Scaling paid ads can feel exciting and daunting. You might see big numbers in your analytics or watch costs rise and wonder if it’s all worth it. Ads can help your business stand out, especially when the market is crowded. Yet, it’s easy to get stuck. Some people chase growth at any cost. Others focus so hard on profit that they can’t expand. Where do you draw the line?
Why Scaling Paid Ads Matters
Advertising is a tool. It can put your brand in front of new people. It can bring old customers back. It can keep your products top of mind. But it can also eat up your budget if you aren’t careful. That’s why scaling matters. To “scale” is to grow something in a controlled way. In this case, you want to grow your ad efforts in a way that helps your business thrive.
Paid ads have a direct cost. You pay every time you run an ad, whether someone clicks or not. You might have cost-per-click campaigns, or pay for impressions, or invest in video ads. No matter which channel or method you choose, there’s a cost. Scaling means you decide how much to spend and how to expand while maintaining the outcomes you want.
When you manage to scale paid ads well, you can reach more people. You can share your product or service with folks who might never have heard of it otherwise. You can do it faster than most organic methods allow. That’s powerful. But it’s only powerful if you can handle the cost. If you chase reach blindly, you can end up with a large crowd of uninterested or unqualified leads who don’t buy anything.
In short, scaling is about more than just growing. It’s about growing wisely. It means knowing how to pace yourself, how to track your results, and how to adjust as you go. That’s where the concepts of growth and profitability come into play.
Growth Explained
Growth, in an ads context, typically refers to metrics like reach, impressions, and clicks. It’s about increasing your visibility. You want more people to see your ads, interact with them, and move closer to making a purchase. When we talk about growth, we usually think about things like:
- The number of times your ad is shown (impressions).
- The number of people who click on your ad (clicks).
- The number of visitors you get on your site from the ad (traffic).
You might think about growth in the revenue context. And in many business contexts, “growth” does indeed refer to revenue growth, while “profitability” refers specifically to profit. In the context of scaling ads, however, many people use “growth” to mean increased visibility—more impressions, clicks, brand awareness, or leads—rather than focusing strictly on the revenue aspect. By contrast, “profitability” in advertising typically centers on net returns: how much actual profit you keep after ad costs and other expenses.
Growth in ads often means expanding your audience and reach, which can lead to future revenue but isn’t always immediately tied to direct profits.
Profitability looks at bottom-line figures to ensure you earn more than you spend on ads—net profit or positive return on ad spend.
You can certainly define “growth” in terms of revenue—many companies do! But in paid advertising discussions, people commonly separate out “growth metrics” (like traffic or brand awareness) from hard-dollar profitability to make sure they understand whether their campaigns are just getting attention or actually making money. Both are important, but they serve different purposes in a marketing strategy.
Here’s the catch: Growth alone doesn’t pay the bills. If you only chase impressions or clicks, you might end up with a huge audience of people who never become customers. Some folks might enjoy your content or read your blog but not buy your products. Others might click out of curiosity and leave. The result is a lot of traffic but no real returns. This is where many businesses go astray. They see big numbers, but the bank balance doesn’t match.
Still, growth is important. If no one knows who you are, you can’t make sales. You have to get on people’s radar. You have to let them see what you do. Growth helps you reach those new eyes. Just make sure you don’t stop there. Growth should be part of a plan, not the whole plan.
Profitability Explained
Profitability is a different story. Instead of focusing on how many people see or click on your ads, you care about how many people actually buy—or at least move closer to a purchase in a meaningful way. Profitability metrics look at the return on your investment. You might see terms like “ROI” (Return on Investment) or “ROAS” (Return on Ad Spend). These metrics tell you how much money you made compared to how much you spent.
Profitability is key to staying in business. You need to earn more than you spend in the long run. Even if you’re not making a profit right away (some businesses choose to invest heavily early on), you want to know that your plan leads you there. If you focus on profitability, you track metrics like:
- Cost per acquisition (CPA).
- Cost per lead (CPL).
- Actual revenue from ad-driven sales.
Profitability is the guardrail. It keeps you from overspending. If you see that your CPA is skyrocketing, you might dial back your ad spend or change your approach. If your ROAS is too low, you might pause campaigns that aren’t working. The goal is to keep your business in the black. It might mean you grow slower because you want to keep a healthy margin. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. A slow, steady approach can be safer. But it might also mean you miss opportunities to grow faster if your market is ripe for expansion.
