Beginner’s Guide to Google Ads Competitor Analysis In 2024
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Looking to research competitor's Google Ads?
In this guide I'll walk you through how to find their best ads, and reverse engineer their strategy.
Regardless of if your budget is as low as $10/day or $10,000/day, the same process applies.
We’ll first focus on analysis in this guide and then dive into strategy.
Let’s get into it! 👇
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- How to Find & Research Competitors Google Ads
- Free Tools to Find Examples of Competitors Google Ads
- Paid Tools to Find Examples of Competitors Google Ads
- How to Break Down Your Competitors Google Ads Strategy
How to Find & Research Competitors Google Ads
Pablo Picasso once said “good artists copy, and great artists steal” taking inspiration from what works from your competitors and transforming it into “your own” way is a sound approach.
Just remember this can sometimes lead to a situation where everyone is copying each other and no one has any real idea of what their doing in the first place 😅
Ultimately beating your own baseline performance is what you should obsess about.
With this disclaimer out of the way, you first need to know what competitors you want to research.
You can find who you’re up against with the auction insights report in Google Ads.
Find this report by navigating to Keywords > Auction Insights within your Google Ads account.
- Sort this report by Impression Share to understand how visible you are against your competitors for your targeting criteria (ex: keywords, locations, audiences).
- Review the Top of page rate as well to understand how often you and your competitors appear within the top 3 positions of Google.
Now that you have an understanding of who your competitors are.
Let’s dive into the free and paid tools you can use to conduct Google Ads competitor analysis.
Free Tools to Find Examples of Competitors Google Ads
Each of the following competitor analysis tools can be used for free, leverage whichever resonates.
Google Ads Transparency Center
Source: https://adstransparency.google.com/
The Google Ads Transparency Center was released on March 29, 2023 as a way to help you quickly and easily learn more about the ads you see on Search, YouTube and Display.
Since the release of this tool it’s become an absolute goldmine for Google advertisers.
Here’s how you can leverage the Google Ads Transparency Center for competitor analysis:
1. Visit the Google Ads Transparency Center and enter your competitors domain URL
2. Scroll down to see the most recent Search, YouTube, and Display ads
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When scrolling through the results take note of the following:
- Number of total ads to understand how active your competitor is.
- The language the ads are written in to know if your competitor is running localization strategy.
- The primary keyword your competitor is trying to target in the ad copy.
- {Parameters} in the ad copy to know if your competitor is using dynamic search ads or keyword insertion.
3. Once you find an interesting ad click on it to reveal the target location
- Click on the show anywhere button to reveal the target location for the ad.
Armed with this information you can decide if you want to advertise to these same regions.
If you only used 1 tool for Google Ads competitor analysis I’d recommend the Transparency Center.
ISearchFrom
Source: https://isearchfrom.com/
If you’re planning to advertise somewhere you’re not physically located and want to know which competitors are bidding on your target keywords, ISearchFrom is a great free tool to use.
Here’s how you can utilize ISearchFrom for google ads competitor analysis:
1. Visit ISearchFrom and enter your target country and keyword
2. Review the ads to uncover advertisers in your target location you might not be aware of
From this simulated result for someone “physically” located in the United Kingdom I can see Coursera is advertising on google ads courses in this region.
From here I can leverage the Transparency Center to uncover more ad examples from them.
Again this is a great tool for finding competitors you’re not familiar with in locations you’re not in.
Paid Tools to Find Examples of Competitors Google Ads
Each of the following competitor analysis tools can be used for a fee, use whichever resonates and fits your budget.
SpyFu
Source: https://www.spyfu.com/
Price: $39-$79/month
If you’re looking for a simple tool to review examples of competitors Google Ads copy, target keywords, and landing pages.
SpyFu is a great tool to start off with, here’s how you can use it.
1. Visit SpyFu and enter your competitors domain
2. Review your competitors estimated Google Ads budget and quantity of paid keywords
3. Navigate to “PPC Research > PPC Keywords” to see all paid keywords
4. Head to “PPC Research > Ad History” to see all competitor ad examples by keyword
5. Uncover other top competitors “PPC Research > Competitors” you might know of
With this one tool you can get estimates of competitors' Google Ads budgets, review keywords, ads, and uncover opportunities across new competitors you might not know of.
Other paid tools:
There’s no shortage of paid tools you can use to research your competitors.
Here’s a list of some others worth exploring:
Don’t get hung up on the tools.
Achieving the end outcome is ultimately key.
Now that you know how to find and research your competitors Google Ads.
Let’s walk through how to break down their strategy.
How to Break Down Your Competitors Google Ads Strategy
Knowing what keywords and ad copy your competitors are using is a great starting point.
But getting answers to questions like:
- How are my competitors structuring their campaigns?
- How are they allocating budget?
are crucial insights that can separate you from them.
1. Reverse Engineering URL Parameters
Once you know your competitors landing pages, which you can get from:
- Searching keywords in Google and clicking on their ads
- Reviewing landing page URLs in SpyFu’s Ad History report
You’ll want to review their UTM parameters to get insights on the goal of this campaign, target keyword, and anything else around how it was set up.
URL Parameter Example #1 - Zoho
For example, I searched CRM software and clicked on this ad from Zoho:
When reviewing the URL post click I can see the following parameters:
/?network=g&device=c&keyword=crm%20software&campaignid=14928929712
&creative=552506800726&matchtype=e
&adposition=&placement=&adgroup=130022006802&gad_source=1
&gclid=Cj0KCQjw3tCyBhDBARIsAEY0XNlAKXey
TKDzEJQDpeNh2giI4p8sVSnWKqsvlND5bvZa_J
q62wCqSFoaAsc1EALw_wcB
By reviewing the URL structure I can gather the following information:
- Network = g | they’re advertising on Google Search
- Device = c | they’re running ads on Desktop devices
- Keyword = crm software | they’re bidding on crm software
- Matchtype = e | they’re using exact match
URL Parameter Example #2 - Freshworks
Let’s use one more example to drive this home with the Freshworks ad that was underneath Zoho:
?tactic_id=6071454&utm_source=google-adwords&utm_medium=FSales-Search-InsideEU-FSE-RLSA-New
&utm_campaign=FSales-Search-InsideEU-FSE-RLSA New&utm_term=crm%20software&device=c
&matchtype=p&network=g
&gclid=Cj0KCQjw3tCyBhDBARIsAEY0XNkaG_AiGqCRYj-AEcuQcnvJS_3eI0bS6jIKu_
M7JRmqOYwSIGwuc6UaAvYqEALw_wcB&gad_source=1
Here’s what I’m able to gather from the URL structure:
- Source = google-adwords | they’re advertising on Google Search
- Campaign = FSales-Search-InsideEU-FSE-RLSA-New | they’re advertising in the EU and running a remarketing list for search ads campaigns.
- Term = crm software | they’re advertising on the keyword crm software
- Device = c | they’re bidding on desktop devices
- Matchtype = p | they’re using phrase match
With this information you can start to get answers into how your competitors are structuring their campaigns and it’s freely available and ready for those advertisers that are savvy enough to look.
2. Keyword Classification
How are your competitors allocating budget?
Now you’ll never know the answer to this question with absolute certainty but with some manual work here’s how you can try and piece together a sense of their strategy allocation.
You’ll need one of the paid tools listed above in order to perform this keyword analysis.
I’ll be using SEMRush for the sake of demonstration but the general process is the same across tools.
1. Export all of your competitors paid keywords into a CSV
2. Filter the Last Seen column by the most recent month to see active keywords
3. Add a new column called “Theme” and classify each keyword by campaign theme.
This step can take some significant time but can be well worth the effort to understand your competitors keyword strategy and budget allocation priorities.
With your custom column of “campaign theme” you’ll want to manually classify each keyword.
Here’s the four campaign themes you’ll utilize for classification:
- NonBrand = high-intent keywords that don’t include your brand name
- Brand = keywords containing your brand name
- Competitive = keywords that represent your competitors
- Content = keywords that are informational and research oriented
Watch this video for a deep dive on how to perform this advanced classification:
4. Summarize your classified keywords into a pivot table to understand your competitors strategy and budget priorities
From here we can make some assumptions about what is working for our competitors.
- 87% of Udemy’s keywords are NonBrand, 9% Brand, 4% Content, and barely 0% Competitive.
- It’s safe to assume that the majority of the budget is supporting NonBrand, followed by Brand, Content, and ultimately Competitive.
Based on this allocation I might want to focus on NonBrand first given the volume of investment Udemy seems to be spending on it, and avoid competitive keywords to start.
This isn't 100% exact science but an advanced way to research your competitors Google Ads.
Need help calculating your stating Google Ads Budget?
If you’re in need of help calculating your starting Google Ads budget check out our calculator.
Hope you found this article useful!
See you in the next article or one of our free courses!
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People Also Ask
How can I identify indirect competitors in Google Ads?
Beyond direct competitors, consider businesses offering alternative solutions that address the same customer needs. Use tools like Google’s Keyword Planner to discover who is bidding on related keywords, revealing indirect competitors.
What are the ethical considerations when analyzing competitors’ ads?
While it’s acceptable to study competitors’ public ads, avoid deceptive practices like clicking on their ads to deplete budgets. Focus on gathering insights without engaging in unethical behavior.
How often should I conduct a competitor analysis for my Google Ads campaigns?
Regular analysis is crucial. Aim to review competitors’ strategies quarterly to stay informed about market trends and adjust your campaigns accordingly.
Can competitor analysis help in identifying new market opportunities?
