on weekdays or weekends. To find out your peak, check your reports to see when you’re getting the most calls and then adjust when you run your ads based on your actual performance data.
Don’t create complicated, wordy ads. Use simple, clear, and direct headlines that speak directly to the problems your leads may be dealing with. They’re going to be drawn to ads that promise to help them with real problems. For example, write headlines like “Broken water heater? Get 24/7 help,” “Clogged drains fixed fast,” and “Overflowing toilet? Get help now.”
In your ad copy, it helps to use location-specific phrases. For example, you might write “Serving Phoenix homes since 2001.” Doing this helps build trust and establishes relevancy.
For Google Ads that send visitors directly to your website, you’ll need to optimize your landing pages for conversion. The following elements are essential:
· Landing page copy that matches your ad. To create a seamless experience, don’t send leads to your home page. Send them to a landing page that matches your ad. For example, if your ad targets people with a clogged drain, ensure your landing page speaks to people with a clogged drain.
· An easy-to-find phone number. Your phone number should be readily visible on every page of your website, including all of your landing pages. The ideal place is in the top right corner of every page header.
· A click-to-call button. It’s easier for mobile leads to click to bring up your phone number in their dial pad rather than forcing them to write down a phone number they’ll need to then dial.
· A call-to-action (CTA). Leads need to be told what to do. Be direct and tell them to call you now for an estimate or to schedule a service call.
Your search ads will only bring you potential leads. Your landing pages are responsible for converting potential customers into paying customers.
To maximize your ROI without wasting money, you’ll want to set a realistic daily budget and scale it only when you know you’re ready. Most local service providers stick with a $10-$50/day budget, but it depends on the industry and your location.
Over time, you’ll find that some campaigns are working better than others. A varied performance can be caused by a variety of factors, and you’ll need to take a close look before making any changes. For example, underperforming keywords and plumbing ads that don’t get many clicks should be paused. However, if your ads are getting clicks, but limited conversions, you’ll want to tweak your landing page copy and/or your offer.
Sometimes irrelevant keyword searches will display your ads, so if you can come up with a list of keywords related to services you don’t provide, you can limit where your ads show up. For example, if you don’t offer sewer camera inspections, make “sewer camera” a negative keyword. If you don’t service septic systems, make “septic” a negative keyword. Doing this will prevent clicks from irrelevant leads.
Local Service Ads appear at the top of Google’s search results above the typical PPC text ads and organic listings. LSAs are pay-per-lead, not pay-per-click, which makes them even more profitable. With LSAs, you only pay when a lead contacts you directly through your ad, either by calling you or messaging you. This is a much safer way to manage your ad spend and generate qualified leads. It’s also an easier way to capture bottom-of-the-funnel leads who need emergency plumbing services.
To set up these ads, head over to Google’s LSA page and click “get started.” You’ll be prompted to go through the setup process, which includes confirming your business eligibility. To complete the process, you’ll need your business license, general liability insurance proof, and at least one Google Business Profile with positive reviews. The system will then ask you to choose the zip codes or cities you serve, list the types of services you provide, and set your weekly budget. Once you submit the form and pass Google’s screening process, you’ll start showing up in results for searches related to your business.
Try to get as many positive reviews on your Google Business Profile as possible since businesses with better reviews tend to rank higher with Local Service Ads. Also, keep in mind that Google tracks your response times, and the faster you reply, the better placement you’ll get. Unlike PPC ads, you can request refunds from leads that aren’t relevant, like leads requesting the wrong services or who are outside your service area.
It’s important to take advantage of these ads because it’s an easy way to get your business listed at the top of search results pages when people search for terms like “plumber near me.” It’s easier than waiting months for SEO to kick in, and it will bring you immediate leads. People will see your reviews and your Google Guaranteed badge, which will boost your credibility.
Getting your business verified by Google will give you a green checkmark next to your business name in your Local Service Ads. It tells customers that Google has personally verified your business, you’ve passed a background check, your insurance has been verified, and Google Ads will back your services with up to $2,000 in reimbursement if a customer isn’t satisfied with your services.