When To Focus On Growth
Focusing on growth before profit can make sense when your business is just starting out or when you have a new product you want people to notice. You might not see immediate revenue, but that’s part of the plan. By spreading the word now, you set the stage for more sales later.
Raise Awareness Quickly
You need people to hear about your brand as soon as possible. Even if you don’t turn a profit right away, you’re planting seeds for future success.
Compete with Established Brands
If you face big players who already have brand recognition, you may have to spend more on ads to catch up. It’s an investment in closing the gap.
Expand to New Markets
Breaking into a new region or customer segment often requires heavy promotion. You might not see a direct return on that spend in the early stages, but it builds a foundation for later.
Generate Momentum
Spreading the word fast can create buzz. When people start talking, sharing links, and following you on social media, your reach can grow beyond paid ads alone.
Keep an Eye on Costs
Growth can eat up your budget. Make sure you watch your results. If clicks and impressions don’t lead anywhere, it may be time to adjust your strategy.
Measure Different Metrics
In a growth phase, you might focus on website visitors or email signups instead of immediate profit. But have a plan to turn those leads into buyers, or you risk wasting your ad spend.
When To Focus On Profitability
If you’re working with limited resources, focusing on profitability can be a smarter move. You don’t have money to burn on experiments that might not pay off. You need to make sure each ad dollar is bringing in revenue that outpaces your costs.
Tight Budget
If funds are low, you can’t afford big risks. Every ad has to count toward real returns.
High-Cost Markets
When your margins are slim and competition is fierce, profitability metrics like ROI or ROAS matter more than ever.
Steady Returns Over Speedy Growth
You might already have a loyal audience and prefer reliable conversions over rapid expansion.
Balancing Profit and Growth
Over-focusing on profitability can lead to stagnation if you never try new approaches. Keep an eye on profit, but leave room for the occasional growth push.
Balancing Both
In a perfect world, you can grow and be profitable at the same time. In reality, you often shift between the two. You might run growth campaigns to expand your reach, then narrow your focus to profitability for a few months. Or you might do a mix. The trick is to set clear goals, watch your key metrics, and adjust as needed.
Set Clear Goals
Know what you want from each campaign. Is it brand awareness? Is it immediate sales? Is it lead generation? When you’re clear on your goal, you can measure the right metrics. Then you can decide if you’re hitting those goals.
💡Use S.M.A.R.T. goals to make your life easier.
Track Everything
Data matters, but keep it simple. Look at cost per lead, cost per acquisition, and overall return on ad spend. Don’t ignore basic stuff like click-through rates, but don’t obsess over vanity metrics. Focus on the numbers that tie to your end goal.
Test and Iterate
Start small with new campaigns. Spend a little, see what happens, and then spend more if it works. If something doesn’t work, change your targeting, your ad copy, or your offer. Keep refining.
Use Your Winners:
Find the campaigns or channels that give you great returns. Keep them running. Use the profits they bring to fuel other experiments. This way, you have a stable source of revenue while exploring new strategies.
Budget Wisely
Decide how much of your total ad budget goes to growth versus profit-focused campaigns. There’s no one-size-fits-all number. It depends on your business stage, your competition, and your resources.
Watch the Market
Trends change. Platforms change. If your target audience shifts to a new social media platform, you need to adapt. Balancing growth and profitability also means staying flexible.
Stay True to Your Brand
Ads can draw people in, but your brand and product need to deliver. No amount of ad spend can fix a product or service that doesn’t meet customer needs.
Balancing growth and profitability isn’t a one-time event. It’s an ongoing process. You might find a sweet spot, but new competitors or shifts in the economy could force you to adapt again. The more you track and the more you test, the better you’ll get at knowing when to go big on growth or when to tighten the reins for profitability.
Scaling Search Ads
Vertical scale
Let’s talk about how you can scale Search Ads. In a way, it’s harder to scale because there is a limited amount of searches for your keywords. Search volume limits your growth.
Here’s a simple technique that I teach in my course, that is called the Pyramid technique. All keywords go from really broad to very specific.
The more specific the search term is, the less search volume it has.
The question is, where did you start? If you’re somewhere at the top, then you can broaden your reach by adding more keywords. Your conversion rate and CAC might increase due to the nature of the keywords, but you’re getting more (new) people into your website. And that can result in purchases over a loner period.
- Use different campaigns with a separate budget, not to mess it up for your existing campaigns
- Think of negative keywords at the start. You’re going broader with intent. This means more irrelevant searches.
- Think about your website. Do you need a different landing page for these new keywords? Most often, you do.
- Start with a smaller budget to control the cost.