Yes, by examining competitors’ ad strategies, you can uncover underserved niches, emerging trends, or gaps in the market, allowing you to capitalize on new opportunities.
How do I ensure my Google Ads stand out in a competitive landscape?
Focus on unique selling propositions, compelling ad copy, and high-quality visuals. Regularly test and optimize your ads to differentiate your offerings from competitors.
Never skip out on creative. With all the targeting features that we have access to as B2B marketers, creating content specific to the persona you're going after is important. Whether it's copy or the images you use, I recommend investing time into making sure they resonate with your ICP.
Ali Yildirim
Ultimately it boils down to establishing trust. Your objective is to educate prospects from various angles and persuade them to take the desired action. Providing value upfront through various means is the most sustainable approach to accomplish this.
Rory Conroy
Put a real effort into the ad creation on social channels. Create a list with the prospects’ pain points, their headaches, and how your product could solve any of these pain points, then transform it into ad copy that talks directly to your prospect in a humane language, it’s B2B but we’re talking to people, this will make ads that will stand out on the crowd. We can have the best audience and an infinite budget, but if we don’t master the message (and have a compelling design), chances are that our ads will not be noticed.
Jessica Amaral
Once you understand the basics and set up initial campaigns, start A/B testing and experimenting. You could test many things, for example, different ad formats, creatives, messaging, campaign objectives or targeting - all of which can lead to better performance. From my experience, any significant improvement in advertising efficiency starts with a (sometimes random and "long shot") test. To make the testing process smooth and successful, I recommend starting with a hypothesis, creating a testing plan, and having clear KPIs and ways of tracking those.
Kris Wojcik
#1 tip for marketers getting into B2B advertising is to have fun with it. A lot of B2B brands take themselves really seriously to appeal to Enterprise buyers, but the reality is we're all human and you're marketing to humans.
Jess Bahr
People buy different, not better. So when you're advertising in B2B, it's crucial to sniff out your differentiator and explain that in a way that your buyers will clearly understand it, consume it, and resonate with it. Each of your buyers is different too so it's important to have a good mix of how you explain the difference.
Tim Davidson
One valuable tip I'd offer new marketers entering the realm of B2B advertising is to prioritize understanding your target audience deeply. B2B advertising differs significantly from B2C advertising in that you're not just targeting individual consumers but engaging with businesses, often involving nuanced decision-making units.
To effectively connect with your B2B audience, invest time researching and profiling your ideal customer profile (ICP). This means identifying their industry, company size, and job roles and delving into their pain points, challenges, and aspirations – try to get in the minds of your ICP from entry-level to executive.
By going that extra mile in understanding your audience, you can craft messaging and content that resonates with them—addressing their specific needs, providing solutions, and positioning your products or services as the standout choice.
Tyler Ray
Before you create any adverts, you need to figure out what your message is going to be. Don't rush into it until you know 'what problems you solve, how you solve them, and why your customer should solve them.' One sentence on each of those creates your elevator pitch, which should be present in some way, in all of your ads. It also represents the business case for your product. If you can't explain your story easily, how on earth do you expect your audience to remember it?
Joseph Hill
You know that crazy Marketing 'funnel' everyone talks about? Always start from the bottom up. Meaning, the first place to start is to know who your customers are and how they equate to revenue. Then work yourself up the funnel to drive the most impact.
Bryttney Blanken
Adopt the 'kill your darlings' mantra. You have to be ready to cut what you love if it isn't delivering results—be it an ad, keyword, or campaign. What was once a good performer might not stay that way, so never 'set and forget.' Always monitor and optimise.
Three macroeconomic principles should guide you:
1- Budget is limited.
2- Benchmark against your own metrics, not industry fluff.
3- Make trade-offs based on what performs better.
Kill the darlings that don't contribute to the revenue to make room for what does.
Canberk Beker
Focus on the audience/ICP first, not being the best/all-in-one product. When you address the pain and call the audience out, it resonates far more than simply stating 'We're #1/the best in ... category'. No one gives a shit about fancy review badges, Gartner, or other reports (maybe just a tiny bit) & enterprise studies/research. Everyone wants to know how your product will solve their pain or problem.
The best way (for me at least) to find out the actual problem of a customer is to go to G2 and your biggest/well-known competitor and read/scrape all the 'What problems is PandaDoc solving and how is that benefiting you?' answers. You'll find out that most answers are about one/two specific cases, and so then it's your job to address it right via website/ad copy messaging.
Alex Panchuk
Shift your mindset. You'll generate leads, but it's not just about lead generation. When they convert, focus on quality and intent. To do that, you need to understand the customer and how to reach them with the right and interesting message in the right places, consistently. Make it easy for them to remember you, find you, and buy from you when they are ready. For practical advice, Go through the LinkedIn ebook 'How B2B Brands Grow", study demand generation, join communities, and ask questions there.
Roman Krs
Before you blame the channel, do the research to see if there are some other reasons why leads aren't converting to opportunities.
For example:
WEBSITE
- Does the ad align with the landing page?
- Is it easy to understand how it works, who it's for, how much it costs, and the outcome it drives?
- Do you have relevant social proof?
CONVERSION
- Is the form simple and short?
- Does it offer an easy way to schedule a meeting?
- Are there clear CTAs across the website?
- Do you address common objections on the demo page?
LEAD HAND-OFF
- How long does it take to set up a meeting with a buyer after the form is filled take?
- Did we align the follow-up with the intent level?
- Do we offer a demo at the first meeting?
- Do we identify the core problems of the buyer and how our solution can help solve those issues?
SALES CYCLE
- Did we create a close plan?
- Have we gotten all key decision-makers involved?
- Do we add value along the sales process?
- Do we always set up the next meeting with a clear agenda?
- Have we properly differentiated ourselves against competitors and keeping with the status quo?
80% of the above don't directly involve the "channel"
Jonathan Bland
For someone starting with B2B advertising, I highly recommend following the right B2B content creators on LinkedIn, as well as other paid media ones - then block some time to go through their posts/videos to learn new strategies/tips, or merely understand their point-of-view. Then, find ways of testing those strategies/quick wins with your own clients to get your own insights and takeaways - plus, it's a great way of implementing what you learn
Gonçalo Prates
Make sure that you nail your fundamentals before you launch your campaign. Know where your ICP spends time online and what they are searching for.
If you don't, you won't be able to nail down your targeting for paid social and you won't go after the right keywords on paid search.
Start with the understanding of your buyer (the qualitative and quantitative) insights, and then go and build your strategy based off of that. There are a lot of great resources on how to technically set up your campaign - just keep it as simple as you can to begin with.
The final part of the fundamentals is to make sure you have tracking in place in your CRM. You need to be able to know what leads came in from your paid ads, and be able to track them throughout the sales process. Otherwise you'll never be able to answer the question at the executive level, "How are our ads performing?
Blake Strozyk
Seasonality in B2B is real & should be taken into account when optimizing & experimenting with paid ads.
Here is what I mean: We have grown very rapidly over the last 1.5 years and therefore don't have reliable base data from last summer, so only this year we started to feel the summer slow down properly. Many experiments that we ran have to be pre & post (sometimes it's technically not possible to run A/B), so if you launch an experiment in June & compare results with May the results will be heavily impacted by external factors (summer period slowdown).
It's not something new, but something we faced a lot this summer. So don't disregard the importance of taking seasonality into account.
Borys Khodan
1. When building advertising campaigns, be hyper focused on audience and targeting. Your best advertising campaign won't be successful unless you target the right people at the right time.
2. The biggest gold mine for ad copy is customer calls. If you have a tool like Gong, you should be listening to calls every day to find insights on what your customers care about.
Liam Barnes
The B2B Buyer's journey is complex, make sure you are filling all the content gaps on your paid ad strategy.
Miguel Sánchez
Offers are the most underused and underappreciated lever in B2B ad performance, and it’s not even close.
People associate Offers with e-commerce style, “buy one get one free” marketing messages. But the category is so much broader than that - it’s offering different things to your audience to see what they respond best to.
In short: Everything you promote with an ad is an Offer, whether you think of it that or not. Some example Offers that B2B companies can use:
a.) Click this ad and schedule a sales call
b.) Click this ad and get access to a demo
c.) Click this ad and get an eBook
d.) Click this ad and get an incentive.
You should start with an Offer when building campaigns, don't make it an afterthought.
Kevin Lord Barry
Advertising can be daunting as a new B2B marketer, when you don't have a full grasp on how the ad platforms work or you haven't spent as much money on them, you might feel like you are not ready to run ads.
But here's the thing, you will never be 100% ready till you actually take action, and as scary as this might feel, there's a great thing about this too, you are also more prepared than you actually think.
That first campaign won't be perfect, you will make mistakes, and you will lose some $$$ in the process (sad reality about advertising 😅), but as long as you see this as a learning experience, you will accelerate your knowledge about the platforms and become strong in them in no time.
Diego Oquendo
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How to Create an Effective Naming Convention for Your Google Ads Campaigns
One of the most overlooked but crucial aspects of running a successful Google Ads campaign is our naming conventions.
I’ve worked with countless clients optimizing their ad performance, and I can tell you that this is the one thing that makes everything easier — or breaks everything.
Why Naming Conventions Matter
A naming convention is the process I follow repeatedly when naming my campaigns.
And from my experience, having a consistent and logical naming convention is essential for my organization and productivity when managing them.
A messy campaign structure makes performance tracking, reporting, and optimization significantly harder.
