Solved: Fixing Irrelevant Audience Clicks in B2B Tech Google Ads Campaigns

Hi there,

Thanks for getting in touch. I'm happy to give you some initial thoughts and guidance on your Google Ads campaigns. Honestly, the problem you're describing – getting swamped with clicks from students and job-seekers for a B2B tech product – is incredibly common. It's probably the number one issue we see when we first look at a new B2B account. The platforms are built for volume out of the box, and you're paying for every one of those irrelevant clicks, so it needs sorting out immediatly.

From what you've said, it sounds like the foundations of the campaign need a complete rethink. It's not about small tweaks; it's about fundamentally changing who you're trying to reach and, just as importantly, who you're trying to push away. Here are my thoughts on how you should approach this.

We'll need to look at your foundations first...

The single most powerful and quickest fix for your situation is a relentless and agressive negative keyword strategy. I'd bet your current list is way too small. Your goal isn't just to block a few obvious terms; it's to build a fortress around your campaigns that is completely impenetrable to the wrong kind of traffic. This is your first line of defence, and it's non-negotiable for B2B tech advertising.

You need to think like a student or a job-seeker. What do they type into Google when they're researching, not buying? They're looking for information, examples, tutorials, and career opportunities. Your current setup is letting them all in. We need to slam the door shut.

Your negative keyword list should be broken down into several categories and should be massive. Here’s a start:

-> Job & Career Related: This is probably your biggest source of waste. You need to block every conceivable variation. Think beyond just 'jobs'.
Examples: `jobs`, `careers`, `hiring`, `recruiting`, `employment`, `salary`, `salaries`, `internship`, `work for`, `resume`, `cv`, `application`, `vacancy`.

-> Educational & Training Related: This will filter out the students and people just trying to learn about your space, not buy your solution.
Examples: `course`, `training`, `tutorial`, `guide`, `example`, `examples`, `what is`, `how to`, `definition`, `university`, `college`, `study`, `academy`, `learn`, `free course`, `certification`.

-> Price & Freebie Seekers: Enterprise decision-makers rarely search for 'cheap' solutions. Using these terms in your negative list filters for buyers with a real budget and intent.
Examples: `free`, `cheap`, `cheapest`, `low cost`, `price`, `pricing`, `cost`, `costs`, `trial`, `download`, `template`, `calculator`, `free alternative`. (A note on 'trial' - if you offer one, you'd use it in your ad copy, but you might negative it in campaigns aimed at bottom-funnel demo requests).

This isn't a one-and-done task. You have to live in your 'Search Terms' report in Google Ads every single week. This report shows you exactly what people typed before they clicked your ad. Go through it religiously and add any new, irrelevant search query to your negative keyword list. Over time, you build an incredibly robust set of negatives that purifies your traffic. It's a bit of work, but its impact is huge.

I'd say you need to overhaul your keyword strategy...

Once you've stopped the bleeding by blocking bad traffic, the next step is to get much better at attracting the right traffic. This comes down to the keywords you're actually bidding on. The fact you're getting so many students suggests your keywords are likely too broad and generic. You're fishing with a giant net in the open ocean instead of a specific lure in the exact spot where the fish you want are swimming.

For B2B tech, especially enterprise, you need to use long-tail, high-intent keywords. These are longer, more specific phrases that a serious buyer would use. They get less traffic, but the traffic they do get is golden.

Think about the language of your actual buyer. They dont just search for "project software." A CTO or Head of Operations at a large company would search for something far more specific, something that speaks to their actual business pain.

-> Instead of `crm software`, try `b2b crm for enterprise sales teams` or `crm with salesforce integration`.
-> Instead of `data analytics tool`, try `soc 2 compliant business intelligence platform` or `self-hosted analytics solution for large data sets`.

The beauty of this is that the keyword itself does half the qualification work for you. Someone searching for a "cheap project tool" is a different person entirely from someone searching for an "enterprise resource planning platform." You need to focus exclusively on the latter.