Getting this badge can boost your visibility and credibility, which can get you more clicks, leads, and paying customers. It will also help you rank higher in the list of LSAs.
To get this green checkmark, you need to get approved for Google LSAs. Once you’re approved for LSAs, you’ll get the “Google Guaranteed” checkmark badge automatically. Just make sure you renew your insurance policy on time, maintain a high review rating, and keep responding to leads quickly. If you don’t maintain these things, Google Ads might remove your badge.
You can’t improve what you don’t track. Track your critical metrics, including call tracking, form tracking, and chat tracking. Run regular reports and check in with your ad campaign performance on a regular basis. It will take a little bit of time to gather enough data to make informed decisions, but the sooner you catch underperforming ads, the sooner you can make necessary changes.
It’s important to split test ads to see what elements drive the most conversions. Split testing, also called A/B testing, is where you run two nearly identical ads, but with one small difference between them. The difference could be a headline, colors, an image, the main copy, or the CTA. Once you run the ads long enough, take the winning ad and change one more element to test. Repeat this process by changing just one element at a time to see which version performs better. Use Google keyword planner to help navigate this. When done correctly, your clicks should increase over time.
Getting satisfied customers to review you is crucial, and as previously discussed, it can impact how your Local Service Ads show up. Reviews can also impact how you show up in the Local Pack. The more high-quality, genuine, recent reviews you have, the more likely you are to show up in search results. You’re also more likely to get clicks.
Positive reviews act as social proof that helps customers choose which business to call. You could have the best ad copy in the world, but if your competitor has 150 five-star reviews and you only have 6 reviews from 2019, customers will choose them over you.
It’s easy to get clicks, but getting real leads from search engines– the kind that book your plumbing services – takes work. For plumbers, a strong PPC strategy can make the difference between getting steady jobs or wasting cash. By targeting high intention search terms, targeting narrow service areas, and optimizing your ads, you can create high-performing ads that deliver real results without burning through your marketing budget.
Lead generation is critical for your plumbing business, but when done without a positive return on investment, it's foolish.
Whether you’re new to PPC ads, or you’re tired of wasting money on ads that don’t generate calls, we’d love to help you get real results. Our PPC experts specialize in helping local service businesses in the plumbing industry just like yours attract high intent plumbing leads, reduce wasted ad spend, and grow predictable revenue.
Contact us now for a free evaluation for your lead generation strategies, PPC campaigns and search engine optimization services – we’d love to help.
Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is the lifeblood of modern digital marketing, a finely tuned machine designed to separate serious advertisers from those who enjoy setting their money on fire. At its core, PPC is about buying attention—whether it’s from Google Ads, Facebook (or should we say Meta?) Ads, LinkedIn’s overpriced clicks, or whatever ad network is currently promising “unprecedented results.” The trick, of course, is making sure that the attention you’re paying for actually turns into conversions, and not just a collection of clicks that lead nowhere.
This guide is for marketers who already know the basics and are ready to squeeze every last drop of ROI from their PPC campaigns. If you’re looking for a “Beginner’s Guide to Google Ads,” this isn’t it. But if you’re tired of watching your ad spend disappear into the void and want to start running PPC like a ruthless efficiency machine, read on.
There’s nothing quite as tragic as a PPC campaign with no clear objective. Running ads without goals is like throwing darts blindfolded—sure, you might hit the board occasionally, but mostly you’re just making a mess. Before you even think about setting up a campaign, define what success looks like. Are you driving leads? Pushing e-commerce sales? Increasing brand awareness (ugh, we’ll get to why that’s usually a waste of money later)? If your goal is just “more clicks,” congratulations—you’ve just fallen for the ultimate PPC scam: paying for traffic that doesn’t convert.
Every campaign should have a quantifiable, measurable outcome tied to business KPIs. That means actual revenue, leads that don’t ghost you, or at the very least, cost per acquisition (CPA) that doesn’t make your CFO break out in hives.