I feel like trying to find something in a cluttered room — wasting my time and effort. And it can be even worse.
Think about this like sharing a room with a messy roommate. If everything is disorganized, I’ll struggle to find what I need, and so will anyone else trying to help me. But if everything has a place, everything is easier to manage.
A strong naming convention ensures that I, my team, and my tools can quickly understand and filter campaigns without unnecessary frustration.
How to Structure a Naming Convention
Here’s my recommendation to create a naming convention that makes everything easier, based on tests on my campaigns:
- Region: Where the campaign is being targeted. For example, NA for North America, or EMEA for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
- Campaign Theme: The general type of campaign. The five core themes are: Brand, Non-Brand, Competitive, RLSA, and Content.
- Search Type: Identifies that this is a search campaign.
- Language: The language of the campaign (EN for English, ES for Spanish, for example).
- Match Type: The type of keyword match being used: Exact, Phrase, Broad, etc.
- Device: The primary device targeting, generally All Devices, Desktop, or Mobile.
This structure allows us to quickly filter and analyze data in Excel, Google Ads, or any reporting tool.
Examples of Naming Conventions
I came up with some examples of how to apply naming conventions to your campaigns:
A campaign targeting North America, focused on non-brand searches in English, using exact match keywords, and targeting all devices would be named: NA_NonBrand_Search_EN_Exact_AllDevices
A campaign targeting Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, focused on content searches in English, using phrase match keywords, and targeting only mobile would be named: EMEA_Content_Search_EN_Phrase_Mobile
A campaign that targets the Asia-Pacific region, focused on brand searches in English, using phrase match keywords, targeting desktops would be named: APAC_Brand_Search_EN_Phrase_Desktop
A campaign targeting North America, focused on competitive searches in English, using phrase match keywords, targeting desktops would be named: NA_Competitive_Search_EN_Phrase_Desktop
And finally, a campaign targeting Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, focused on RLSA searches in English, using broad match keywords, targeting all devices would be named: EMEA_RLSA_Search_EN_Broad_All-Devices
Benefits of a Good Naming Convention
A well-structured naming convention helps in three major ways:
- Better Performance Tracking: With a clear naming structure, I can instantly see how different segments of my campaigns are performing. No need to dig into settings — everything is in the campaign name itself. This makes it much easier to analyze trends and optimize based on what’s working.
- Efficient Team Collaboration: If multiple people are working on the account, a consistent naming convention ensures everyone understands what each campaign is for. When a new team member joins, they won’t have to waste hours figuring out the structure.
- Faster Reporting & Filtering: When I export campaign data, a structured naming convention lets me quickly filter and sort campaigns based on region, keyword type, device, and more. This makes reporting significantly more efficient.
Should we name our campaigns the same across platforms?
Absolutely!
Naming our campaigns the same across all platforms helps us maintain consistency, simplify analysis, and easily compare performance across different channels when reporting on your overall campaign results.
Please notice that slight platform-specific details might need to be added to the campaign name to account for unique targeting options or features on each platform, but as a whole, having consistent names allows us to easily group data and compare results without confusion.
To sum up
A good naming convention costs you nothing — but the benefits are enormous.
Get it right, and you’ll make everything in your Google Ads campaigns easier to manage, optimize, and scale.
So don’t wait. Go set up your naming convention and start running smarter campaigns!
And if you really want to level up your B2B advertising game, there’s more to master than just negative keywords.
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How to Track Form Submissions in Google Tag Manager?
I’ve spent a lot of time wrestling with tracking form submissions in Google Tag Manager (GTM), and I know how frustrating it can be when things just don’t work as expected.
Forms behave in all sorts of unpredictable ways. Some refresh the page, some stay put, and others redirect users to a "Thank You" page.
And because there’s no universal rule for how developers build forms, you and I need different tracking approaches depending on the situation.
And since chances are you’re using form submission to also track how your Google ad campaigns are converting, it becomes super critical for us to get this right.
That’s why in this guide, I’ll break down the most effective ways to track form submissions, step by step, so you don’t have to figure it all out the hard way like I did.
Understanding the Tag and Trigger Relationship in GTM
Before we dive into the methods, let’s quickly cover the basics. GTM relies on two key components:
- Tags: These send data to platforms like Google Analytics 4 (GA4).
- Triggers: These tell GTM when to fire a tag.
To track form submissions properly, you need:
- A GA4 event tag that sends a form submission event to GA4.
- A trigger that detects when a form is successfully submitted.
Step-by-Step: Creating a GA4 Event Tag
- Go to Tags in GTM and click New.
- In Tag Configuration, select Google Analytics: GA4 Event.
- In the Measurement ID field, insert your GA4 tracking ID (or use a Constant Variable if you’ve set one up).
- In the Event Name field, enter "generate_lead" (this is a recommended GA4 event, but you can change it if needed).
- Leave the Triggering section empty for now. We’ll configure that next.
- Click Save.
At this point, the tag exists but doesn’t do anything because there’s no trigger.
Now, let’s set that up based on how your form behaves.
Method 1: Track Form Submission Using GTM’s Built-in Form Submission Trigger
In an ideal world, GTM’s built-in Form Submission trigger would work for every form.
But in my experience, it rarely does. This trigger only works if the form fires a native submit event, which many modern forms (especially AJAX-based ones) don’t.
Step-by-Step: Configuring the Form Submission Trigger
- In GTM, go to Variables > Configure and enable all Form Variables (Form ID, Form Classes, Form Target, Form Text, etc.).
- Navigate to Triggers and create a new trigger:
- Choose Form Submission as the trigger type.
- Choose Form Submission as the trigger type.
- Check Wait for Tags and set a delay (e.g., 2000 milliseconds) to ensure tracking before the page redirects.
- Enable Check Validation to ensure only valid submissions are tracked.
- Under "Enable this trigger on…", set Page Path contains / so it works across the site.
- Click Save.
Assigning the Trigger to the GA4 Event Tag
- Open the GA4 event tag.
- In the Triggering section, select the Form Submission trigger you just created.
- Click Save.
- Enable Preview Mode in GTM and test it by submitting a form.
- Check the GTM Debug Panel to see if a Form Submit event appears.
- If it appears, great! The trigger works.
- If it doesn’t, your form likely prevents the submit event. Move on to the next method.
- If it appears, great! The trigger works.
Method 2: Track Form Submissions via a "Thank You" Page
If your form redirects users to a confirmation page after submission, this is the easiest and most reliable tracking method.
The one mistake I see folks repeat often is they link to this thank you or add it in your sitemap.
The way this method works is it sends an event every time this page is loaded.
So you want to double check to ensure that people don’t land on this page through other sources.
Step-by-Step: Setting Up a Thank You Page Trigger
- In GTM, go to Triggers and create a new trigger.
- Choose Page View as the trigger type.
- Select Some Page Views and define the condition:
- If the URL is static (e.g., https://www.example.com/thank-you), set Page Path equals /thank-you.
- If the URL is dynamic, use Page URL contains thank-you (just make sure it’s unique).
- If the URL is static (e.g., https://www.example.com/thank-you), set Page Path equals /thank-you.
- Name the trigger something clear (e.g., "Pageview – Form Submission").
- Click Save.
Assigning the Trigger to the GA4 Event Tag
- Open the GA4 event tag.
- In the Triggering section, select the Thank You Page trigger.
- Click Save.
- Enable Preview Mode and test by submitting the form.
- Verify in GA4 Debug View that the event fires only when users reach the confirmation page.
This method is foolproof as long as users can’t access the "Thank You" page without actually submitting the form.
Enhancing Tracking with Custom Parameters
If you have multiple forms on your website, tracking just a generic "form submission" event isn’t enough.
You need to capture more details that help differentiate between each form submission, such as:
- Form ID: A unique identifier assigned to each form, which can be extracted using GTM’s built-in variables.
- Form Name: Some forms may not have an explicit ID, but they may have a specific name attribute that can be tracked.
- Page URL: If each form is located on a unique page (e.g., /contact-us vs. /signup), capturing the URL will help differentiate where the submission occurred.
- Form Type: If you have multiple lead capture forms (e.g., demo request, newsletter signup, contact form), you can categorize submissions based on the form's purpose.
Step-by-Step: Adding Custom Parameters to the GA4 Event Tag
- Enable Form Variables: Go to Variables > Configure, and enable all Form Variables (Form ID, Form Classes, Form Target, Form Text, etc.).
- Modify Your GA4 Event Tag:
- Open your GA4 event tag in GTM.
- In the Event Parameters section, click Add Row.
- Define custom parameters for form tracking:
- Parameter Name: form_id → Value: {{Form ID}}
- Parameter Name: form_name → Value: {{Form Name}}
- Parameter Name: page_path → Value: {{Page Path}}
- Parameter Name: form_id → Value: {{Form ID}}
- Open your GA4 event tag in GTM.
- Save and Test:
- Enable Preview Mode in GTM.
- Submit different forms on your site and check if the correct form details appear in the GTM Debug Panel.
- If the values are being captured correctly, publish the changes.
- Enable Preview Mode in GTM.
If you want to use this data in GA4 reports, you’ll need to register it as a Custom Dimension:
- In GA4, go to Admin > Custom Definitions.
- Click Create Custom Dimension.
- Define each parameter:
- Name: Form ID → Event Parameter: form_id → Scope: Event
- Name: Form Name → Event Parameter: form_name → Scope: Event
- Name: Page Path → Event Parameter: page_path → Scope: Event
- Name: Form ID → Event Parameter: form_id → Scope: Event
- Click Save.
