Why Your Google Ads Are Probably Costing You Too Much
If you’ve ever felt like you’re throwing money into a black hole with Google Ads, you’re not alone. I’ve spoken to dozens of business owners from Chermside to Coorparoo who feel the exact same way. They see the clicks, they see the bills, but the phone isn't ringing nearly enough.
Most of the time, the problem isn't that Google Ads doesn't work. The problem is that Google is guessing who your customers are.
Think about it: Google knows a lot, but it doesn't know who actually walks into your shop or signs a contract with your plumbing business. It only knows who clicks. If you want Google to find more people who actually spend money with you, you have to feed it the right information.
In the marketing world, they call this "first-party data integration." In the real world, it just means using the list of customers you already have to find more people just like them. It’s about being smarter with your money so you can get prices down on every new enquiry you get.
Here are the biggest mistakes Brisbane business owners make when it comes to their customer data, and how you can fix them to start seeing more profit.
Mistake #1: Treating Every Click Like a Gold Mine
Most business owners tell Google to find them "clicks." But clicks don't pay the mortgage. Sales do.
If you’re a landscaper, you don't want 100 people clicking your ad just to look at pretty pictures of gardens. You want the one person who is ready to spend $20,000 on a backyard renovation.
When you don't give Google your actual customer list (emails and phone numbers of people who have already paid you), Google treats every person searching for "landscaper Brisbane" the same way. It’s like firing a shotgun in the dark and hoping you hit something.
By uploading your customer list, you are essentially giving Google a “map” of what a winner looks like. Google then looks at its billions of users and finds people with the same habits, interests, and buying power as your best clients. This is the single fastest way to let Google find the people most likely to open their wallets.
Mistake #2: Ignoring the Customers You Already Have
I see this constantly: a business spends thousands of dollars to get a new customer, does a great job, and then never speaks to that customer again. Even worse, they keep paying Google to show ads to that same person!
If you have a database of 500 past customers, why are you paying $10 a click to show them an ad for a service they’ve already bought?
When you link your customer list to Google Ads, you can do two very powerful things: 1. Stop showing ads to people who already bought. (Save money immediately). 2. Show special offers to past customers. (Get repeat business for much less than the cost of a new lead).
If you’re a mechanic in Moorooka, it’s much cheaper to show an ad for a logbook service to someone who visited you six months ago than it is to outbid every other mechanic in Brisbane for a random "car service near me" search.
Mistake #3: Thinking Your List is "Too Small"
You don't need 10,000 names to make this work. Even if you only have a few hundred emails from past quotes or invoices, that is enough to start pointing Google in the right direction.
I worked with a small boutique gym in Newstead that thought they weren't "big enough" for this. They had about 150 active members. We uploaded that list, and suddenly their ads stopped showing to people who were just looking for "free workouts" and started showing to people who actually lived nearby and had the disposable income for a premium membership.
Their cost per lead dropped by 40% in three weeks. Why? Because we stopped guessing and started showing Google exactly who your best customers are.
Mistake #4: Worrying Too Much About Privacy (and Doing Nothing Instead)
I get it. You don't want to be "that guy" who leaks customer info. But here’s the reality: Google doesn't actually see the names or the specific email addresses in a way that humans can read.
When you upload your list, the data is "hashed." This is just a fancy way of saying it’s turned into a code that only computers can read. Google matches that code against its own users. If there’s a match, they show the ad. If not, the data is ignored.
By sitting on the sidelines because you’re worried about technicalities, you’re just letting your competitors (who are definitely using these tools) win the best jobs in town.
Mistake #5: Using Dirty Data
If your customer list is a mess of half-finished spreadsheets, sticky notes, and old invoices, Google won't be able to do much with it.
To see results, you need three basic things from your customers: 1. Email address (This is the most important one) 2. Phone number 3. Postcode
If you aren't collecting these for every single enquiry—even the ones that don't book—you are leaving money on the table. Every person who calls you is a data point that helps Google find another person just like them.
How Long Until You See More Sales?
This isn't a magic wand. If you upload your list today, you won't wake up to 50 phone calls tomorrow.
Usually, it takes about 2 to 4 weeks for Google’s system to "learn" from your data. The system needs to see who is clicking and how they compare to your list. But once it clicks, the results are usually permanent. You’ll notice that the leads coming in are "warmer." They ask better questions. They don't haggle as much on price. They are, quite simply, better customers.
What Should You Do First?
If you want to stop wasting money and start getting better results from your ads, here is your weekend homework:
1. Export your customer list. Get it out of your accounting software (like Xero or MYOB) or your CRM. 2. Clean it up. Remove any duplicates and make sure the emails look correct. 3. Upload it to Google Ads. If you don't know how to do this, ask your marketing person. If they don't know what you're talking about, you might need a new marketing person. 4. Set up a "Lookalike" audience. Tell Google to find people who "look like" your best customers.
Is This a Waste of Money?
Setting this up costs almost nothing but a bit of time. Compared to the hundreds or thousands of dollars you might be wasting on bad clicks every month, it’s the best investment you can make in your business’s growth.
Most Brisbane agencies will try to charge you a fortune to "manage your data strategy." Honestly? For most small businesses, you just need to get the basics right. Get your list into the system, keep it updated once a month, and let the technology do the heavy lifting.
The Bottom Line
Your competitors are likely bidding on the same keywords as you. They are probably using the same types of ads. The only way to beat them without just spending more money is to be smarter. Your customer list is your secret weapon. It is the only thing you have that they don't.
Stop letting Google guess who should see your ads. Tell them exactly who you want to talk to, and watch your phone start ringing with the right kind of work.
Ready to stop guessing and start growing?
At Local Marketing Group, we help Brisbane businesses stop the bleed and start seeing real profit from their ads. We don't care about "impressions" or "clicks"—we care about your bottom line.
If you want someone to take a look at your ads and tell you exactly where you’re wasting money, get in touch with us here. We’ll give you a straight-up assessment of what’s working and what’s not.