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Why not give us a call and see how we can help you with your project?
01460 984284Jargon-free, experience-backed insights to guide your digital decisions.
Dan Drummond
If you’re a business owner or marketing manager who has tried Google Ads or PPC in the past and been left unsure whether it really worked, this may sound familiar. You might have run campaigns yourself or worked with an Google Ads agency, but the results never quite inspired confidence. Leads were inconsistent, costs felt high, or the return simply didn’t stack up.
If paid ads left you with more questions than answers, this series of 3 articles is designed to help you understand where things commonly break down and why.
In this article, we take a closer look at why paid ads generate enquiries but sales don't happen.
If you’re ready to skip straight to understanding how your own campaigns stack up, you can take our PPC Performance Assessment here.
This is often the most uncomfortable question to ask.
When leads come in but sales doesn’t follow, the assumption is usually that the leads were poor quality. The ads must have been wrong. The targeting must have been off.
But over the years, we've seen many PPC campaigns generate opportunity that quietly leaks out after the form is filled in or the call is made.
For many businesses, this is where structure gives way to habit.
Leads arrive in inboxes, CRMs, or spreadsheets. Some are followed up quickly. Others wait. Some are handled carefully. Others are skimmed and dismissed.
Campaigns generate phone calls that are poorly handled, misdirected or simple ignored.
Many years ago we had a client spending over £40,000 on Google Ads per month.
The product was good, the demand was high. Leads were coming in, and in healthy volume. But they weren't translating into sales. When we dug into why this was happening we discovered the reason why: enquiries weren't being followed up until at least the day after they were made. By then, the prospect had gone elsewhere.
Sadly, that business failed soon after.
From the outside, this looks like a sales issue. From the inside, it’s usually a process or training issue.
Low-quality leads do exist, particularly if a campaign has been poorly planned and executed. But they’re often over-diagnosed.
When follow-up is slow, inconsistent, or unclear, even strong leads cool off quickly. The problem isn’t always who clicked the ad. It’s what happened next.
Blaming lead quality is easy. Proving it requires looking deeper.
More than most businesses realise.
Paid leads are often time-sensitive. Someone searched, clicked, and enquired because they had a problem to solve now. Delay changes the context.
When response time stretches from minutes to hours or days, intent fades. By the time contact is made, the lead feels “cold”, reinforcing the belief that PPC doesn’t work.
Many teams believe they follow up well. Fewer have a consistent process.
Questions worth asking include:
Without structure, performance depends on individuals rather than systems. Results vary accordingly.
This is one of the biggest blind spots in paid acquisition.
Most teams track how many leads arrive. Far fewer track why those leads didn’t progress. Reasons are guessed, not recorded.
Without understanding why deals are lost, campaigns can’t improve intelligently. Changes are made to ads or budgets without addressing the real causes.
Strong PPC performance depends on a feedback loop.
When marketing knows which leads convert, why they convert, and which ones stall, campaigns can be refined. Messaging tightens. Targeting improves. Waste reduces.
When that loop is missing, marketing and sales operate in isolation. PPC becomes harder to justify, even when it’s generating opportunity.
One of the biggest challenges for many is to know how to build and measure that feedback loop in a meaningful way, whether you are running campaigns in-house or using an agency.
Yes, and this happens more often than most businesses expect.
A campaign can generate interest, conversations, and genuine opportunity, yet still be labelled a failure because the final outcome wasn’t tracked or optimised.
In these cases, Google Ads didn’t fail. The system around it did.
You need to look beyond lead counts and cost metrics.
Understanding PPC performance properly means asking:
Without those answers, it’s impossible to judge whether ads were ineffective or simply unsupported.
That’s why our PPC Performance Assessment includes questions about lead handling and follow-up. Many frustrations attributed to PPC originate here, not in the ad account.
Before spending more, it’s often more effective to:
These changes frequently improve return without increasing traffic or budgets.
If you want to understand whether lead handling or follow-up may have limited your PPC results, our PPC Performance Assessment highlights where opportunity may have been lost after enquiries came in. It's completely free and insightful.
Across this series, one pattern emerges clearly.
PPC rarely fails in isolation. It exposes gaps in strategy, messaging, experience, and process. When those gaps are addressed, paid campaigns become easier to evaluate and far more predictable.