By implementing this setup, you ensure that every form submission is attributed to the right form, providing clearer insights into form performance, lead quality, and conversion attribution.
PRO TIP 💡
Form submission is just one step in the buyer’s journey.
To truly track and optimize for conversions, map the entire journey. Start from initial engagement to the final revenue event, and track each step.
By tracking and feeding all these data points back into ad networks, you help the algorithm prioritize high-intent users.
Here’s an example of how the buyer journey might look like:
Sales-led Company:
Product-led Company:
We covered how to set it up in detail in this free Google Ads course, which also walks you through full-funnel tracking and measurement strategies.
Conclusion
The right tracking method depends on how your form behaves:
- Use the Form Submission trigger if GTM’s listener detects the event.
- Use the Thank You page method if the form redirects after submission.
- Use click tracking for AJAX-based forms.
Test everything thoroughly in Preview Mode to ensure you’re capturing data correctly.
I’ve been through enough form tracking struggles to know that what works on one site may completely fail on another.
Hopefully, this guide saves you a lot of time and frustration!
If you’re looking to see what the paid media marketing pros are up to, you should come and hang with them in the community.
The community is where you can ask the questions you wouldn’t post on LinkedIn and get insights that you wouldn’t find on Google.
You get access to:
- Weekly experiments with real data: No guesswork, just tested strategies from real campaigns.
- Templates & playbooks: Proven frameworks to streamline our processes and improve efficiency.
- Masterminds & expert discussions: Stay ahead of strategies, tactics, and ad platform changes instead of reacting late.
- Benchmarking against top B2B advertisers: Learn what’s working for others running high-budget campaigns.
Come, sign up and see what the pros are talking about in the community. It takes less than a minute to sign up.
10 Tips for Running ABM and LinkedIn Ads That Actually Work
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I see a lot of companies completely overcomplicate ABM on LinkedIn.
Some think they need an expensive ABM platform just to get started. Others assume that simply uploading an account list and running ads will magically drive pipeline.
Neither approach works.
I’ve tested LinkedIn Ads for ABM across different industries, budgets, and company sizes, and I’ve seen what actually moves the needle. The key isn’t just running ads. It's getting the fundamentals right and making sure ads, targeting, and sales outreach all work together.
In this post, I’m breaking down 10 practical, no-BS strategies I use to make ABM campaigns on LinkedIn drive real results. If you’re tired of wasted budget and low engagement, this is for you.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Tip 1: Your Account List is the Foundation. Get It Right
- Tip 2: Upload a Company List, Not a Contact List
- Tip 3: Monitor and Manage Ad Frequency
- Tip 4: Cap Impressions Using LinkedIn’s Company Feature
- Tip 5: Test One-to-One ABM Ads (But Avoid Germany)
- Tip 6: Use LinkedIn Ad Engagement as a Sales Trigger
- Tip 7: Split Campaigns by Employee Size
- Tip 8: Create ABM-Specific Remarketing Lists
- Tip 9: Don’t Sleep on Exclusions
- Tip 10: LinkedIn Ads Are Just One Part of ABM
Tip 1: Your Account List is the Foundation. Get It Right
The account list is the backbone of any ABM campaign.
If your account list is wrong, everything else will fail. Your targeting, your engagement, your pipeline.
A lot of companies just pull a list from a data provider using filters like industry, employee size, and technology stack and assume it’s good to go. But here’s the issue:
- Data providers are never 100% accurate. I’ve used ten different data providers, and they all have their problems.
- You’ll end up with bad data. You might export 5,000 accounts, but not all of them are actually relevant.
How to Build a Better Account List
- Work with sales. Most companies create their ABM list in a vacuum and don’t loop in sales. That’s a mistake.
- Look at past closed-won deals. If you’re just pulling a list of the biggest logos you can think of (Nike, Google, Microsoft) you’re probably missing accounts that actually convert.
- Check the late-stage pipeline. What do these accounts have in common?
- Ensure coverage. What accounts are missing? Just because a sales rep Slack-ed over a few high-profile accounts doesn’t mean they’re the only accounts worth targeting.
A well-built account list makes every impression valuable. If your impression itself isn’t worth anything, your list is wrong.
Tip 2: Upload a Company List, Not a Contact List
Once you have a strong account list, the next step is uploading it to LinkedIn Ads.
This is where a lot of folks make a critical mistake. They upload a contact list instead of a company list.
Why Contact Lists Are a Bad Idea
- Low match rates: You’ll be lucky to get 30-70% of your contacts matched in LinkedIn.
- People change jobs constantly: Your contact list gets stale fast. People get promoted, leave, or switch roles.
- You’ll miss key decision-makers: If someone new joins a company in the target role, they won’t be in your contact list.
Why Company Lists Work Better
- Match rates are 95-100%: LinkedIn recognizes companies better than individual contacts.
- Dynamic audience updates: If someone gets promoted or a new decision-maker joins the company, they’ll automatically be included.
- More precise targeting: You can layer on job titles, seniority, and functions to ensure you’re reaching the right people within those accounts.
If you only upload a contact list, you’ll have to constantly update it. That’s an operational nightmare.
If you upload a company list and use job title filters, LinkedIn does the updating for you. Plus, you get better match rates.
Tip 3: Monitor and Manage Ad Frequency
Since ABM campaigns target smaller audiences, ad frequency can get out of control fast if you’re not careful.
If people see the same ad 40 times in a month, they won’t just ignore you, they’ll actively resent your brand.
I always check my frequency metrics and aim for around three impressions per week per person.
If my frequency goes beyond that, I rotate in new creatives.
How to Manage Frequency
- If an ad is performing well, keep it running until engagement drops.
- If performance starts declining, pause it and swap in a new version.
- Small tweaks work. You don’t need an entirely new creative. Sometimes just changing the headline, background color, or image is enough to reset engagement.
A good ABM strategy requires constant creative refreshes.
If you don’t monitor frequency, you’re going to annoy your target accounts instead of influencing them.
Tip 4: Cap Impressions Using LinkedIn’s Company Feature
One of the biggest budget-wasters in LinkedIn ABM campaigns is uneven ad distribution.
Let’s say you’re targeting 500 companies. If Amazon is on that list, Amazon employees alone might eat up 50% of your budget. Why? Because Amazon has more employees in your target roles than smaller companies.
How to Fix This
LinkedIn has a Company Engagement Feature that lets you cap impressions per company.
- Create dynamic exclusion lists for companies that have received 500+ impressions in the past 7 days.
- Once a company hits that limit, it gets automatically excluded, forcing LinkedIn to spread the budget to other accounts.
How to Adjust Your Cap
- If none of the companies hit the cap → Lower the threshold (e.g., 300 impressions).
- If too many companies are excluded → Raise the cap (e.g., 700 impressions).
This simple tweak ensures that no single company dominates your budget, and every account on your list gets a fair share of impressions.
Tip 5: Test One-to-One ABM Ads (But Avoid Germany)
I’ve been testing one-to-one ABM ads for a while now, and the results have been insane.
A standard LinkedIn image ad usually gets a 0.5% to 1% click-through rate.
But when I run personalized one-to-one ABM ads, I’m seeing 5% - 10% CTRs.
How to Run One-to-One ABM Ads
- Create a simple template.
- Dynamically insert the company name or logo.
- Tweak the messaging slightly to make it feel personal.
These ads stand out because they look like they were designed specifically for the company.
But before you go all-in, there are two major caveats:
- Don’t run these in Germany: German companies will hit you with a legal notice if you use their name or logo in an ad.
- This works best for MarTech, SalesTech, and Customer Success industries: If you’re targeting IT buyers, this approach might feel too aggressive.
If you’re hesitant to use logos, you can still personalize these ads by:
- Mentioning the company in the ad copy instead of the image.
- Using a screenshot from the company’s website instead of their logo.
One-to-one ABM ads aren’t for every industry, but in the right space, they massively outperform standard image ads.
Tip 6: Use LinkedIn Ad Engagement as a Sales Trigger
A big mistake I see in ABM campaigns is running LinkedIn ads in isolation and expecting them to create pipeline on their own.
That’s not how it works.
You need to use LinkedIn ad engagement as a sales trigger to prioritize outreach.
Instead of sales reaching out cold, why not time it based on actual engagement? If an account is consistently clicking on ads or engaging with content, that’s a strong signal that they might be open to a conversation.
LinkedIn lets you create dynamic audience lists based on engagement, which means I can track things like:
- Paid clicks: Who has clicked on an ad multiple times over a set period?
- Video views: Who has watched a certain percentage of a video ad?
- Impressions: Which accounts have received a high volume of impressions?
I can then send this data to sales as a prioritized list of accounts.
A sales rep reaching out to an account that has clicked on an ad three times in the past two weeks is going to have way more success than reaching out completely cold.
Some companies use tools like Fibbler to track progression of clicks over a period of month, all the way towards becoming an opportunity.
But even if you’re just using LinkedIn’s native company engagement feature, you can still set up alerts for sales when an account’s activity spikes.
This is one of the easiest ways to align marketing and sales, yet most companies don’t do it. If you’re just running LinkedIn ads without tying them into your outbound strategy, you’re leaving money on the table.
Tip 7: Split Campaigns by Employee Size
A CEO at a 50-person company is very different from a VP at a 10,000-person company.
You can’t treat them the same.
The way LinkedIn distributes ad spend also makes this even more important. If you mix small and large companies in the same campaign, the large companies will dominate your spend.
