Not Seeing ROI From Your Ads? It’s Time for a Paid Media Audit
When your ad dollars aren’t delivering, it’s easy to assume your budget is too small or that digital advertising “just doesn’t work” for your business. But more often than not, the real issue lies beneath the surface – inside your ad account.
Businesses advertising on Google, on average, can have up to an 8-fold return on their investment. That’s $8 in revenue for every $1 spent.
At Optidge, we work with clients and business leaders who’ve either:
- Tried managing ads in-house but haven’t seen results
- Are frustrated with a current agency that’s underperforming or unresponsive
- Need a second opinion before making another investment
- Have high ad spend and low returns
They all have one thing in common: they know something’s off, but haven’t identified what it is, or don’t have the time or tools to dig in themselves.
Audits Are Like Taking a Look Under the Hood
A paid media audit is a comprehensive review of your digital advertising accounts, including platforms like Google Ads and the various social media channels.
Ad performance reviews are helpful when it comes to creating a better strategy.
They evaluate:
- Campaign structure
- Targeting
- Creative assets
- Performance
- Business goals
An overall advertising strategy audit is helpful to uncover inefficiencies and areas for improvement to ultimately, boost ROI, lead quality, and overall ad effectiveness.
1. Understanding History and Pain Points
Before getting into campaign nitty-gritty, it’s important to define a couple of high-level items. Such as:
- What are the business goals?
- What KPIs define success?
- Have you worked with ad agencies, and what didn’t work?
- Are you struggling with low-quality leads, high costs, or unclear reporting?
We treat audits as a strategic partnership – not a product. A discovery phase is the key to deliver recommendations that make sense for each unique business and deliver advertising audit services that boost ROI and lead quality.
2. Deep Account Audits Uncover What’s Really Happening
An ads audit needs to go beyond surface-level metrics and uncover both the wins and weaknesses of your overall advertising strategy.
A step-by-step guide to improving ad results through audits means looking at the following items:
Account Overview
- Number of campaigns
- Budget distribution
- Spend efficiency
Account Structure
- Organization of campaigns and ad groups
- Ad asset types
- Structure aligned with goals and funnel stages
Audience Targeting
- Current audience setup
- Exclusions and observation lists
- Gaps in targeting and missed opportunities
Campaign & Account Settings
- Budget caps, delivery settings, ad schedules
- Bidding strategies vs. campaign objectives
Conversion Tracking
- Are you measuring what matters?
- Is your data accurate?
- Are conversion actions aligned with your actual goals?
Performance Analysis & Strategic Recommendations
- What’s driving results and what’s not?
- Where are you overspending or under-investing?
- Tactical and strategic improvements
Are Your Keywords Working For You or Against You?
Keywords are the foundation of any successful paid search campaign, but not all keywords are created equal. Search ads are only as good as the keywords they’re built on.
If you’re targeting the wrong terms or using inefficient match types, your budget could be going to waste. A paid search audit must pinpoint exactly where the keyword strategy is helping or hurting performance.
Keyword Strategy
Are your match types appropriate? Are you bidding on high-intent terms?
Search Term Analysis
Are you bleeding budget on irrelevant queries? Are you using negatives effectively?
Ad Extensions & Assets
Are you using all available tools to boost CTR and real estate on the SERP?
Ad Copy Review
Is your messaging aligned with your audience’s intent? Is it clear, compelling, and conversion-focused?
Are Your Creatives and Funnel Working in Sync?
During a paid social audit there is a lot to consider. Optidge Paid Social Strategist, Grace Glass, shared on a recent episode of The Digital Marketing Mentor the role of creative in strategic paid campaigns.
Strong visuals alone won’t cut it – your creative and funnel strategy need to work together. Social channels like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, creative and audience strategies must work in sync.
If your ads aren’t aligned with where users are in their journey, you risk losing interest before they ever convert. An audit evaluates both your creative approach and funnel structure to ensure they’re built for impact.
Creative Testing Strategy
Are you testing enough? Are you running the right creative for each funnel stage?
Funnel Design
Is your prospecting strategy connected to an effective retargeting funnel?
Customer Journey Review
Are your landing pages relevant and optimized for conversions?
Retargeting Audiences
Are you reaching the right users at the right time?
Why the Optidge Audit Isn’t Just Another Checklist
Most audits give you a list of tweaks without any real context – but that’s not how we do things at Optidge. We go beyond surface-level settings to uncover the why behind performance issues, then deliver strategic insights you can actually use.
It’s not about checking boxes, it’s about giving you clarity, direction, and a smarter path forward. We’re not here to nitpick settings for the sake of it – we’re here to help you understand what’s broken and how to fix it.
You’ll walk away with:
- A performance snapshot of your ad account
- Clear, prioritized action items
- Strategic insights that align with your business goals
- Optional next steps if you want us to implement improvements
Most importantly, you’ll regain clarity and confidence in your advertising strategy.
The Real ROI of an Audit
Forget high spend with low returns or unexplained, inconsistent performance. Forget waiting days (or weeks) for your agency to get back to you.
The real ROI of an audit is clarity, which leads to the elimination of wasted budget and missed opportunities. Our case studies speak for themselves.
We’ve helped businesses overcome all of these issues.
“Before Optidge, our digital campaigns did not convert. Since this campaign, we have had a constant stream of new customers and new business.”
Stay tuned for new Optidge case studies coming soon sharing the real impact of recent audits on our client’s businesses.
Why Clients Turn to Us
Whether you’re working with an agency that’s gone dark or you’ve been running campaigns in-house that just aren’t converting, our Paid Search and Paid Social services are a powerful way to reset and refocus.
When other agencies fall short, clients turn to us to rebuild trust through:
- Performance
- Transparency
- Strategy
Our expert team evaluates everything that’s happening across your accounts and delivers clear recommendations to increase your bottom line, improve ROI, lead quality, and performance. We’re available, accountable, and genuinely invested in your success.
We believe in empowering growth through mentorship. That means our audits aren’t just “reports” – they’re education. We want you to learn what matters for your accounts and why, so you can make smarter decisions moving forward – whether you stick with us or not.
Ready to Know What’s Working (or Not) in Your Ads?
Optidge is a results-driven digital marketing agency that empowers brands through strategic expertise, transparent communication, and a mentorship-first mindset. If your ad campaigns feel like a black box – or worse, a money pit – it’s time for an audit. Let our team of paid media experts do what we do best.
We’ll show you what’s working, what’s not, and what to do next so you can walk away with clarity, a strategy, and the confidence to get better results.
Reach out today to schedule your audit. Let’s turn your ad spend into actual growth.