Solved: High Clicks, No Sign-Ups on Priority List Ad

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out!

Happy to give you some initial thoughts on your campaign. It's a really common problem to see lots of clicks but no real results, and tbh, you've stumbled on one of the biggest myths in paid advertising. Your switch from 'link clicks' to 'landing page views' is like swapping a flat tyre for one that's just slightly less flat – it won't get you where you need to go.

The real issue isn't the type of traffic, it's the *intent* of that traffic and the instructions you're giving the ad platform's algorithm. Let's get this sorted.

We'll need to look at your campaign objective... because you're paying to find non-customers

Here’s the uncomfortable truth. When you set your campaign objective to "Link Clicks" or "Landing Page Views," you give the algorithm a very specific, and very unhelpful, command: "Find me the largest number of people who will perform this action for the lowest possible price."

The algorithm, being a very literal and efficient machine, does exactly what you asked. It hunts down users inside your targeting who are known to be serial clickers. They click on everything but they rarely, if ever, buy anything or sign up for anything. Why? Because these users aren't in high demand from other advertisers who are optimising for valuable actions like purchases or leads. Their attention is cheap. You are actively paying the world's most powerful advertising machine to find you the worst possible audience for your product.

Switching to "Landing Page Views" is only marginally better. It just tells the algorithm to find cheap clickers who also have a fast enough internet connection to let the page load. It doesn't tell it to find people who are actually interested in your offer. The best form of brand awareness for a small business is a sale or a valuable lead, not a cheap click. Awareness is a byproduct of effective advertising, not the goal of it.

The Fix: You must change your campaign objective to 'Conversions' (or 'Leads' depending on the platform). Then, you need to select the specific conversion event you want the algorithm to find – in your case, a "Sign-up" or "Complete Registration" event from your pixel. Now you are telling the algorithm: "I don't care about clicks or views. Go and find me people who are similar to those who have already signed up to my priority list, even if it costs more to reach them." The system will now work for you, not against you, by seeking out users with a history of converting.

I'd say your offer is the real problem, not your ads

Even with the right campaign objective, you can still fail. And 9 times out of 10, the reason is the offer itself. I see so many founders and businesses building what they think is a great product or service, only to find that nobody really wants it. There's a lack of demand.

An offer isn't just what you're selling. A powerful offer is a specific solution to an urgent, expensive, and frustrating problem for a very specific audience. Let's break that down.

1. They focus on a specific audience: You can't sell to everyone. Who is this "priority list" for? Not a demographic like "small business owners," but a persona with a real problem. For example, "Founders of early-stage SaaS companies who are struggling to get their first 100 paying customers." This specificity makes your message incredibly relevant.

2. They identify an urgent problem: What pain are you solving? People don't sign up for lists just because. They sign up to solve a problem. The SaaS founder doesn't just want "more customers"; their deep frustration is the fear of failure, the stress of burning through cash, and the envy of seeing competitors succeed. Your offer must connect to this emotion.

3. They develop a clear offer to solve it: "Join our priority list" is not a clear offer. What's the benefit? What's the solution? A better offer would be: "Get our 5-day email course on landing your first 10 paying customers, and be the first to get access to our new tool that automates the process." This turns a vague list into a tangible, valuable asset that solves their urgent problem.

Your "priority list" needs to be framed as the solution to a nightmare. Without that, you're just asking for an email address with nothing of real value in return. No one will give you their email for that.

You probably should define who you're actually talking to... properly

This leads on from the offer. You can't craft a compelling message if you don't know who you're talking to. And I don't mean the sterile, demographic-based profile your last marketing hire made. "Companies in the tech sector with 10-50 employees" tells you nothing of value and leads to generic ads that speak to no one.

You need to stop thinking in terms of demographics and start thinking in terms of nightmares. Your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) isn't a person; it's a problem state. What is the specific, urgent, expensive, career-threatening nightmare that keeps your ideal customer awake at night?

Let's imagine your priority list is for a new project management tool.

• Bad ICP (Demographic): Project Managers, aged 30-50, working in tech companies in the UK. (This is useless).
• Good ICP (Nightmare-based): A non-technical founder who is terrified of her new product launch failing because her developers are constantly missing deadlines. She feels out of control, she can't get a clear picture of progress, and she's worried her investors are losing faith. She's tried Trello and it's too simple; she's looked at Jira and it's a nightmare for non-engineers.

See the difference? Now you know her fears, her frustrations, and the language she uses to describe her problem. This intelligence is the blueprint for your entire advertising strategy. You can now target her on LinkedIn not just by her job title ("Founder"), but by her interests (follows startup-related influencers), the groups she's in, and with ad copy that speaks directly to her pain. Do this work first, or you have no business spending a single pound on ads.

You'll need a message they can't ignore

Once you know your customer's nightmare, you can finally write an ad they might actually read. Your ad's only job is to get the right person to stop scrolling and think, "They're talking about me." Most ads fail because they talk about features and benefits, not problems and feelings.

Here are two frameworks we use that work really well. Let's apply them to our non-technical founder ICP.

1. Problem-Agitate-Solve (PAS)

You don't sell "a new project management tool"; you sell the feeling of being back in control.