Why? Because they have more employees that fit your targeting criteria.
I split campaigns into two groups:
- 500+ employees: Exclude managers. There are too many, and they don’t always have decision-making power.
- Under 500 employees: Keep managers in. At smaller companies, managers have more influence over decisions and often report directly to the CEO.
At big companies, targeting managers is usually a waste of money.
If I’m running an ad campaign for a marketing software company, the CMO at Amazon isn’t going to care about my ad.
But at a 200-person company, the CEO or VP of Marketing might be the final decision-maker.
This segmentation also allows me to write better ad copy. If I know I’m speaking to executives at smaller companies, my messaging will be more direct and high-level.
If I’m speaking to senior managers at larger companies, I might focus more on how my product solves day-to-day problems.
If you’re running a single campaign for all employee sizes, chances are your budget is being wasted on the wrong people at big companies while ignoring the right people at smaller ones.
Tip 8: Create ABM-Specific Remarketing Lists
Most people run generic remarketing campaigns, but for ABM, you need to build remarketing lists specific to your target accounts.
This means you’re not just retargeting anyone who clicked on an ad. You’re only retargeting people from your ABM account list who showed engagement.
Here’s how I structure my ABM remarketing lists:
- Image ad remarketing: People from ABM accounts who clicked on an image ad.
- Video view remarketing: People from ABM accounts who watched at least 50% of a video ad.
- Website remarketing: Visitors from ABM accounts who landed on key pages (e.g., demo request, pricing, case studies).
This ensures I’m spending remarketing dollars on accounts that actually matter rather than random people who engaged once and never came back.
What should you show in these remarketing campaigns?
In remarketing, I shift the content to focus on social proof and direct response ads. This could be:
- Case studies featuring similar companies
- Testimonial ads showing a customer’s face and a short quote
- Comparison ads (e.g., "Us vs. Them")
- Before and after ads that show the pain before using my product and the results after
In some cases, I also test demo CTAs and incentives, especially for enterprise deals where a small push (like a free assessment or report) can make a big difference.
If you’re only running top-of-funnel awareness ads and never segmenting high-intent ABM accounts into remarketing, you’re missing a huge opportunity to convert engaged prospects.
Side Note: Check out all the cool ads that Tim Davidson put together over here.
Tip 9: Don’t Sleep on Exclusions
A lot of people think that because they’re targeting an account list, they don’t need to add exclusions.
That’s a mistake.
Even if your account list is perfect, LinkedIn’s targeting isn’t.
Here’s the problem: LinkedIn doesn’t always match job titles and company names correctly. If someone has multiple roles in their profile, LinkedIn might target them under the wrong company.
For example, let’s say someone runs a side business while working full-time at Amazon. LinkedIn might show them your ad under both companies, meaning you’re wasting budget on someone who isn’t actually part of your ABM target.
To fix this, I always:
- Check LinkedIn’s Demographics Report to see which job titles and industries are getting served ads.
- Exclude job functions that don’t matter. If I’m selling to CMOs and VPs of Marketing, I don’t want my ads going to HR or IT.
- Exclude competitors.
Just because you’re running ABM doesn’t mean you can trust LinkedIn to get everything right.
If you’re not actively reviewing exclusions, you’re burning ad dollars.
Tip 10: LinkedIn Ads Are Just One Part of ABM
I need to make this very clear. Running LinkedIn Ads alone is not ABM.
ABM is about orchestrating multiple touch points across marketing and sales. If you’re just running ads and waiting, you’re missing the point.
Here’s how I integrate LinkedIn Ads into a full ABM strategy:
- Pick a set of high-priority accounts (start with 50-100).
- Run LinkedIn ads to build awareness.
- Monitor engagement signals (clicks, views, impressions).
- Trigger sales outreach when accounts show activity.
- Use email, cold calls, events, and direct mail to reinforce messaging.
- Retarget engaged accounts with case studies and demo CTAs.
- Track movement through the funnel and adjust the strategy.
One of the best ways to start is by working closely with an enterprise sales rep.
Pick 100 accounts and run a coordinated campaign, where marketing runs ads and sales follows up based on engagement.
If you’re just running LinkedIn Ads and calling it ABM, you’re not doing ABM. You’re just running ads to a list.
Hope you found this article helpful!
If you’re looking to learn more about LinkedIn Ads, check out these free LinkedIn Ads courses, that will teach you how to launch, optimize, and scale LinkedIn Ads campaigns effectively.
And if you have any questions about LinkedIn Ads, feel free to send me a message on LinkedIn.
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5 Best LinkedIn Advertising Agencies for B2B Growth in 2025
In my previous company as the Head of Marketing, I went down the rabbit hole and looked for the best LinkedIn Ads Agencies out there.
I spent weeks poring over agency websites, got on calls, digging into case studies, and even had candid conversations with some of their clients.
If you’re a VP of Marketing who has seen fair share of “lead gen” hype, you’ll appreciate this no-fluff look at the top LinkedIn advertising agencies that actually move the needle.
1. AdConversion – The Demand Gen Powerhouse
I first came across the AdConversion agency when I was searching for an agency in my previous company that could deliver more than just a flood of low-quality leads.
What impressed me was their laser focus on demand generation, built around full-funnel strategies. This is an agency that doesn’t simply buy clicks. They craft ad experiences that nurture prospects from awareness to close.
What impressed me about AdConversion:
- Structured Full-Funnel Approach: AdConversion’s 5 Stages Model ensures campaigns are methodically executed across every stage of the buyer’s journey. Create (brand affinity), Capture (converting in-market buyers), Accelerate/Activate (speeding up sales cycles or converting free trial users), Revive (re-engaging closed-lost opportunities), and Expand (driving revenue from existing customers).
- Data-Driven Optimization: Their dedicated data team builds detailed dashboards, implements offline conversions, and provides real-time performance tracking to improve campaign effectiveness.
- Always-On Automation: AdConversion uses an internal system to optimize ads 24/7, automatically pausing underperforming ads (e.g., CPSQL > $1,000), detecting ad fatigue (e.g., frequency > 5, CTR < 1%), and adjusting ad schedules for optimal performance.
- Creative & Conversion-Focused Execution: AdConversion takes full ownership of design, copywriting, and landing pages, ensuring that every campaign asset is optimized for engagement and conversion. Their structured creative process ensures ads don’t just look good, they’re built to drive pipeline and revenue.
- Transparent Pricing & No Hidden Fees: AdConversion does not lock you into long-term contracts and you can walk away from the partnership at any time. Unlike many agencies that charge a percentage of ad spend, AdConversion operates on a flat-fee model, ensuring your costs remain predictable without additional markup based on budget increases.
Bottom Line: If you’re looking to transform LinkedIn from a lead-generator into a revenue engine, AdConversion is a partner that understands the entire buyer’s journey. Their pricing starts at $6,600/month.
Chat with the team and see if it makes sense for your business. They even tell you if they’re not the right fit on the first call.
2. Omni Lab – The Data-Obsessed Performance Marketers
Omni Lab immediately caught my attention for its no-nonsense, demand-gen approach. Specializing in B2B SaaS, they prioritize tracking every micro-conversion that eventually builds into a significant pipeline.
When I dug into their methodology, what stood out was their commitment to transparency and measurable performance.
Key Takeaways on Omni Lab:
- Pipeline Impact Over Vanity Metrics: Omni Lab insists that every ad dollar must correlate to revenue. Their dashboard isn’t cluttered with impressions and CTRs. They break down performance to show the exact pipeline impact.
- Speed & Agility: They’re built for fast-paced environments. If you need a campaign to go live in days (not weeks), their lean processes and agile approach make that possible.
- Sophisticated Retargeting: Their approach ensures that no high-intent lead slips away. They focus on keeping prospects engaged through precision audience segmentation, exclusion lists, and dynamic retargeting strategies that reinforce messaging across multiple touchpoints until they’re sales-ready.
Bottom Line: Omni Lab’s pricing is based on your monthly ad spend. It starts at $3,665/month for a $5,000/month ad budget and it does not include creatives or copywriting.
3. Impactable – Affordable, Yet Highly Focused
Not every company has a massive ad spend, and that’s where Impactable comes in.
Originally known as a LinkedIn lead-generation shop, Impactable has evolved into a full-scale LinkedIn advertising agency without requiring a massive budget.
Their pitch is simple: deliver quality, demand-driven campaigns that are accessible to SMBs and startups alike.
What I Discovered About Impactable:
- Cost-Effective Solutions: With plans starting under $849/month, Impactable makes LinkedIn advertising accessible. They’ve refined their process to squeeze maximum performance out of modest budgets.
- Demand Generation Focus: While many agencies settle for generic lead gen, Impactable uses retargeting and personalized messaging to ensure that leads aren’t just numbers—they’re potential revenue drivers.
- Strong Focus on Retargeting: They have one of the most robust strategies in place when it comes to retargeting. Their strategy takes into account all the different engagements a prospect could potentially have with you and makes the best use of everything that LinkedIn Ads has to offer.
Bottom Line: Impactable offers a smart entry point into LinkedIn advertising without sacrificing quality. However, this pricing is applicable only if you want them to handle LinkedIn Ads. If you’re looking for an agency that can handle other channels, you’ll be paying extra.
4. B2Linked – Technical Mastery for High-Budget Campaigns
B2Linked is where the deep technical expertise of LinkedIn advertising truly comes to light. Founded by AJ Wilcox, a recognized expert in the space, they bring a level of analytical rigor that few agencies can match.
