Paying for Attention

Most teams get handed a target cost per lead with no math behind it, and that's where paid media strategy quietly falls apart. In this episode, Keegan breaks down how to actually build a target KPI from the ground up, and why chasing the wrong number can make a winning campaign look like it's failing (or a losing one look like it's working).

We cover why scaling a campaign often pushes cost per lead up, and why that's not automatically bad if lead quality is improving. We walk through the full math: starting from your revenue goal, working out how many deals you need using your average deal size, then your lead volume using your close rate, and finally breaking that down into the campaign-level metrics (conversion rate, cost per click, budget) that actually get you there.

Using a real example from a B2B construction prospect with a $1.5M monthly revenue goal, we show how target cost per lead should change based on which product or service line you're spending on, since close rates can vary widely across segments, even within the same account.

We also get into why attribution needs to go down to the keyword and audience level, not just the campaign level, and why e-commerce brands should be optimizing for profit (using cost of goods sold and per-product margin) rather than blanket ROAS or revenue targets. We share results from a 10,000+ SKU e-commerce client where shifting to profit-based optimization grew profit over 40% in a quarter.

If you've ever been handed a KPI you couldn't explain, or you're not sure your target cost per lead is actually right for your business, this episode is for you.

In this episode of our What Not To Do series, ATRA senior analyst TJ walks through the mistakes we see wasting ad budget across Google Ads, Meta, LinkedIn, and programmatic display, plus where creative quietly kills performance.

On Google Ads, we cover match type and keyword targeting mistakes that show your ads for the wrong searches, why geotargeting defaults to "presence or interest" (letting people outside your target market trigger your ads, something we catch in about 70% of audits), and why accounts running target CPA or target ROAS still need a max CPC bid cap, especially in high cost-per-click industries.

On Meta, we get into audience exclusions and why they matter more than on Google, the classic mistake of not excluding retargeting audiences from prospecting campaigns (which makes prospecting look better than it is), and creative pitfalls like ad copy that triggers the "See More" button and headlines that get cut off.

On LinkedIn, we talk about why targeting needs to be far more specific than on Meta, why a bad ICP list creates junk leads, and why turning off audience expansion made a dramatic difference in one client's sales-qualified leads.

On programmatic, we cover why display creative should read like a billboard (one message, not a paragraph), the importance of a placement blacklist to avoid junk sites, and the attribution traps hiding in view-through conversions and long conversion windows.

We close on attribution and the halo effect: why pausing one channel can tank another, why you need to know what your reporting is actually counting (view-through vs. click-through, first-click vs. last-click), and why misattributed conversions convince advertisers a channel is working when it isn't.

This is part of our What Not To Do series on Paying For Attention, the paid media podcast from ATRA. Follow along so you don't miss the rest of the series.

We're kicking off a new series on Paying For Attention: what actually drives performance in paid media. To start, we sat down with ATRA senior analyst TJ to break down the fundamentals most brands get wrong before a campaign even launches.

We cover how to choose the right channels and audiences based on your brand's maturity and offer (lead gen vs. e-commerce), why the "halo effect" means you can't lean on high-intent channels alone, and how to build a budget backwards from your target customer acquisition cost. From there, we get into creative: why consistency and simplicity beat cleverness, why video shouldn't lead with your brand, and how to avoid burying what you actually sell under awards and testimonials.

We close on the piece most audits catch first: measurement. TJ walks through why platform conversions and CRM data can tell two different stories, the tracking mistakes (duplicate conversions, mis-set primary conversion actions) that quietly wreck ROAS reporting, and why offline conversion uploads matter more as platforms lean further into automation.

This is part one of our Performance series. Next time, we get into specific strategies and tactics from the ATRA team and outside industry experts. Follow Paying For Attention so you don't miss it.

Google is rolling out a major update to Target ROAS and Target CPA bidding strategies on August 17th and it's already got advertisers calling it a "money grab." In this episode of Paying for Attention, Keegan sits down with paid media strategist Madi Fleetwood to break down exactly what's changing and why.

They cover:

• Why campaigns that have been "overly efficient" are about to see targets pulled tighter
• What "limited by budget" campaigns should expect
• Why complacent, set-it-and-forget-it advertisers are most at risk
• The learning phase risk and what could happen to spend and performance if you wait until the last minute
• How close you should keep your targets to actual performance (hint: 5-10%)
• The silver lining: better forecasting tools for advertisers going forward

Whether you manage Google Ads campaigns in-house or for clients, this episode gives you a clear action plan before the August 17th change goes live.

Worried that your social or display ads may be getting stale? Unsure on what's causing your audience to not connect with your ads like they used too? From metrics to aesthetics and channel expansion to strategy, we cover it all with how to spot signs of ad fatigue and fix them.

Dive deep into the foundation of your ad campaigns by learning new insights into keyword research strategies. Listen in as we provide tool recommendations and discuss items like longer tail keywords, conversion tracking, historical performance, campaign organization, proper negative keyword use and more. Tune in!

Having trouble getting your products synced from your website to Google Ads? Listen in today as we talk about common merchant center issues and discuss the three types of issues with an account, what they are and how to fix them. We dive deep and technical on the issue so your account won't be suspended!

You've been optimizing shopping ads for a while now, trying different structures, making bid adjustments, but now feel like you've done all you can. Is there more room to optimize? Megethos' e-commerce expert, Dillon Hake joins this episode of PFA with a resounding "YES!". There is plenty more to optimize in your shopping campaigns like adding negatives, updating product descriptions, seasonality bids, and more. Listen to Dillon's debut on the show and start getting a better CTR on your products!

We've all been through it. Your company (or client) updates its website and now your ads are disapproved because they didn't think any URLs would change. Or even worse, everything looks fine for a few weeks until the conversion rate sees a dip and now you're to blame for a decline in performance. If this sounds familiar or you are trying to be as prepared as possible for an upcoming redesign, then this episode is for you. The Paying For Attention team goes through the top updates and items to be prepped for a site redesign to make sure your paid campaigns don't suffer!

Google's forcing another change by sunsetting expanded text ads in favor of responsive search ads. The Paying For Attention team covers the top tips on switching to RSA's and how to optimize them moving forward, despite the current limitations.