Google Ads is the undisputed king of PPC, but let’s not pretend it’s the only game in town. Depending on your audience and objectives, Meta Ads (Facebook and Instagram) can still be a goldmine—if you’re willing to put up with Meta’s ever-changing rules and the occasional algorithmic meltdown. LinkedIn Ads? Great if you enjoy paying $12 per click for someone who will never fill out your lead form.
And then there’s the rising trend of alternative ad platforms. TikTok Ads are fantastic if you’re targeting Gen Z and have the budget to experiment. Microsoft Ads (formerly Bing Ads) may be the underdog, but they offer cheaper CPCs and a surprising number of high-intent users. If you’re in e-commerce, don’t ignore Amazon Ads—they print money for sellers who get their targeting right.
Google would love for you to just use broad match keywords and let their algorithm “figure things out.” Spoiler alert: this is a terrible idea. Broad match means your ad could show up for searches so unrelated to your business that it’s practically performance art.
Instead, focus on high-intent keywords—the ones that indicate users are actually ready to buy. Long-tail keywords often convert better because they signal more specific intent. The goal is not just to drive traffic, but to attract users who already have their wallets half-open.
Want to know what works? Look at your competitors. Tools like SEMrush, SpyFu, and Google’s Auction Insights let you see what keywords they’re bidding on, which ones they’re ranking for, and—most importantly—where they’re burning money so you don’t have to.
If a competitor is bidding on specific high-intent keywords, that’s your signal to investigate. Either they’re seeing a positive ROI, or they’re making an expensive mistake that you can learn from. Either way, it’s free intelligence.
Great PPC ads aren’t just about catchy headlines—they’re about aligning with search intent, making a compelling offer, and convincing users that clicking your ad is the smartest decision they’ll make today. A well-optimized ad uses clear, persuasive language with a direct CTA, because vague CTAs like “Learn More” are about as useful as a screen door on a submarine.
A/B testing is non-negotiable. Your gut instinct is probably wrong, so test different headlines, CTAs, and descriptions to see what actually drives conversions. If you’re not actively testing, you’re just guessing.
You have about three seconds to convince visitors that they made the right choice clicking your ad. If your landing page loads slowly, looks like it was designed in 2008, or makes users hunt for the CTA, they’re gone.
Your landing page should have a singular focus: conversion. That means no distractions, no unnecessary links, and definitely no autoplay videos that scare people away. A strong landing page aligns perfectly with the ad copy, ensuring a seamless experience from click to conversion.
Nothing kills conversion rates faster than misleading ad-to-landing page alignment. If your ad promises “50% off running shoes” and your landing page is a generic homepage with no mention of that discount, expect a bounce rate that makes your campaign ROI cry. Every landing page should reinforce the ad message, use clear headlines, and make it painfully easy for users to complete the desired action. If a user has to think, they’re already gone.
If you’re still using manual CPC bidding across all campaigns, congratulations—you’re officially working harder, not smarter. Google’s automated bidding strategies have their place, but blindly trusting the algorithm is like handing your credit card to a stranger and hoping for the best.
Smart bidding, when done correctly, can optimize conversions and lower CPA, but it requires constant monitoring. Target ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) and Maximize Conversions can be effective, but only if you have historical data to feed the algorithm. If you’re running a new campaign, manual bidding still gives you more control.
Running PPC without proper tracking is like driving blindfolded and hoping you’ll reach your destination. You need to track not just clicks, but actual conversions, customer lifetime value (CLV), and return on ad spend (ROAS). Google Ads’ built-in tracking is decent, but combining it with Google Analytics, heatmaps, and call tracking will give you a full picture of what’s working.
Scaling PPC isn’t as simple as increasing your budget and watching conversions skyrocket. If you scale too fast, you’ll tank your ROI. The right approach is incremental scaling—gradually increasing spend while monitoring CPA and conversion rates. If your CPA starts climbing faster than your revenue, it’s time to reassess. And if your PPC manager insists that “everything is going great” while your ROAS tells a different story? It might be time for a new PPC manager.