I was struck by how methodical their approach is; every campaign is treated as a data puzzle to solve.
Key Insights on B2Linked:
- Deep Auditing & Optimization: With over 800 audited accounts, B2Linked identifies common pitfalls in targeting and bidding strategies, then uses proprietary tools to rectify them.
- Advanced Bidding Techniques: They’ve built internal tools that lets them run tests to ensure that every bid is optimized for cost-efficiency and reach.
Bottom Line: For companies that spend less than $15,000/month on LinkedIn ads, their pricing is set at $3,000/month + a one-time setup fee of $1,000. Copywriting and design is an add-on package that is priced at $1,000/month.
5. Remotion – The Specialist for B2B Tech Companies
Remotion is a dedicated LinkedIn advertising agency focusing exclusively on B2B SaaS companies.
With a proven process for generating pipeline, they have been specializing in LinkedIn Ads and B2B SaaS since 2016
What Sets Remotion Apart:
- Exclusive Focus on LinkedIn Ads for B2B Tech: Remotion's specialization allows them to deeply understand the nuances of LinkedIn's platform and the unique challenges faced by B2B tech companies.
- Comprehensive Campaign Management: They handle all aspects of LinkedIn advertising, from lead generation and brand building to demand generation, ensuring strategies align with company-specific KPIs.
- Collaborative Approach: Remotion works closely with clients' internal teams, including sales and marketing, to ensure ad messaging aligns with overall business objectives and effectively nurtures prospects.
- Data-Driven Optimization: Utilizing automatic reporting, they focus on metrics that matter, analyzing performance down the funnel to SQLs, opportunities, and customers, ensuring continuous improvement.
- Expertise Across Tech Verticals: Their experience spans various tech sectors, including cybersecurity, fintech, martech, and more, allowing them to craft tailored strategies for each industry.
Bottom Line: If you’re a B2B tech company looking to leverage LinkedIn as a strategic growth channel, Remotion’s specialized focus and collaborative approach make them a formidable partner, despite their premium pricing ($$$$).
Final Thoughts: Choosing the Right Partner for Your LinkedIn Strategy
Every agency has its strengths and unique focus areas. The best choice depends on your specific objectives, budget, and the maturity of your LinkedIn strategy.
For me, the standout performer is AdConversion. After all, I did hire them at my previous company to build pipeline and revenue.
Needless to say, they didn’t disappoint.
How to Use Negative Keyword Lists on Google Ads to Avoid Wasting Budget
Google makes money when people click on ads, whether those clicks convert or not. That’s why our defense against blowing our budget starts with negative keyword lists.
I learned this the hard way when I spent $300 on clicks meant for my DJ business on the keyword “DJ Khaled”. Because he came into town and I didn't add “DJ Khaled” as a negative keyword.
Today, I’m breaking down how to use negative keyword lists effectively so you don’t make the same mistake that I did.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- What Negative Keywords Are and Why They Matter
- Building and Organizing Negative Keyword Lists
- Applying Negative Keywords Strategically
- How to Add Negative Keywords in Google Ads?
- Universal Negative Keyword List for B2B
- The Bottom Line
What Negative Keywords Are and Why They Matter
Negative keywords are words or phrases that prevent our ads from appearing when people search for them.
In Google Ads, they are the exact opposite of “positive keywords”, which are words or phrases that match the ads to what people are searching for.
The simplest way I can explain positive vs. negative keywords is: Positive keywords are the searches I want to show up for, but negative keywords are the searches I don’t want to waste my money on.
As I always say: Positive keywords give me visibility, but negative keywords give me focus. Without them, I’m spending money on people who were never looking for me in the first place.
By consistently adding negative keywords, I’m able to refine search terms, report, and block irrelevant, wasteful queries.
And I can’t stress this enough: Negative keywords are crucial to success as a Google advertiser.
Building and Organizing Negative Keyword Lists
One of the best ways to implement negative keywords is through lists.
I could apply them at the campaign or ad group level, but using a negative keyword list keeps things organized.
Think about categories like employment, education, profanity, or even competitors. I recommend grouping similar themes.
For example, as a B2B marketer, I block keywords around job searches or salary info, which are rarely relevant. And instead of adding these keywords manually to every campaign, I create a negative keyword list called “Employment” and apply it across the account.
When it comes to competitors, if I see irrelevant brand searches appearing in my search terms report, I add them to a “Competitor” negative keyword list and block them all at once.
I don’t want to pay for clicks from users looking for a company I don’t even sell!
Applying Negative Keywords Strategically
As I mentioned before, I could add negative keywords at the ad group or campaign level.
But here’s the trick: Using them strategically for campaign sculpting. This is how I prevent closely related keywords from triggering the wrong ad group.
It’s powerful but can get complicated if not handled with care.
If I go overboard, I might create keyword conflicts, meaning my ads don’t show up at all.
The lesson I learned is: Start simple, and build out as needed.
How to Add Negative Keywords in Google Ads?
Negative keywords aren’t a one-and-done deal. They need to be continuously refined to keep campaigns running efficiently.
The best way to do this? A system.
First, I review the search terms report. Google gets looser with keyword matching every year, so I always find searches that shouldn’t be triggering my ads.
And then block them.
Second, I build themed negative keyword lists. Here are some common ones:
- Employment: Blocks job-related searches like hiring, careers, salary, Glassdoor.
- Education: Stops ads from showing up for courses, certifications, degree programs.
- Investors: Prevents searches related to stock prices, funding rounds, shareholder meetings.
- Profanity: Blocks offensive or inappropriate searches.
- Bargain Shoppers: Eliminates searches with free, cheap, discount, coupon.
- Support: Keeps customer service-related queries out, like help desk or technical support.
By now, if I were you, I couldn't help but apply the negative keyword lists to my Google Ads dashboard. So here’s a step-by-step guide on how to do it:
- In my Google Ads dashboard, click the 🛠️Tools icon
- Click the Shared Library drop-down in the menu (1), and then Exclusion Lists (2)
- Click on the ➕icon (Add negative keyword list) to create a list
- Name your list, paste in the negative keywords, and save
- To apply a negative keyword list to a campaign, click on the list in the Exclusion lists
- And check the campaign name to which you want the negative keyword list applied to.
Universal Negative Keyword List for B2B
Over the years of managing B2B Google Ads campaigns, I’ve learned that a well-optimized negative keyword list is just as important as selecting the right positive keywords.
To help businesses cut out wasted spend and improve lead quality, I’ve compiled a universal list of negative keywords that I consistently apply across campaigns.
These terms filter out job seekers, educational or support questions, and other unqualified traffic that could derail ad performance.
No matter where we are in our advertising strategy journey, this list serves as a strong foundation for refining targeting and maximizing ROI.
Employment
- address
- headquarters
- careers
- glassdoor
- indeed
- job openings
- positions
- salary
- internship
- looking for work
- occupation
- part time
- full time
- recruiter
- resume
Education
- "can I"
- "how to"
- "what is"
- "what are"
- "books"
- "courses"
- "school"
- "classes"
- "university"
- "college"
- "academy"
- wikipedia
- "powerpoint"
- "presentation"
- "training"
- "workshops"
Support
- help desk
- knowledge base
- login
- support
Investors
- funding
- investment
- investors
- series a
- series b
- series c
- series d
- series e
- series f
- crunchbase
Profanity
- chicks
- dating
- kinky
- naked
- nude
- porn
- porno
- sex
- x-rated
- xxx
- fuck
- damn
- shit
- bitch
- cunt
- fucker
- hoe
- asshole
- ass
- murder
- death
- accident
- horrific
Bargain Shoppers
- close outs
- short cut
- shortcuts
- remainders
- remainder
- liquidation
- close out
- hack
- hacks
- closeout
- cheap
- overstock
- bargain
- cheapest
- clearance
- odd lots
- shortcut
- free
- discount
- closeouts
- inexpensive
- short cuts
- discounted
Politics
- democrats
- republicans
- senate
- congress
- terrorism
- isis
- hamas
- voting
- legislation
- riots
Of course, each business is unique in its own way.
So definitely add new negative keywords to your Google Ads account depending on your business and make sure to take that into account when adding the above negative keywords.
And to make it easy for you to manage your own negative keyword list, we created a template for you.
You can access the Negative Keyword List Templates in the Paid Search - Planning Template in the "Negative Keyword Lists" tab.
The Bottom Line
Negative keywords aren’t just a nice-to-have.
They’re the guardrails that keep your Google Ads budget from spiraling into wasted clicks. By grouping them into strategic lists and continuously refining, you’re ensuring that every dollar goes toward the right audience.
So, don’t wait.
Start building and optimizing your negative keyword lists today. Your ROI will thank you.
But if you really want to level up your B2B advertising game, there’s more to master than just negative keywords. That’s where Google Ads course by AdConversion comes in.
Join 4,500+ B2B marketers who are sharpening their paid media skills inside AdConversion’s free, on-demand courses. Here’s why you should sign up:
✅ 100% free access – No hidden fees, no fluff.
✅ Taught by vetted industry experts – Learn from people who run high-budget B2B campaigns.
✅ Workbooks, resources & templates – So you can implement, not just watch.
✅ Bite-sized lessons (<10 min each) – Easy to fit into your schedule.
Click here to join in under 90 seconds (seriously, we timed it 😂)
10 Tips to Design an Effective LinkedIn Ads Funnel Architecture
Over the past 5 years, I’ve helped hundreds of B2B SaaS companies develop a strong LinkedIn Ads funnel architecture.
