Paid Ads to Drive Leads & Sales

Most ad platforms offer flexible budget options, allowing advertisers to start with as little as $5–$10 per day. However, what you can achieve with this budget depends on factors such as your bidding strategy (CPC, CPM, CPV), industry, location, ad placement, and target audience.

Minimum & Recommended Budgets by Platform:

• Google Ads - no minimum, but we recommend starting with at least $750-$1,500 monthly to achieve meaningful results.
• Meta Ads (Facebook Ads & Instagram Ads) - $1-5 USD per day for most campaign types; the recommended minimum is $500-$1,000 per month
• LinkedIn Ads - $10/day minimum; however, the default and the recommended minimum is $25 USD per day or $750-$1,200 per month
• TikTok Ads - The minimum budget is $50 USD per day at the campaign level and $20 USD at the ad group level, or roughly $2,500 per month if running the campaign continuously.
• Pinterest Ads - no minimum budget, but starting with $500-$1,000 per month is advisable.
• Programmatic Ads - each Demand-Side Platform (DSP) has its own minimums, but typically you're looking at $5,000-10,000 per month

💡 If you're running paid ads on multiple platforms simultaneously, you'll need to adjust your budget accordingly. For example, if you want to run Google Search Ads, Shopping Ads, and Meta Ads, you should allocate at least $1,250–$2,500 per month for a balanced campaign.

Paid Ads Management Fees:

In addition to the ad spend, digital agencies charge a fee to set up and manage your paid ad campaigns. Agencies typically charge either a flat monthly fee or a percentage of ad spend (usually 15%–30% of total ad spend). Some agencies may charge both the flat fee and the percentage of ad spend, but it's less common. There might also be an initial setup fee for the campaign. Depending on the scope of work, campaign size and ad spend a typical management fee might be between $1,000-$3,500+ per month for most SMBs.

Few agencies may offer a lower monthly fee, but reviewing what's included each month and whether you're locked into a long-term contract is important. $500 per month with optimisation done every three months is not a better value than $1,000 per month for ongoing optimisation and performance improvement.

⚠️ Remember, it's not just about how much you spend: it's about the return on investment (ROI) and the profit you generate.

Most paid ad platforms begin driving website traffic shortly after your campaign goes live, once it's set up, reviewed, and approved. However, some platforms require a learning period to optimise performance, so it's not uncommon for campaigns to take a week or two to gain proper momentum.

⏱️ That said, if you're working with the recommended minimum budgets outlined above, you should have a clear picture of how your campaign is tracking after the first month. It may not be performing at its peak or delivering the best return on ad spend (ROAS) just yet. Still, it should provide a solid benchmark for ongoing optimisation and decision-making.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and Google Ads are two of the most effective ways to reach people actively searching for your products or services. SEO is a long-term strategy that builds momentum over time, driving sustainable organic traffic and delivering strong ROI in the long run. In contrast, Google Ads offers immediate visibility and faster results, making it ideal for generating leads quickly - even if its ROI is generally lower than SEO over time.

💡 A combined approach works best for most businesses: use Google Ads for quick wins while investing in SEO for lasting growth. But if you're just getting started and need immediate traffic, Google Ads is often the smarter first step.

There are many possible reasons why your ad traffic isn't converting, but before diving into performance issues, the first step is to check your analytics setup.

It's surprisingly common for tracking tools to be misconfigured - resulting in inaccurate or misleading data. For example, your ad traffic might be reported as coming from a different source, which can inflate or underreport your campaign results. This is a serious problem, as inaccurate data leads to bad decisions, potentially costing you leads, sales, and valuable opportunities.

So, before tweaking your ads or website, ensure your analytics and tracking are working correctly. Accurate insights are the foundation of smart marketing.

The second step is to confirm that you've correctly defined your primary KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) - and that performance is genuinely underwhelming. For example, a 2% conversion rate might be considered low in some industries but perfectly acceptable in others. The same applies to Return on Ad Spend (ROAS).

❌ However, as a general rule of thumb, if your conversion rate is below 1% and ROAS is under 200%, it typically indicates that something isn't working as it should.

Once you're confident the data is accurate and your KPIs are valid, the next step is to review your campaign setup, audience targeting, landing page experience, bidding & budget - all of which play a key role in overall performance.

⚠️ Important: To make informed, data-driven decisions, your campaign needs both enough budget and enough time to gather meaningful performance data.

As a general rule of thumb:
• Lead generation campaigns typically require at least 300–500 clicks
• E-commerce campaigns should aim for 500–1,000 clicks

This allows you to evaluate results with confidence and make smarter optimisation decisions moving forward.

If your tracking is accurate, your campaign is well set up, the ads are driving high-quality traffic, and the landing page experience is solid - but conversions are still low - it may be time to explore Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO) and conduct a competitive market analysis.

These can help you uncover deeper insights, such as:
• User behaviour friction points
• Offer positioning vs. competitors
• Price sensitivity or trust barriers

What paid media to use depends on your industry, goals, audience, and budget. Most SMBs in New Zealand start with Google Search Ads, & Shopping (for e-commerce) and Meta Ads (Facebook & Instagram).

Since all business owners want the best return on investment (ROI) and generally have a fixed marketing budget, it's important to focus your efforts on the right channels. It’s not about being everywhere - it’s about identifying what works best for your business and investing in the platforms that consistently deliver the highest return on ad spend (ROAS). At Pixi Digital, we can help you do exactly that.

ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) is arguably the most important KPI when it comes to evaluating paid media performance. It measures how much revenue your business generates for every dollar spent on advertising. For example, if you spend $1,000 on Google Ads and earn $4,000 in revenue, your ROAS is 400% (or 4:1) - meaning you've made $4 for every $1 invested in ads.

Google Ads ROAS

⚠️ Note: ROAS only measures the revenue generated from ad spend and does not account for paid media management fees or other operational expenses. It also doesn’t factor in customer Lifetime Value (LTV), which can be significantly higher than the initial purchase - especially in subscription-based or repeat-purchase businesses.

Conversion rate is arguably the next most important metric after ROAS, as it shows how effectively your website turns visitors into customers or leads. It’s heavily influenced by factors like your goal type, industry, and audience intent, which is why conversion rates can vary significantly from one business to another. However, here are some of the most common ranges:

Google Ads Conversion Rate

⚠️ Note: If your conversion rate is unusually high - typically above 15-20% - it could indicate a tracking issue. Make sure your conversions aren't being double-counted, your tracking is set up correctly, and that you're not counting low-intent actions or micro-conversions (like button clicks, downloads, pageviews etc.,) as your primary KPI. If an agency confidently claims you have an 80% conversion rate and a $2 Cost Per Acquisition (CPA), it’s probably a red flag, and a sign to consider a different agency.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is changing how paid advertising works - giving marketers more intelligent tools to make better decisions quickly. On platforms like Google Ads and Meta Ads, AI helps:

• Optimise bids in real time to get more results for your budget
• Predict which audiences are most likely to take action based on past behaviour
• Automatically adjust ad placements and timing to improve performance
• Generate creative suggestions like headlines, descriptions, or images to improve ad quality
• Provide data-backed insights that help refine strategy without the guesswork

AI doesn't replace good marketing - it powers it. While automation handles the heavy lifting, real success comes from combining smart tech with smart strategy. That's where the team at Pixi Digital comes in.