When they aren’t, PPC can absorb the blame and opportunities will be missed.
Why do Google Ads leads fail to turn into customers?
In many cases, leads don’t convert because of what happens after they arrive. Slow response times, inconsistent follow-up, or unclear next steps can cause even high-intent enquiries to cool off quickly.
Does poor lead quality always mean the ads were wrong?
Not necessarily. Lead quality is often blamed when the real issue is follow-up speed or sales process gaps. Without reviewing how leads were handled, it’s difficult to judge whether the ads were actually the problem.
How quickly should Google Ads leads be followed up?
As quickly as possible. Paid leads are usually time-sensitive, and delays of hours or days can significantly reduce the chance of conversion, even if the original intent was strong.
What’s the difference between a sales problem and a PPC problem?
A PPC problem affects who clicks and why. A sales or process problem affects what happens after the click. When these are blurred together, campaigns are often judged unfairly.
Should sales teams give feedback on PPC leads?
Yes. Understanding which leads convert, stall, or drop out helps marketing refine targeting and messaging. Without this feedback loop, PPC performance is difficult to improve meaningfully.
How do I track which leads convert from Google Ads?
To understand whether Google Ads is really delivering value, you need to connect ad clicks to real outcomes, not just form fills. That means tracking which leads turn into sales, enquiries that progress, or revenue that’s actually realised.
We built morphBI specifically to solve this problem. It connects marketing activity, including Google Ads, to lead and revenue data so you can see what’s genuinely working and where value is leaking out. morphBI also uses AI to assess lead quality and sentiment, helping identify which enquiries show genuine intent and which are unlikely to convert. This makes it easier to separate advertising issues from sales or process issues and focus improvement efforts in the right place.
We’ve also written an insight article explaining why tracking conversion value, not just conversions, is critical to understanding PPC performance and return on investment. Together, these tools help replace guesswork with clarity.
How can sales process gaps make Google Ads look unprofitable?
If leads aren’t handled consistently or outcomes aren’t tracked, revenue impact is underestimated. PPC may generate opportunity, but the value leaks out before it’s realised.
What should be reviewed before increasing PPC spend?
Before spending more, it’s often more effective to improve follow-up speed, clarify handover processes, and track why leads don’t convert. These changes can improve return without increasing traffic.
How does the PPC Performance Assessment help here?
The assessment includes questions about lead handling and follow-up, helping identify whether PPC underperformance may be linked to process issues rather than the ads themselves.
Head of Digital Strategy
Dan leads our digital marketing team at morphsites. With a sharp eye on SEO, paid search, and ROI tracking, he’s always looking for ways to help businesses make smarter use of their marketing spend...and keep pace with a fast-changing digital landscape.
PPC Frustrations Part 1 - Why Google Ads often fail before the first ad even runs
PPC Frustrations Part 2 - Why do Google Ads get clicks but still fail to convert?
PPC Frustrations Part 3 - Why don’t Google Ads leads turn into customers?
The hidden cost of indecision
Finding the extraordinary in the ordinary
Before you build, find out if you should
Are you solving the right problem?
More signal, less noise
Do you still need an agency in 2025 or can AI do it all?
Is AI changing how we should plan websites and marketing strategies?
Planning a Website or Digital Project? Here’s What to Do First.
Can AI replace your development team?
Why one client spent 10x more on a custom website and never looked back
Why Tracking Conversion Value is Crucial for Marketing Success in 2025
Not sure where to start with your digital project?
We’ve guided businesses through complex builds, integrations, and marketing strategies. Let’s have a conversation about how we can support your goals.
Many Google Ads campaigns don’t fail because of budgets, keywords, or platforms. They fail much earlier, when success isn’t clearly defined and user intent isn’t properly understood. This article explores why unclear goals and weak foundations quietly undermine PPC performance before the first ad even goes live.
By Dan Drummond
Google Ads can attract plenty of clicks and still fail to generate enquiries and sales. This article explores why breakdowns between ad messaging and landing pages often undermine conversions, and how misalignment, friction, and unclear value propositions quietly waste paid traffic.
By Dan Drummond
Google Ads can generate great leads and still fail to deliver revenue. This article explores why follow-up speed, sales process gaps, and missing feedback loops often undermine PPC performance after the click, even when campaigns appear to be working.
By Dan Drummond
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