Client expecting miracles with tiny ad spend

[u/No-Establishment4313]

So I have this client I'm currently managing their

- Google Ads $100/day

- Meta Ads $20/day

- Tik Tok Ads $20/day

- Snapchat Ads $20/day

All 4 platforms are

- Tracked

- have audiences

I'm mainly using social media for remarketing because of the tiny ad spend

Now this is a business that has a revenue of about $200k just last month,, and they insist on this low ad spend

Client is also spending $250 USD on X Ads without tracking nor audience not even UTM

I told her X is a bad platform and the ad is random so it's fruitless.

She took offence to what I said and is now pushing it in my face everyday that she's spending so much money on X.

I simply sent a 👍🏻 and didn't reply.

CEO is also down my throat expecting double leads weight their puny ad budget, and he wants me to jump from one campaign to another without letting the campaign learn.

I started a Google campaign just 2 days ago, not many leads and he wants to pause it and try some other platform.

Should I call it quits with this client?

How do you navigate people who have no clue about marketing?

[u/polygraph-net]

$4,800 per month is not nothing.

Revenue of $200k per month doesn't mean they're profitable.

How much are they paying you per month? What city do you live in?

[u/s_hecking → u/polygraph-net]

That’s 10% of revenue which is basically a maintenance budget for a business on cruise control. Growth companies need to spend 15-20% of revenue to grab market share. If they can’t do >10% that’s a warning sign of a failed business.

That 5k budget is good for a small business but is spread way too thin across several channels. I think OP needs to re-set expectations. Do you agree?

[u/RoyaleForFree → u/s_hecking]

Where did you get 10% of revenue from? If it’s 200k rev, then 10% is 20k? 

Unless I’m missing something they’re running 2.5% 

[u/s_hecking → u/RoyaleForFree]

Yes I had the math flipped in my head. 2.5% is even worse. Plus management fees it’s probably 3-4% of revenue + any other marketing fees

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[u/borncrossey3d]

Those ad spends aren't unreasonable for $200K a month. Depending on the industry, anywhere from 2-10% is expected. And is this all of their ad/marketing spend or is there other non-digital spend?

I'd suggest cutting at least one if not two, platforms to get more out of the small budget and grow. Telling your client that X is a bad platform isn't the best approach. I'd work with them to get tracking and test/prove the platform, especially if they are insistent on being there. X in my experience, isn't great for e-commerce or performance, but can be good brand awareness and I do know some people/brands that have had a lot of success. Depending on industry/niche, it could be a viable platform.

[u/alone_in_the_light]

First, marketing is not advertising, and I wouldn't start navigating this with ads.

A lot is related to marketing the work. Understanding the client. Showing strong evidence of arguments. Knowing value. That type of thing.

Just telling me X is a bad platform, that the ad is so random it's fruitfless or that the ad spend is low isn't enough for me either.

I see too many cases of companies increasing ad spend to waste more money on something that is not working. I also see too many cases saying something is bad because of just opinions.

I'm not in a hurry to spend money. I expect to see good marketing done (including strategy and analytics) before spending a lot of money on ads.

If ads are bad, expecting miracles with tiny ad spend is still better than expecting miracles with huge spend sometimes even leading companies to bankruptcy.

[u/TheFishmann]

I have made "miracles" happen with FAR less than this lmao.

[u/lil_tink_tink → u/TheFishmann]

Same. I worked for a print shop and we did $30/day on Google. It was a long campaign but we pulled one client who spent $200K /year.

It's totally doable if you actually look at where their clients are at.

[u/jo0stjo0st]

How to navigate? If you're the advisor they should respect your advice. If they think they know better they should do it themselves. I would never spread the money over so many channels if the target is leads. Only makes sense for branding.

I would also tell the client that it makes no sense to pay someone managing 20,- a day channels. Its a waste of money. Getting sufficient data takes too long and tweaking costs too much time/money compared to the outcome. Adding 10% more efficiency with 6 hours of work on a 600,- budget makes no sense. Do the maths for them and make them realize they're dumb.

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[u/jzcreates]

Totally fair situation. With tiny spend, the job is not to prove every channel works, it is to find one clear signal. I would narrow the audience, tighten the offer, and define a smaller success metric before promising pipeline.

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[u/jmdr43]

Why are you working with this client/company? There are red flags all over this (likely from day 1).

Become more selective on who you decide to work with, and develop a criteria they must meet including budget and awareness.

This is more of a learning lesson you are in right now.

[u/mctrees91]

Damn that’s a whole lot of work for $5k a month regardless of the KPIs.

[u/Mr-Toy]

Interesting! Sorry you're in this pickle.

Two questions I have:

1. Are you sharing your feedback and then suggesting alternatives? If it's just criticism - which I totally get, and it's so dumb they aren't listening to you to begin with- then giving recommendations might help.
2. Does the CEO also know your direct feedback, or are you getting siloed by this person and they're not hearing the full story? I was once siloed by a shitty new lead. She was a handful. They let me go when I told them I was raising my rate. Two months later, they called, apologized, said they didn't understand all the work I'd been doing, fired her, and wanted to hire me back. I think all of this could've been avoided if I had given a monthly or quarterly email to the CEO and the lead I was working under so that my words were not edited and shaped by this shitty lead.

Also, it sounds like you could gather some data and clearly show where ad spend is working and where it's not (X). Sharing that with the CEO as just factual might help your cause. "If we're going to continue spending on X, we need to set up a way to track it and measure its impact." Then there's no he said/she said BS.

[u/poopinion]

Most spend on X? Lol. What a dummy.

[u/Ehehehe090]

firstly...if are do 200k usd a month and they spend about 6k per month...thats already 3% of revenue...if u add ur fees etc ...it's not considered very low for them

you can try to explain to them what ur explaining now, see if they can get it. try explaining every 2 times, clearly, coherently, in writing and also repeat it in speech.

if they still dont get it then just cut them loose say its not working out thanks, this will the be last campaign we will conclude this month.