Solved: Launched Google Ads Campaign, What's Next?

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out! I had a look at your situation. It's brilliant that you've jumped into Google Ads and are already seeing a positive return. That puts you ahead of many small businesses who just burn cash without a clue. But you're right to ask "what next?". Relying on initial good fortune isn't a strategy for long-term growth. What you need is a system.

I'm happy to give you some initial thoughts and guidance based on my experience. The good news is that for a service business like yours, there's a pretty clear path to turn that initial success into something predictable and scalable. It's less about a magic checklist and more about shifting how you think about advertising, from just 'getting your name out there' to building a machine that generates profitable jobs on demand.

We'll need to look at what 'working well' actually means...

First things first. You said you're getting "more returns as to what I put in". That's great, but it's a bit vague. To really optimise, you need to know your numbers inside and out. The most successful campaigns I've run, wether for a SaaS client or a local service business, are all built on a solid foundation of data. Without it, you're just guessing.

The first myth to bust is that you just need to watch your return on ad spend (ROAS). For a service business, it's more about Cost Per Lead (CPL) and, crucially, your Customer Lifetime Value (LTV). A lead isn't a sale. You need to know how much you can afford to pay for a phone call or a form submission that has a decent chance of turning into a paying customer. Most painters just look at the ad spend and the revenue from the one job, but that's a mistake.

What's a customer really worth to you? It's not just the value of the first job. A great customer might hire you again in a few years to do the upstairs bedrooms, or they might recommend you to their neighbour who needs their whole exterior done. That's the LTV. Forgetting this means you might turn off ads that seem "expensive" but are actually bringing in your most valuable long-term clients.

Let's do some rough maths. This is how you stop thinking like a painter who uses ads, and start thinking like a marketer who owns a painting business.

Now you have a real number. In this example, a customer is worth £1,200 in profit. A healthy business can often afford to spend up to a third of the LTV to acquire a customer. That means your target Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) could be as high as £400. If you close 1 in 4 qualified leads, you can afford to pay up to £100 per lead. Suddenly that £50 CPL from Google doesn't look so bad, does it? It looks like a bargain. This is the maths that lets you scale confidently.

I'd say you need to become an expert in your customer's nightmare...

The second big mistake I see is thinking your customer is just "someone who needs a painter". That's a demographic. It tells you nothing useful. To write ads that actually work, you need to understand their problem state. Their nightmare.

Your Ideal Customer Profile isn't "homeowners in a 20-mile radius". It's a specific, urgent, expensive problem. What is the real nightmare for someone hiring a painter?

• -> It's the fear of hiring cowboys who will turn up late, make a huge mess, drip paint on their new sofa, and disappear halfway through the job.
• -> It's the paralysis of choosing a colour. They've been to B&Q, they have 50 tester pots, and their walls look like a patchwork quilt. They're terrified of picking the wrong shade and having to live with it for five years.
• -> It's the stress of disruption. They've got kids and pets, they work from home, and the thought of their life being turned upside down for a week is giving them anxiety.
• -> It's the suspicion that they're going to be ripped off, with hidden costs and extras being added on at the end.

Your customer isn't buying "paint on walls". They're buying a solution to one of these nightmares. They are buying peace of mind, a beautiful home they can be proud of without the hassle, and the confidence that they've hired a true professional. Once you realise this, your entire approach to advertising changes. You stop selling a service and start selling a solution to their specific pain.

You probably should write a message they can't ignore...

Now that you know their nightmare, you can write ad copy that speaks directly to it. Most painters' ads are terribly generic. "Painter & Decorator in [Town]. Call for a Free Quote." It's boring, and it forces the customer to do all the work to figure out if you're any good.

You need to use a framework like Problem-Agitate-Solve. You name their pain, you poke at it a little bit to show you understand, and then you present your service as the perfect solution.

You don't sell painting; you sell a good night's sleep. Your ad copy should reflect that. I've run campaigns for all sorts, from home cleaning services where we got leads for £5, to high-ticket B2B software. The common thread is always speaking to the customer's problem, not your own features.

See the difference? These ads are not for everyone. They are for a specific person with a specific fear. They pre-qualify the customer. The person who just wants the absolute cheapest price might not click. But the person who values reliability and a stress-free experience—your ideal, high-value customer—will feel like you've read their mind.

You'll need a much better offer than 'Get a Quote'...

This brings me to the next point, and it's a big one. The "Request a Free Quote" call to action is lazy. It’s what everyone does. It’s high-friction for the customer (they have to commit to a sales conversation) and it gives them zero value upfront. It instantly puts you in a pile with every other painter, competing on nothing but price.