Example Ad Copy:

• (Problem) Is your product launch date slipping again? Feeling completely in the dark about what your dev team is actually working on?
• (Agitate) Every missed deadline costs you money and credibility with your investors. Another chaotic launch could be the end of your runway.
• (Solve) Get a crystal-clear view of your project without learning to code. Our new tool gives non-technical founders the simple dashboard they need to keep launches on track. Join the priority list for early access.

2. Before-After-Bridge (BAB)

You don't sell "features"; you sell the transformation from chaos to calm.

Example Ad Copy:

• (Before) You're staring at a Gantt chart that makes no sense, trying to piece together updates from 10 different Slack channels. Your next board meeting is on Friday and you have no good news to share.
• (After) Imagine opening a single dashboard and seeing a green light. The project is on schedule. Your team is aligned. You walk into your board meeting with complete confidence.
• (Bridge) Our new project management tool is the bridge that gets you there. Built for founders, not engineers. Join the priority list and be the first to cross it.

Notice how neither of these ads mention "task dependencies" or "agile workflows." They talk about the real, human cost of the problem. That's what gets the click from the right person.

And then there's the landing page...

You mentioned you've made some changes to the landing page, which is good. But it's vital to understand what that page is for. It is not a place to simply collect an email. It is a dedicated, single-purpose sales page, and the product you are selling is the *value* of being on your priority list.

The "Join our List" button is almost as bad as the "Request a Demo" button. It's high-friction and low-value. It presumes the visitor already trusts you and wants what you have, which they don't. Your landing page's only job is to create that trust and desire in about 15 seconds.

A good landing page for a priority list must do the following:

• Have a Killer Headline: It must echo the pain from the ad and promise a specific outcome. Instead of "Join Our Waitlist," try "The Project Management Tool That Stops Devs From Missing Deadlines."
• Focus on Benefits, Not Features: Don't list what your product does. List what the user will *achieve*. "Get clarity," "Launch on time," "Impress your investors."
• Provide Social Proof: Even if you haven't launched, you can have testimonials from beta testers or quotes from industry experts about the problem you're solving. A photo of you, the founder, can also build trust.
• Have a Single, Clear Call to Action (CTA): The only clickable thing on the page should be the sign-up button. Remove your main navigation, footer links, social media icons—anything that could distract them from the one action you want them to take.
• Make the "Why" Obvious: Why should they sign up NOW? "Get 50% off for the first year," "Receive our exclusive guide to managing remote dev teams," "Be one of only 100 beta users to get lifetime access." There has to be some urgency or exclusivity.

If your landing page is just a headline and a form, you're throwing money away, no matter how good your ads are.

Let's talk about what this should actually cost

Okay, so once you fix your objective, offer, targeting, and landing page, what should you expect to pay for a sign-up? The honest answer is: it depends. But we can definetly narrow it down.

The main factors are the country you're targeting and how well your ads and landing page convert traffic. In developed countries like the UK, US, or Australia, clicks are more expensive. In developing countries, they're cheaper, but the quality of the lead can sometimes be lower.

Here's a rough breakdown based on what we see across many client accounts for sign-up or lead-gen campaigns:

You can use this calculator below to get a better idea of what your target Cost Per Lead (CPL) should be based on your own numbers.

But here's the thing that separates amateurs from professionals. The real question isn't "How low can my CPL go?" but "How high a CPL can I afford to acquire a truly great customer?" To answer that, you need to understand Lifetime Value (LTV).

LTV tells you what a customer is actually worth to you over the entire time they do business with you. Once you know this, you can stop worrying about a £5 vs £8 CPL and start focusing on acquiring customers who will pay you for months or years to come.

Here is the basic math:

LTV = (Average Revenue Per Account * Gross Margin %) / Monthly Churn Rate

Let's say you plan to charge £50/month for your product, your margin is 80%, and you expect to lose 5% of your customers each month (churn). Your LTV would be (£50 * 0.80) / 0.05 = £800. A healthy business can typically afford to spend about one-third of their LTV to acquire a customer. So in this case, your target Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) would be around £266.

If you know that 1 in 10 people who join your priority list eventually become a paying customer, you can now afford to pay up to £26.60 for a single sign-up! Suddenly that £8 CPL doesn't seem so bad, does it? It looks like a bargain. This is the maths that unlocks intelligent, aggressive growth.

Use the calculator below to figure out your own numbers.

This is the main advice I have for you:

There's a lot to take in here, I know. It's not as simple as just "running an ad." To succeed, you need a cohesive strategy where every element works together. I've put the main recommendations into a table for you below to give you a clear action plan.

As you can probably see, getting paid advertising right involves a lot more than just pressing a few buttons in Ads Manager. It's about deep strategic work on your offer, your customer, and your messaging *before* you even think about the technical setup. Then it's about rigorous testing, analysis, and optimisation.

While you can definetly implement these changes yourself, it can be a steep learning curve and a time-consuming process to get it right. This is where working with an expert can make a huge difference. I remember one campaign we worked on for an app client where we generated over 45,000 signups at under £2 each. We navigated this exact process to build a profitable and scalable campaign for them.

If you'd like to have a chat about your project in more detail, we offer a completely free, no-obligation strategy session where we can take a look at your specific setup and provide some tailored advice. It might be helpful to have a second pair of expert eyes on it.

Hope this helps!

Regards,

Team @ Lukas Holschuh