This has allowed them to show up in front of the right audiences, with the right messages, at the right time, ultimately leading to more pipeline and revenue.
I’ll be breaking down my entire methodology below.
Let’s dive in.👇
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Tip #1: Outline your variables
- Tip #2: Whiteboard your funnel
- Tip #3: Set clear campaign goals
- Tip #4: Create ads that match the funnel stage
- Tip #5: Don’t forget attribution
- Tip #6: Get efficient before getting fancy
- Tip #7: Retarget like a pro
- Tip #8: Test smart, not random
- Tip #9: Keep tabs on performance
- Tip #10: Learn, improve, repeat
Tip #1: Outline your variables
Before you do anything else, you want to outline all your variables.
What audiences do you need to target? Are they actually active on LinkedIn or will you have to try with a different platform? How large are your audience sizes? How much budget do you have? What content do you have available to you and what gaps do you currently have?
You need to put all those pieces on the table to understand if LinkedIn is a viable channel for you in the first place.
If you have minimal content, a small budget, and an audience that isn’t very active on LinkedIn, you’re setting yourself up for failure.
Tip #2: Whiteboard your funnel
Once you have your pieces on the table, you can use Figma, Miro, or simply pen and paper (my personal preference) to start mapping out your funnel.
For example, let’s say you’ve created your audience and have identified that your TAM is around half a million people. But maybe your ideal ICP — which you want to start targeting with ads — is only 65K people.
Now, you need to ask yourself the question: what type of content would this audience find interesting and push them further down the funnel?
Maybe, to start, they’d want to see something funny related to a pain point they’re having. Next, they might want to see more content related to this pain point, in addition to product videos and testimonials. Eventually, they might be open to requesting a demo.
Ultimately, you want to map out the journey that you want your prospects to take; even if they don’t follow this exact journey — which they probably won’t — doing this exercise forces you to have empathy for them, and your content ecosystem will be more likely to move the needle.
Tip #3: Set clear campaign goals
A goalie, defender, midfielder, and striker all have different roles and shouldn’t be judged by the same criteria.
The same is true for ad campaigns.
Top of funnel, bottom of funnel, cross-sell, upsell, and pipeline acceleration campaigns are completely different, and need to be judged by completely different metrics.
Before spending any money, it’s important to clearly define the KPIs for your campaigns.
For example, for a top of funnel campaign to a cold audience, your goal might be to maximize engagement, and you might be looking at metrics such as engagement rate and cost per engagement.
For a bottom of the funnel campaign, you might be assessing performance by looking at metrics such as cost per demo, cost per SQL, or cost per opportunity.
Defining these key metrics is essential — if you fail to define them, your leadership team might ask you to pause all your top of funnel/awareness campaigns because they haven’t generated enough demo requests 😥
Tip #4: Create ads that match the funnel stage
A lot of people these days say things like the B2B buyer’s journey isn’t linear and the funnel isn’t actually real, and sure, that’s true, but it’s still meaningful to match the content/offer to the level of awareness of your prospect.
Someone who visited your LinkedIn company page 11 months ago probably shouldn’t be seeing the same content as someone who visited your pricing page yesterday.
With the ads in the cold layer, you’re showing up unannounced in someone’s feed, and you’re simply looking to pique their curiosity.
Once they’ve engaged with you multiple times, you can start being a bit more direct (promoting demos, trials, sign ups, etc.).
Aside from the funnel stage, you also might want to segment your ads by persona — for example, CFOs, salespeople, and product people will all care about different things, and should be seeing customized messaging based on their needs and concerns.
One caveat: you have to be careful to not make your audience too small.
If you segment by region, funnel stage, and persona, you may not have a large enough audience size to run a campaign.
If this happens, you’ll have to triage and decide which targeting criteria to prioritize.
Tip #5: Don’t forget attribution
This might seem basic but it has to be said.
You don’t need a super complex attribution setup, but you do want to have an idea of what campaigns are driving an incremental lift in pipeline.
If you don’t have access to an attribution tool like Dreamdata or HockeyStack, here’s a simple way to start doing this:
For high-value conversions (ie qualified lead, demo request, or opportunity), in addition to your standard last touch/last conversion event, set up a duplicate last touch/each conversion event, with a 90-day click/90-day view window and a very small value (ie 1 cent).
By doing this, you’ll find that some campaigns that you believed weren’t performing are actually driving — or at least influencing — a significant amount of conversions.
Aside from this, it’s a good idea to look at different sources to build a more complete picture of what’s working: in-platform attribution, your CRM, self-reported attribution, Gong call mentions, conversion API, the revenue attribution report, etc.
It’s also helpful to look at both directly attributed and blended pipeline quarter over quarter. If these numbers, along with your pipe-to-spend ratio, are consistently increasing, it’s a good indicator that your campaigns are working.
Tip #6: Get efficient before getting fancy
In order to be effective, you first need to be efficient.
I like using the example of a car: if you need to drive 50 miles, it’s going to be much more difficult if your oil hasn’t been changed, your tires are flat, and you only have a quarter tank of gas.
The same thing is true for LinkedIn Ads: using the LinkedIn audience network, enabling audience expansion, not leveraging exclusions, using too many exclusions, targeting too many people, not targeting enough people, using OR instead of AND or AND instead of OR, using the wrong campaign objective, choosing the wrong bid strategy, etc.
These are issues I see all the time, and though they may seem minor, they have a huge impact on overall performance.
You won’t hit your pipeline and revenue targets if you don’t pay attention to the smaller details.
Tip #7: Retarget like a pro
Effective retargeting requires a nuanced approach.
Prospects who have visited your site in the past 30 days are more likely to request a demo/book a call, so it’d be appropriate for them to see ads with a more direct CTA.
Prospects in your general 90-day remarketing audience might be considering different products/services, so case studies, testimonials, thought leadership, and other trust-building content might push them further down the funnel.
People in your 180-day remarketing audience may not be in-market anymore, but you can stay in front of them for a very low cost using different LinkedIn ad formats such as text and spotlight ads.
If the prospects in your 90 or 180-day remarketing audiences engage with your ads and visit your site, they’ll enter the 30-day remarketing audience and see more direct demo request/book a call ads.
If the prospects in the 30-day remarketing audience don’t engage with your demo ads, they’ll get pulled into the 90-day remarketing layer.
Ultimately, by creating this remarketing ecosystem, you’ll make sure you’re A) capitalizing on people who are in-market and B) staying top of mind with prospects who aren’t ready to buy just yet.
To learn exactly how to set up your retargeting audiences, take a look at this retargeting blueprint.
Tip #8: Test smart, not random
You should be constantly testing elements in your campaigns to maximize performance: different copy, pain points, landing pages, targeting criteria, etc.
But you want to make sure that all your tests are both meaningful and insightful.
For example, testing a blue creative vs. a red creative wouldn’t be meaningful; instead, you’d want to test more significant elements, e.g. testing one messaging angle vs. another, or testing a native audience vs. an ABM audience.
Also, it’s important to conduct proper A/B tests — they’re called A/B tests and not A/B/C/D/E/F/G tests for a reason 😅— to extract accurate insights from your experimentation. If you’re simultaneously testing copy, creatives, pain points, landing pages, and targeting, you’ll have no idea what led to an improvement in results.
Pro tip: To ensure that your tests are both meaningful and insightful, you can use this simple experimentation formula If we do X, I believe Y, as measured by Z.
Tip #9: Keep tabs on performance
This is another tip that might seem obvious, but is often overlooked.
If you’re testing campaigns with different audiences, you need to keep a close eye on which audience performs better.
If you’re testing two ads with different messaging angles, you need to see which ad has more engagement and a higher CTR.
If you’re testing two different landing pages, you need to see which page has the most engaged visits and conversions.
To be clear, I’m advocating for keeping a close eye on performance — not constantly tweaking things in your account.
If you’ve set your campaigns up strategically, you don’t need to be making changes every day, and want to give LinkedIn’s algorithm the time to optimize and learn.
Pro Tip: I typically recommend allowing an ad to spend around $100 before shutting it down — sometimes, an ad that starts out slow can end up being a top-performer.
Tip #10: Learn, improve, repeat
With ad campaigns, you never reach a final destination; in other words, your job is never finished.
If your ads performed well this quarter, you’ll need to find a way to improve performance the following quarter.
You’ll have to sit down and ask yourself:
1. What worked well that we should continue doing in the future?
2. What didn’t go well that we should pause moving forward?
3. Based on what we’ve learned, are there any new tests that could move the needle and improve results?
If you aren’t constantly improving, you’ll likely get left behind by the competition.
Hope you found this article helpful!
If you’re looking to learn more about LinkedIn Ads, check out these free LinkedIn Ads courses, that will teach you how to launch, optimize, and scale LinkedIn Ads campaigns effectively.
And if you have any questions about LinkedIn Ads, feel free to send me a message on LinkedIn.
10 Tips to Make Google Ads Work for Your B2B SaaS Company
Running Google Ads today isn’t the same as running Google Ads in 2015.
What years ago was a winning strategy no longer is, and will only lead to headaches, poor leads, and wasted spend.
Many marketers have already abandoned Google entirely, claiming that it doesn’t work anymore or it’s a waste of money — but this, in my experience, isn’t true.
Over the past few years, I’ve helped B2B SaaS companies such as Dreamdata, Airtame, and Templafy drive millions in revenue through Google Ads, and have developed a repeatable strategy to maximize performance.