This also means getting a handle on keyword match types. If you're using a lot of 'Broad Match' keywords without the right bidding strategy and negative lists, you're essentially telling Google to show your ads for any search it *thinks* is vaguely related. This is definately where alot of the student and job-seeker traffic is coming from. You need to tighten this up. For a B2B campaign that's struggling, I'd almost always recommend starting with 'Phrase Match' and 'Exact Match' to regain control. It gives you precision over who sees your ads, which is exactly what you need right now.

You probably should rethink your Ad Copy and Messaging...

Your ads have two jobs. Job one is to attract the right person. But job two, which is just as important, is to actively *repel* the wrong person. Your ad copy is a filter. If your messaging is generic and appeals to everyone, you'll get clicks from everyone, and you'll waste your budget.

Your ad headlines and descriptions need to scream 'enterprise' and 'B2B'. You need to use language, features, and benefits that only a business decision-maker would understand or care about. This will make your ads completely uninteresting to a student or job-seeker.

Let’s contrast some examples:

Bad (Generic/B2C-style) Ad Copy:

Headline: The Best Tech Software
Description: Easy to use and powerful. Get started today and see the difference. Click here to learn more!

This is terrible because it means nothing and appeals to everyone. A student could easily click this.

Good (Enterprise B2B) Ad Copy:

Headline: Enterprise Tech Platform | Request a Demo
Description: Fully scalable & SOC 2 compliant. Dedicated account management and full-team onboarding. Seamless integration with your existing tech stack.

See the difference? Words like 'scalable', 'compliant', 'onboarding', and 'integration' are music to a CTO's ears but are meaningless jargon to a student. Mentioning "Request a Demo" instead of "Learn More" also qualifies intent. You’re not inviting browsers; you’re inviting buyers. This is how you pre-qualify clicks. It's not about getting the highest click-through rate; it's about getting the highest *qualified* click-through rate.

You'll need a funnel that actually converts enterprise clients...

Finally, none of this matters if the traffic lands on a website or landing page that doesn't continue the conversation. The transition from your ad to your page needs to be seamless. The page has to instantly confirm to the enterprise decision-maker that they are in the right place.

I haven't seen your site, but for B2B tech, the landing page must build trust and authority instantly. This means:

-> Social Proof: Logos of well-known companies you work with. Testimonials from named individuals at impressive companies. Case studies with real, hard numbers.
-> Clear Value Proposition: A headline that speaks directly to their high-level business pain, not just features.
-> A Strong Offer/CTA: For enterprise tech, the offer is rarely "Buy Now." It's almost always "Request a Demo" or "Talk to Sales." This is a crucial step in the B2B sales cycle. Don't offer a self-serve free trial if your product is complex and needs a guided setup. A demo allows you to qualify the lead, understand their needs, and begin the sales process. I’ve seen this with many B2B SaaS clients we've worked with; moving from a "free trial" to a "book a demo" CTA cut down on unqualified signups and dramatically increased the quality of leads going to the sales team.

Your entire funnel, from the keyword to the ad copy to the landing page, must be perfectly aligned and focused on one person: the enterprise buyer. Any weakness in this chain will result in the kind of wasted spend you're seeing now.

I've detailed my main recommendations for you below:

Putting all this into practice takes time and consistent effort. It's one thing to understand the theory, but it's another to execute it, monitor the data, and continually optimise based on what you're seeing. Getting it right is the difference between an ad account that bleeds money and one that becomes a predictable engine for generating high-quality enterprise leads. I remember one of our clients, a medical job matching SaaS platform, who came to us with a similar problem. By implementing this kind of focused strategy across their Google and Meta Ads campaigns, we were able to reduce their Cost Per User Acquisition from £100 all the way down to just £7. It completely changed the economics of their advertising.

This is the sort of deep dive we do for all our clients. If you'd like to go through your account in more detail and build a proper strategy, we offer a free initial consultation. We can have a look together and figure out a solid plan to turn things around for you.

Regards,
Team @ Lukas Holschuh