You must find a way to offer a moment of undeniable value for free. Solve a small piece of their problem to earn the right to solve the whole thing. This is how you build trust before you've even spoken to them. Tbh this is why our own agency offers a free ad account audit - it shows our expertise and solves a real problem for the client, making the sale much easier later.

What could this look like for a painting business?

• -> The Free 'Colour Confidence' Consultation: A 15-minute video call where you don't talk about price, you just help them with their colour paralysis. You become their trusted advisor, not just another tradesman.
• -> The Instant Online Estimate Tool: A detailed form on your website. "Tell us the number of rooms, the approximate size, and the condition of the walls, and we'll send you a ballpark estimate within an hour." This filters out tyre-kickers and gives genuine prospects the instant gratification they want.
• -> The '5 Mistakes to Avoid When Hiring a Painter' PDF Guide: A simple one-page guide they can download in exchange for their email. It positions you as an expert and gives you a reason to follow up.

These offers do the selling for you. By the time they actually ask for a full, detailed quote, they're already convinced you're the right person for the job.

We'll need to look at your campaign structure...

Now for the nitty-gritty of Google Ads. Just having one campaign with a bunch of keywords thrown in is a recipe for wasted spend. To optimise properly, you need structure. This is all about control and getting clear data.

Your campaign should be broken down into logical Ad Groups. Think of it like a filing cabinet. You wouldn't throw all your paperwork into one drawer. I've seen some terribly messy accounts, and sorting this out is the first thing we do. It makes a huge difference to perfomance.

Ad Groups: You should have seperate ad groups for each of your main services. This allows you to write highly relevant ads for each search.

• -> Ad Group 1: Interior Painting
• -> Ad Group 2: Exterior Painting
• -> Ad Group 3: Commercial Painting
• -> Ad Group 4: Wallpaper Hanging

Keywords: Within each ad group, you'll have a tight list of related keywords. For 'Interior Painting', you'd have things like "interior painter near me", "living room painter", "house painting services", "cost to paint a room". For 'Exterior Painting', you'd have "exterior house painters", "masonry painting", "rendering painter". The keywords in each ad group should be very closely related.

Negative Keywords: This is just as important. You need to tell Google what you DON'T want to show up for. This stops you wasting money on irrelevant clicks. You should have a long list of negatives, including things like "art", "lessons", "classes", "car painting", "spray paint", "jobs", "salary", "free", "cheap". You are a professional service, so you want to filter out the people looking for DIY tips or bargain-basement prices.

Ad Extensions: These are free extras that make your ad bigger and more useful. You should be using them all.

• -> Sitelinks: Links to specific pages on your site, like 'Our Process', 'Gallery', 'Testimonials', 'Exterior Services'.
• -> Call Extensions: Puts your phone number directly in the ad. This is a must for a local service.
• -> Image Extensions: Show off your best work directly in the search results. A picture of a stunning finished room is more powerful than any text.
• -> Callouts: Short snippets to highlight key benefits, like "Fully Insured", "5-Year Guarantee", "Dust-Free Sanding", "Fixed Price Quotes".

This structure gives you the data you need. You'll be able to see exactly which services are driving the most profitable leads, and you can adjust your budget accordingly. You might find that 'Exterior Painting' leads cost more, but the jobs are twice as valuable, making it your most profitable campaign.

This is the main advice I have for you:

It's easy to get lost in the details, so here's a summary of the framework I'd suggest you put in place to move from 'getting lucky' to 'building a predictable lead generation machine'.

This might all sound like a lot of work, and frankly, it is. Running paid ad campaigns effectively is a specialism in its own right, and it's a full-time job to manage, test, and optimise everything I've outlined above. It's the difference between having a campaign that just "works" and having one that becomes the primary engine for your business's growth.

Many business owners find they get a much better return by focusing on what they do best—in your case, providing a brilliant painting service—and letting an expert handle the complexities of digital advertising. We've seen it time and time again; a professionally managed campaign can often reduce the cost per lead significantly while increasing the quality of those leads. I remember one home cleaning client where, as I mentioned, we got their cost per lead down to just £5, and an HVAC company we work with is consistently getting leads for around £60 in a very competitive market.

If you'd like to go over your campaign in more detail, I'd be happy to offer you a free, no-obligation 20-minute strategy session. We can look at your account together on a screen share, and I can give you some specific, actionable feedback based on what I see. It's the same kind of value-first offer I mentioned above - we'll show you how we can help by actually helping you.

Regards,

Team @ Lukas Holschuh