PAID MEDIA

Why Is My New Campaign/Ad Group Getting No Traffic?

Managing paid search and paid social networks requires a lot of strategic shifts.

One of the biggest is the understanding that paid search favors old entities while paid social media favors new ones.

However, there are sometimes legitimate reasons not to run a new campaign or ad group.

In this Ask The PPC, we’ll address that question.

Roviwa from Pretoria asks:

I’ve decided to create a new ad group with three ads, but I’m not getting any clicks or impressions on the ads and keywords. What could be the reason?

Note that this post will cover common reasons why an entity might not get any clicks.

Every account is different, and it’s always a good idea to direct any concerns to ad network support if you think there is an issue.

The first reason: the date is wrong

The most common and most frustrating reason is that the correct date range is not always available.

It could be because we were analyzing another part of the campaign or working on a different account.

Set the date range in the top right corner (true for all ad networks) to include at least yesterday and today.

You may also have inadvertently set the start date for the future.

Check the start and end dates in the campaign settings.

Once you confirm that you have the correct date range, you can move on to other technical fixes.

The second reason: the ad was rejected

When an ad is disapproved, you will receive a notification.

Sometimes, it can get lost in email or spam filters.

If you see your ad being disapproved, check if it’s for a good reason (eg editorial policies, restricted industries, etc.) or a mistake on the ad network’s part.

Valid rejections of the ad must be corrected, after which you can appeal the rejection in the ad interface.

Sometimes, ads are mistakenly grouped into restricted categories due to wording choices.

The following words can sometimes accidentally trigger red flags:

  • credit.
  • housing.
  • mediator.
  • lend.

You may also have an editorial problem and not realize it.

Here are the most common editing issues with ads:

  • Include a phone number in the ad text (must be included in the call add).
  • using all caps (eg, “Free” or “Try”).
  • Use of punctuation in the wrong place (eg, “!” in the headline instead of the description).

Reason #3: Keywords have no search volume

There is nothing worse than being told that your ideal keyword has no volume.

However, some industries naturally have lower search volume due to how specialized their products/services are.

If your keyword has a low search volume, it won’t work.

A good compromise is to use broad match for your long-tail keywords.

Broad match audience signals inform how an ad network matches your keyword to search queries.

This extra queue can mean the difference between enough data to serve and being forgotten in the search.

Reason #4: The bid is too low / the bidding strategy does not make sense

Completely new accounts will not benefit from the transfer data.

This means that bid strategies such as maximum conversions and maximum conversion value will have difficulty setting meaningful bids in the early days of an ad group or campaign.

If the bid is too high for the budget (more than 10% of the daily budget), the ad network may have difficulty getting the keyword into the auction.

Make sure to set bids and strategies in line with your industry and account age.

Reason #5: The occasional exception

Ad groups inherit negatives from their campaigns.

You may have a negative keyword list or a campaign-level negative keyword list that is preventing the keyword you’re actively bidding on from showing.

Audiences can be applied at the ad group and campaign level, so it’s possible to adjust the goals for the new ad group.

However, make sure you have the correct exceptions, and see if you intend to be on target and watch.

Target and monitor to prevent anyone who isn’t part of your target audience from showing your ad – which means you exclude audiences without actively excluding them.

The final takeaway

There are many reasons why an ad group or campaign might struggle to get traffic.

Be sure to check out these hidden pitfalls, and if you’re still struggling, contact your ad network representative.

Do you have a question about PPC? Submit via this form or tweet me at @navahf using the hashtag #AskPPC. See you next month!

More resources:

  • Getting Started with GA4: These 4 tips will get you up and running
  • 4 Ad customizers to improve Google Ads campaign performance
  • PPC 101: A Complete Guide to the Fundamentals of Pay-Per-Click Marketing

Featured image: Search Engine Journal/Paolo Bobetta

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