When Google Ads is not the right first step

Google Ads can be a very effective channel. Advertising cannot fix an unclear audience, a weak offer or the absence of somewhere interested people can understand what you offer. Sometimes it is better to build the foundations first and advertise later.

I mainly work with Google Ads and other paid digital marketing. That does not mean my advice is always to start advertising. Quite the opposite. One of the most important questions before spending on traffic is whether there is a good destination for it.

This became particularly clear in a recent advisory meeting. The project was very different from the businesses I usually work with: a niche cultural history project with an upcoming book, music, video and a clear audience in Sweden and the US.

The basic question was simple:

How do we reach people with this online?

It would have been easy to start discussing Meta Ads, YouTube Ads or Google Ads. I did not think advertising was the right first step.

Do not start with the ad platform

It is easy to start at the wrong end. “Should we run Google Ads?”, “Should we advertise on Instagram?” and “Does YouTube work?” can all be relevant questions. First, some more fundamental questions need answers.

What are we trying to achieve?

Do you want to:

• sell a product?
• generate more enquiries?
• build awareness?
• help people discover a new project?
• attract people to an event?
• build an audience over time?

It sounds obvious, but different goals require very different approaches. A business selling an established product with clear search demand faces very different conditions from someone introducing a story people do not yet know.

Does the audience exist, and do we know where to find it?

The next question is who we want to reach. In the example above, the audience was relatively small but clearly defined: people interested in Swedish emigration, Swedish-American history, genealogy, literature and local history, among other topics.

What made it interesting was that many were already gathered somewhere: associations, museums, historical societies, Facebook groups, mailing lists, or media and organisations with an existing audience.

The first question is not necessarily:

How do we buy 10,000 impressions?

A better question might be:

How do we reach the people and organisations that already have a relationship with the audience?

For a highly niche project, a relevant association or editorial team may be far more valuable than large amounts of broad traffic. That is another reason I believe marketing should begin with the audience, before the platform.

Is there somewhere to send people?

Suppose the advertising works. Someone sees an ad, becomes interested and clicks. What happens next?

You do not always need an advanced funnel or a perfectly conversion-optimised landing page. You do need some kind of natural next step.

For this project, I therefore advised putting a few simple things in place first:

• a clear website as the central starting point
• a Facebook page where people can follow the project
• a YouTube channel for the videos
• information about the upcoming launch
• regular content sharing more about the project

These are foundations, rather than advanced marketing tricks. Once in place, someone can discover the project today, read more, watch a video, follow the page and return later. Without them, advertising risks buying only temporary attention.

Content also needs to come before scaling

Starting organically also lets you see what people respond to. Which story attracts the most interest? Which video do people watch longest? Which topic gets comments or shares? What makes people click through?

That information is valuable when advertising begins. Instead of creating ten ads based on what you think will work, you can start with material already showing signs of audience interest. This matters particularly on Meta and YouTube, where content and messaging often have a major influence on performance.

Google Ads works best when there is demand to capture

Google Ads has a major advantage over many other marketing channels:

You can reach people while they are already looking for something.

If someone searches for accountancy firm Linköping or buy kitchen handles there is a clear need behind the search. Google Ads can be a very natural first channel in that situation.

Not every product or project works that way. If almost no one knows what you offer, there may be very few relevant searches to buy. Demand may first need building, or the audience reaching in other ways. Google Ads needs to fit the situation.

Advertising should amplify something that already works

Here is how I usually simplify it:

Advertising is very good at amplifying.

With a strong offer, you can get more people to see it. With content people already like, you can distribute it further. With a landing page that converts, you can buy more relevant traffic. With a clearly identified audience, you can try to reach more people like them.

Advertising also amplifies problems. An unclear page does not become clearer when you send 5,000 visitors to it. An offer people do not want does not improve with a higher budget. A project uncertain about its audience does not automatically become clearer by launching five campaigns.

Sometimes the right strategy is quite simple

For this particular project, the plan was roughly:

1. First: build a simple digital foundation.
2. Then: start publishing material and use the upcoming launch to create activity.
3. Next: contact relevant organisations, media and existing communities in Sweden and the US.
4. Finally: use advertising to amplify what appears to work.

It is not particularly complicated, and it does not need to be. Digital marketing easily becomes unnecessarily complex when you start with tools rather than the problem.

My starting point before advertising

When looking at a new project, I first try to understand a few things:

1. What is the goal?

What should the marketing achieve?

2. Who are we trying to reach?

Beyond demographics, which people could realistically be interested in the offer?

3. Where are they now?

Google, social media, trade publications, communities, existing networks or somewhere else entirely?

4. What should we say?

Which problem, need or interest gives the person a reason to care?

5. What happens after the click?

Is there a clear place to read more, buy, contact, register or follow?

6. Can we measure whether it works?

What will we evaluate?

Only then does the question of Google Ads, Meta Ads or another channel become particularly useful.

This does not mean waiting until everything is perfect

There is an opposite risk too: never starting because the website, content or offer must be “finished” first. That is not what I mean. The foundations need to be clear enough for us to learn from the traffic we buy.

Landing pages, messaging and campaigns can often improve in parallel. There should still be a considered hypothesis behind the work. Otherwise advertising risks becoming expensive activity without useful learning.

Frequently asked questions

When is Google Ads a good first channel?

Google Ads is often a strong first channel when people already actively search for the product or service and there is a clear offer to send traffic to.

When should you wait before using Google Ads?

Waiting can be sensible if the audience is unclear, the offer remains vague, the website lacks a natural next step or there is almost no relevant search demand.

Does the website need to be perfect before advertising?

No. It needs to be clear enough for a relevant visitor to understand your offer and the next step. Otherwise it becomes difficult to determine whether the problem lies in advertising or what happens after the click.

Should you start organically before advertising?

Not always. Organic content, existing networks and other relevant channels can provide valuable information about the messages and topics your audience responds to. That can then inform advertising.

Can Google Ads create demand?

Google Ads can extend beyond traditional search advertising through YouTube and Demand Gen, among other formats. Search is particularly strong at capturing existing demand. When people do not yet know the category or offer, other marketing may be needed alongside it.

Start with the problem, before the platform

I like Google Ads. It is also the channel I work with most. My job is not to launch Google Ads campaigns at any cost. It is to understand what is likely to deliver the best outcome for the business or project in front of me.

Sometimes that means rebuilding a Google Ads account. Sometimes it means scaling what already works. Sometimes it means saying:

We probably should not start advertising just yet.

Once the foundations are right, advertising becomes far more useful too.