Why You’re Probably Overpaying for Every Lead
If you’ve ever tried running Google Ads for your Brisbane business, you know how quickly the costs can spiral. You set a daily budget of $50, and before you’ve even had your morning coffee, Google has spent it all on clicks that didn't turn into a single phone call. It’s frustrating, and frankly, it’s why a lot of tradies and shop owners give up on ads altogether.
Most business owners I talk to in places like Chermside or Mount Gravatt think they need to spend thousands of dollars a month just to compete. They think they need to be the one manually choosing exactly what to pay for every single click.
I’m here to tell you that’s old-school thinking. It’s also a great way to go broke.
Google has changed the game with something they call "Smart Bidding." In plain English, this means you stop trying to outsmart the system and instead tell Google exactly what a customer is worth to you. Then, you let Google’s computers do the heavy lifting to find people who are actually ready to buy.
The Trend: From "Paying for Clicks" to "Paying for Customers"
The biggest shift we’ve seen over the last year is that Google is getting much better at predicting who will actually call you.
In the past, you’d pay for a click from anyone who typed in "plumber Brisbane." Today, Google knows if that person is just a DIYer looking for a video or a homeowner with a burst pipe in Indooroopilly who needs help right now.
Smart Bidding allows you to tell Google: "I don’t care about the clicks; I care about the phone calls."
Prediction: Manual bidding is becoming a waste of time
I’ll be blunt: If you are still manually setting your bid prices for every keyword, you are losing money. You can’t react as fast as a computer. Google now looks at millions of signals—the time of day, the person's location, what they’ve searched for previously—to decide if they are a good lead for you.For most small businesses, trying to manage this yourself is a recipe for wasting your budget. You’ll end up paying too much for bad leads and missing out on the gold.
How Smart Bidding Actually Makes You Money
Let’s look at a real scenario. We recently worked with a landscaping business on the Southside. They were spending $2,000 a month and getting about 10 enquiries. They were picking their own bid prices and trying to be #1 for every search.
We switched them to a smart strategy where we told Google: "Find us leads for under $60 each."
Within two months, their cost per lead dropped, and they were getting 25 enquiries for the same $2,000 spend. They didn't need a bigger budget; they just needed to stop fighting the system.
The "Learning Phase" Frustration
Here’s what most people get wrong. When you turn on these smart settings, Google takes about two weeks to "learn." During those two weeks, your results might look a bit shaky.Most business owners panic and turn it off. Don't do that.
Think of it like training a new apprentice. They won't be perfect on day one, but once they know how you work, they’re worth their weight in gold. If you keep meddling with the settings every three days, the system never learns, and you keep burning cash.
Is Your Budget Too Small for This?
I get asked this all the time: "Can I use this if I only have $30 a day?"
Yes, you can, but you have to be smart about it. If you try to target all of Brisbane with a tiny budget, Google will spread your money too thin. You’ll get a click in North Lakes, a click in Ipswich, and a click in Cleveland, and none of them will turn into a job.
If you have a small budget, you need to focus on getting local customers in a tight radius around your workshop or store. Smart Bidding works best when it has a clear, specific goal. Tell it to find people within 10km of you who want your specific service, and it will perform much better than a broad approach.
What You Should Do First (The 3-Step Plan)
If you want to stop wasting money and start getting more bookings, follow this plan:
1. Track Everything: You cannot use smart bidding if you aren't tracking phone calls and contact forms. If Google doesn't know which clicks turned into customers, it can't learn. This is the #1 mistake I see Brisbane businesses make. 2. Set a Realistic Target: Don't tell Google you want leads for $5 if your industry average is $50. Be honest about what a customer is worth to you. If a new roofing job is worth $10,000, paying $150 for a lead is a bargain. 3. Leave It Alone: Once you set your strategy, leave it for at least 14 days. Don't check it every hour. Let the data build up.
What’s a Total Waste of Money?
Let’s talk about "Display Ads"—those banner ads you see on news websites or games. For 90% of small businesses in Queensland, these are a total bin fire.
Unless you are a massive brand like Woolies or Harvey Norman, you should be focusing on "Search Ads"—the ads that appear when someone is actively looking for what you sell. Using smart bidding on the wrong type of ads is just an automated way to lose money faster. Make sure you understand the difference between search and display ads before you commit your hard-earned cash.
Expert Insight: The Future of Small Business Ads
Moving into next year, Google is going to make it even harder to manage ads manually. They want you to use their AI tools. While that sounds scary, for a busy business owner, it’s actually a win. It means you spend less time looking at spreadsheets and more time out on the tools or talking to customers.
However, the "secret sauce" isn't the bidding anymore—it's your offer. Because everyone will be using the same smart technology, the business that wins is the one with the better website, the better reviews, and the faster response time.
If your website looks like it was built in 2005 and doesn't work on a smartphone, no amount of smart bidding will save you. People will click, see a mess, and leave.
Summary: Will This Make You Money?
Smart bidding is the most effective way for a small business to compete with the big guys. It levels the playing field.
Cost: It doesn't cost extra to use these features; they are built into Google Ads. Results: Expect to see a real difference in about 3-4 weeks once the "learning" is done.
- Effort: Much lower than manual bidding, but you must have your tracking set up correctly.
Ready to get more out of your marketing?
At Local Marketing Group, we help Brisbane businesses stop the guesswork and start getting real results. We don't care about "impressions" or "clicks"—we care about how many new customers are walking through your door.
If you want a hand setting this up properly so you can stop worrying about your ad spend and get back to running your business, let's chat.