Paid ads are everywhere. Google search results. Your LinkedIn feed. Instagram stories. TikTok videos that somehow know exactly what you were thinking about five minutes ago. The question isn’t whether paid media works. It’s whether it works for you, and whether you’re ready for what it actually takes.
At BPM, we’re big fans of paid media when it’s done correctly. We’re also the first to tell you when it’s a bad idea. Paid ads are not a magic switch you flip and suddenly your pipeline fills up. They are a system. A demanding one. If you’re considering Google Ads, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, or any other PPC channel, here’s what you really need to know before you jump in.
Paid Media Is a Long Game, Not a Quick Win
Let’s start by killing the biggest myth right away. Paid ads are not instant success. Anyone promising you immediate, predictable ROI in the first month is either inexperienced or lying.
Paid media takes time to test, optimize, and ramp up. Creative needs to be tested. Audiences need to be refined. Keywords need to be evaluated. Conversion data needs to accumulate. Algorithms need signals. All of that takes time.
A realistic expectation for assessing paid media success is six months. Not six weeks. Not thirty days. Six months. That doesn’t mean you sit on your hands for half a year. It means you commit to learning, iterating, and improving over a meaningful window before declaring victory or failure.
If you need results next week, paid ads are probably not your answer.
Your Landing Page Can Make or Break Everything
One of the most overlooked parts of paid media is what happens after the click. You can have highly sophisticated targeting, beautiful ads, and perfect bids, and still burn money if you send traffic to a bad landing page.
A good landing page is fast. Load time matters more than most people want to admit. If your page crawls, users bounce, and you pay for that bounce.
The value proposition needs to be crystal clear above the fold. Visitors should immediately understand what you do, who it’s for, and why they should care. No scrolling required.
Mobile optimization is not optional. The majority of paid traffic comes from phones and tablets. If your page looks great on desktop but clunky on mobile, you’re throwing budget away.
Customer testimonials help, especially for lead generation. Social proof builds trust quickly, and trust is the currency of conversions.
And yes, a CAPTCHA on lead forms is essential. Bots are real. Spam leads are expensive. A small amount of friction beats a CRM full of junk every time.
PPC Loves Ecommerce, But Lead Gen Can Still Win
PPC works exceptionally well for ecommerce. Clear products, clear pricing, clear conversion events. The platforms love that clarity, and the algorithms reward it.
That said, paid media can absolutely work for professional services and lead generation. It just requires more discipline.
Lead generation campaigns need clean tracking, strong offers, and realistic expectations. The sales cycle is usually longer. Attribution is messier. Volume can be lower. But when done correctly, paid media can drive high-quality opportunities that organic channels struggle to reach.
The key is understanding that lead gen PPC is not about volume for volume’s sake. It’s about quality and intent.
Speed to Lead Is Non-Negotiable
If you’re running lead generation ads, speed to lead is everything.
Today’s buyers expect instant follow-up. Not tomorrow. Not later that afternoon. Basically immediately. Even a delay of 20 minutes can dramatically reduce your chances of connecting with a lead. In that time, they’ve already moved on, filled out another form, or chosen a competitor.
Paid ads without automated follow-up are a wasted opportunity. Your CRM, email system, and sales team all need to be aligned before traffic starts flowing. If you can’t respond fast, don’t run the ads yet.
This is one of the most common reasons paid lead gen fails, and it has nothing to do with the ads themselves.
Ad Platforms Are Built to Make Money, Not Protect You
Google, Meta, LinkedIn, TikTok, and every other platform are constantly rolling out new features. Most of them are enabled by default. Many of them sound helpful. Some of them are.
But remember, the platform’s primary goal is to drive clicks and spend, not necessarily your profitability.
Automated recommendations, broad targeting expansions, auto-applied settings, and new campaign types often need to be opted out of. Left unchecked, they can quickly push spend into low-quality traffic.
This doesn’t mean automation is bad. It means blind trust is expensive. Paid media requires active oversight and informed decision-making.
Maintenance Is Part of the Deal
Paid ads are not set-it-and-forget-it. They require regular maintenance to perform well.
Budgets need to be paced correctly, so you don’t blow spend too early or underspend when performance is strong. Targeting signals need to be refined. Creative fatigue needs to be monitored.
In Google Ads specifically, negative keywords are critical. Without ongoing negative keyword management, your ads will show up for irrelevant searches, and you’ll pay for every one of them.
Paid media rewards attention. Neglect shows up directly on your credit card statement.
Conversion Data Is the Real Secret Weapon
If there’s one thing that separates average PPC from elite PPC, it’s conversion data.
For lead generation, best practice is using a CRM to pass high-quality lead data back to Google. Not just form fills, but qualified leads and closed deals. This allows the algorithm to optimize toward what actually matters, not just volume.
When platforms know which leads turn into real revenue, targeting improves dramatically.
If lead volume is low, secondary conversion events can help train the algorithm. Things like scroll depth or time on page can signal engagement and intent. These should remain secondary conversions, not primary goals, but they can provide valuable context when primary conversions are sparse.
Data quality matters more than data quantity.
So, Should You Run Paid Ads?
Paid ads are powerful. They are scalable. They can absolutely drive growth. But they are not forgiving.
You should consider paid media if you’re willing to commit time, budget, and attention. If you have strong landing pages, fast follow-up, clean tracking, and realistic expectations, paid ads can become one of your most reliable growth channels.
You should think twice if you want instant results, minimal involvement, or a plug-and-play solution. Paid media exposes weaknesses quickly. Weak offers, slow response times, poor pages, and bad data all get amplified.
When done right, paid ads don’t just drive clicks. They drive insight, momentum, and measurable revenue. When done wrong, they’re just an expensive lesson.
At BPM, we prefer the first option.
If you’re considering paid ads and want an honest assessment of whether they make sense for your business, let’s talk. We’ll help you evaluate your readiness, identify gaps, and determine whether paid media will actually move the needle … or if your budget is better spent elsewhere.