I’ll be sharing my tips for success below 👇
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Tip#1: Set up quality conversion tracking
- Tip #2: Consolidate your campaigns and ad groups
- Tip #3: Focus on exclusions
- Tip #4: Create fast and relevant landing pages
- Tip #5: Leverage smart bidding
- Tip #6: Decrease the amount of RSAs per ad group
- Tip #7: Pin you headlines
- Tip #8: Don’t forget about device adjustments
- Tip #9: Figure out whether you should bid on your own brand or not
- Tip #10: Separate Brand and Non-Brand in your reporting
- Bonus tip: Dive deeper into your performance by country
Tip #1: Set up quality conversion tracking
Many companies are simply tracking form submits, without paying attention to lead quality. This makes optimization challenging, both for the performance marketer managing the account and for the Google Ads algorithm.
To improve performance, make sure you send all the lifecycle stages from your CRM back into the Google Ads platform — this might look like MQLs, SALs, opportunities, etc. — and assign higher values to higher value conversions, so that Google’s algorithm understands what to optimize for.
If you’re using HubSpot as a CRM, this process will be very simple, as your Click IDs will automatically be captured without requiring a manual setup.
If you’re using a different CRM, you’ll need to manually push your click IDs into your CRM using hidden fields — this process might seem complicated, but you should be able to find a marketing operations specialist on Upwork that can help you with the initial setup.
Tip #2: Consolidate your campaigns and ad groups
In the past, when exact match was still exact, SKAGs (single keyword ad groups) made sense.
By including one keyword per ad group and using that keyword in the ad and landing page copy, you could improve your overall quality score.
Now that exact match is a lot less exact, this approach doesn’t make sense anymore.
These days, consolidation is the way to win — by grouping relevant keywords into the same ad group, we give the Google Ads algorithm more data points to make optimizations.
Tip #3: Focus on exclusions
With exact match being less exact, exclusions are now more important than inclusions.
In other words, instead of trying to come up with hundreds of keywords to include in your campaigns, it’s better to spend your time excluding hundreds of irrelevant keywords.
For example, maybe you want to show up for the keyword customer journey tracking, but notice in your search terms report that you’re consistently showing up for the term customer journey mapping, which isn’t relevant to your core offering. By excluding different variations of customer journey mapping, you’ll be able to improve your overall targeting and get in front of more relevant prospects.
Pro tip: In the Google Ads reporting section, you can easily create a search terms report and schedule it to be emailed to you on a weekly basis. This will allow you to be more proactive about making exclusions in your account.
Tip #4: Create fast and relevant landing pages
Landing pages are one of the most overlooked aspects of Google Ads performance.
If they aren’t loading quickly, Google will lower your quality score and it will be nearly impossible to get in front of your prospects. Before launching any campaign, double check that your landing pages are loading quickly on both mobile and desktop devices.
Next, make sure your landing page is as closely related as possible to the keywords in your ad group. For a product analytics ad group, you’d want your landing page to focus on product analytics. For a marketing analytics ad group, you’d want your landing page to focus on marketing analytics.
Take a look at the customized landing pages below:
This message match will improve your quality score and will also improve the relevance for your prospects, leading to better performance.
I know that creating new landing pages can be a heavy lift, especially if you have a small team. If this is the case, I recommend duplicating an existing landing page and simply modifying the hero section. Once you start seeing some initial traction from this simple landing page, you can put in the extra effort to create a fully customized experience.
Pro tip: To check the speed of your landing pages, you can use a free tool such as PageSpeed Insights.
Tip #5: Leverage Smart Bidding
Sometimes, smart bidding doesn’t make sense. For example, if you’re starting a new campaign and have zero conversions, it’s a better idea to start with manual CPC or maximize clicks with a bid cap.
However, once you have 10+ conversions per campaign, you’ll typically see better performance if you switch over to smart bidding and let Google optimize for you.
This wasn’t always the case — in the past, Google’s algorithm was much less sophisticated, and you were better off trying to control every single bid adjustment.
But these days, you’ll usually see more traffic and an increase in conversions by letting go of control, as long as you’re feeding Google high quality signals from your CRM.
As with everything in marketing, there are exceptions, and there are instances where you’ll switch to smart bidding and your CPCs will skyrocket 😨
If this happens, consider testing a portfolio bidding strategy with a target CPA and a bid cap — this will mimic max conversions bidding while giving you more control over the cost per click.
Tip #6: Decrease the amount of RSAs per ad group
Most people think that having more responsive search ads = more variations for Google = better performance.
But the opposite is actually true.
Let’s say you create 3 RSAs, and have 15 headlines per ad. This means that Google will have to test 45 different headlines until it finds a winning combination, which could take years 😅
If you only include 1 RSA per ad group (maximum two), your headlines will be tested much faster and Google will be able to find a winning combination more easily, minimizing wasted spend and improving overall results.
Pro tip: If you have a small budget, you might want to take things a step further, and test 6-9 headlines instead of 15. This way, Google will be able to test all the headlines in a matter of weeks (not years).
Tip #7: Pin your headlines
There’s still a lot of debate around pinning vs not pinning headlines.
Some people say that pinning is a bad idea, since it will negatively impact your ad strength, but ultimately, Google’s ad strength has no bearing on performance.
I’ve seen more success with pinning because it makes your headlines more legible — if your ads are clear and searchers have a better understanding of what your company does, you’ll see an improvement in performance.
If your headlines are redundant — as often happens with unpinned headlines, which leads to words like Google Ads agency and Google Ads consultant being next to each other — prospects are less likely to trust you, and much less likely to click.
Here’s the exact formula that I like to follow for my headlines:
Headline 1: Include your target keyword to maximize relevance
Headline 2: Include unique selling points or social proof
Headline 3: Include your company name or a relevant CTA
For each headline, I like to create 2-3 variations that Google can test.
Pro tip: Spend most of your time crafting headlines 1 and 2. Headline 3 is much less important these days, as Google rarely displays it in the SERP.
Tip #8: Don’t forget about device adjustments
Oftentimes, certain devices will significantly outperform others.
For example, if you see that 20% of your spend and 90% of your conversions are happening on desktop, you might want to add a negative bid adjustment to mobile devices or tablets, in order to increase the budget allocated to desktop.
You could argue that mobile impressions are still valuable, and that decreasing spend on mobile could negatively impact performance if people are researching on their phones and then converting on desktop, but based on my experience, it’s best to work with the data that’s available to you — if a certain device is converting at a higher rate, I would recommend adding negative bid adjustments to the other devices.
Tip #9: Figure out whether you should bid on your own brand or not
Running brand campaigns vs not running them at all is a controversial topic.
Some people say that the impact of brand campaigns is minimal — prospects were already looking for you and may have converted organically — and that they simply exist to inflate performance marketing metrics.
However, in my experience, this isn’t the case, and it usually is a good idea to run brand campaigns to protect your brand, especially if competitors are bidding on your company name.
Back when I was working at Momondo, a B2C company, we were driving a ton of revenue from competitive campaigns, bidding on our competitor, Kayak, who wasn’t running brand campaigns to protect themselves.
Now, you might be thinking: sure, that’s B2C, but in B2B, especially enterprise B2B, you probably won’t change the course of a deal with a single ad.
But from what I’ve seen with my B2B clients, this isn’t true — my clients have driven a significant amount of revenue by bidding on competitor terms, which validates that bidding on your own terms to protect yourself is a good idea.
Check out the example from Mixpanel below. If they didn’t bid on their own brand name, competitors like Pendo and Heap might end up stealing some of their prospects.
If you’re undecided about whether you should run brand campaigns or not, you can run a holdout study.
Stop running brand campaigns in a specific region — maybe start with one of your less important regions — and see if the amount of demos or trials goes down. If it does, you can assume that you’re losing out on pipeline and revenue by not bidding on your own terms.
Tip #10: Separate Brand and Non-Brand in your reporting
Brand and non-brand campaigns are completely different.
Brand campaigns are defensive. Someone already found out about your brand through other marketing efforts, and they’re looking for you specifically — you’re bidding on your own name in order to protect your brand from competitors trying to steal your traffic.
On the other hand, non-brand campaigns are offensive. You’re trying to show up for relevant solutions that your prospects might be looking for, and you’re trying to drive interest from a colder audience.
In other words, getting a conversion on a non-brand campaign is significantly more challenging than driving a conversion on a brand campaign; you need to separate these campaign types in your reporting to truly understand what’s working.
Bonus tip: Dive deeper into your performance by country
Most companies and ad agencies tend to look at performance by region, but completely ignore performance by country, which results in inefficient spending.
For example, if you’re targeting France, Italy, Spain, DACH, Nordics, and the UK in the same campaign, if you drill down and analyze performance by country, you might realize that all your spend is going to the southern European countries, which typically have more affordable CPCs.
And if you look further down the funnel, you might see that Spain, DACH, and Nordics are generating a lot of form submissions, but that all your pipeline is actually coming from the UK.
Ultimately, you want to ask yourself:
1. Are any countries cannibalizing my spend and do they need to be separated into different campaigns?
2. Are there countries that aren’t generating any form submissions that we might want to pause?
3. Are there countries that are generating submissions but never convert into pipeline that we might want to invest less money in?
If you ask yourself these questions consistently, you’ll be in a much better position than 99% of companies.
Hope you found this article helpful!
If you’re looking to learn more about Google Ads, check out these free Google Ads courses, that will teach you how to launch, optimize, and scale Google Ads campaigns effectively.
And if you have any questions about Google Ads or paid media in general, feel free to reach out on LinkedIn.