- Add micro conversions to understand the behaviour sooner (for example, add to cart, checkout, signups)
Horizontal scale
This is where you add more similar keywords. It might be that you’re not capturing the entire traffic possible from your existing keywords.
- Check the impression share column. If it is below 60%, you can still increase traffic from the same keywords
- If it’s above 80%, most likely, there is little you can do. Going after the rest of the impression might be too expensive, and it won’t make sense economically.
The horizontal scale is all about adding more keywords of the same intent. It can also be widening your location (if possible). For example, you might have started in one city or country, but with good results, you can expand to more locations, obviously, if you can deliver.
Adding more similar intent keywords is mainly related to e-commerce business, as there might be more product categories or product variations.
Scaling with bidding strategies and match types
You can go through the keywords, add the to your campaign or try Google’s way. This basically means opting into broad-match keywords with smart bidding.
- Remember that first you need a lot of conversions. I would say at least 50, if not more (depends)
- Then, you can go to Experiments, clone your existing campaign, and switch to broad match.
- Select Maximise conversions and launch the experiment. Let Google find more conversions using more signals and AI.
- Depending on your campaign, you can test the ROAS bidding, but that requires more conversions
The benefit here is that a lot of heavy lifting is done by Google, and you might save time. However, don’t forget to check the Search term report. Sometimes, Google does a pretty good job of getting more conversions for a similar or higher CPA. But remember, it you’re scaling, you should be fine with higher spend and cost per conversion.
Scaling with other campaign types
When to use other campaign types to scale your ads?
- Are you done with your Search ads? If no, then fix that first.
- Do you have remarketing campaigns running? If no, fix that first.
- For e-commerce: running Shopping ads or PMax (feed only)? N0, do that.
BOFU (bottom of the funnel)
This captures your BOFU (bottom of the funnel) traffic. This is the most profitable one, and you need to make sure you’re on top of it.
Goal: Convert high-intent users into customers and retarget warm leads.
Audience: Retargeting, high-intent searchers, and cart abandoners.
Best Google Ads Campaign Types for BOFU:
- Search Ads
- Dynamic Search Ads (DSA)
- Remarketing Display Ads (Cart Abandoners, Lead Nurture)
- PMax
- YouTube Retargeting Ads
MOFU (Middle of Funnel)
Once you have taken care of the above, move on to MOFU or middle-of-the-funnel traffic.
Goal: Educate potential buyers, nurture leads, and increase website visits.
Audience: People who interacted with TOFU ads, website visitors, and engaged users.
Best Google Ads Campaign Types for MOFU:
- Search Ads
- YouTube Remarketing
- Display Remarketing Ads
- Performance Max
TOFU (Top of Funnel)
Goal: Drive brand awareness, introduce your product/service, and capture new audiences.
Audience: Cold traffic, broad interest-based audiences, and lookalikes.
Best Google Ads Campaign Types for TOFU:
- YouTube Ads
- Google Display Ads
- Demand Gen Ads
I would leave display ads as the last campaign type to test. Focus on YouTube or Demand Gen.
If you’re starting from a conversion-focused setup and shifting towards a full-funnel approach, here’s how to distribute the budget:
- TOFU (Awareness & Discovery): 30-40%
- MOFU (Consideration & Nurture): 30-35%
- BOFU (Conversions & Retargeting): 25-30%
The campaign categorization for funel stages is somewhat subjective. You can use PMax, for example, with colder audiences. This will work like a TOFU. The same goes for retargeting campaigns. You might use them with hot audiences, such as cart abandoners, but you can also retarget users who were on your site 120 days ago.
With audience-based or signal-based campaigns, a lot depends on the audience you select.
Landing pages
Landing pages are important to any campaign, I would say; they are probably the most important part of it. By landing page I mean in a broad sense of it. It’s everything that is on there, including your offer (pricing, product, copy).
When you scale campaigns, you have to make sure that landing pages “scale” alongside. With broader audiences, you need different landing pages, optimizing towards a different goal.
If people are not ready to buy yet, you can’t push your product too hard.
People often forget about what’s going on off the account. They focus on what they can do in Google Ads, forgetting landing pages and other stuff.
I won’t expand too much here, as this can be a separate post. Just remember that conversions happen on your landing page, not in your account.
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Scaling paid ads is all about knowing where you stand and where you want to go. Growth and profitability don’t have to be at odds. They can coexist in a strategy that evolves over time. Sometimes, you put more energy into growth. Sometimes, you pull back and focus on better returns. The important thing is to track your progress, set clear goals, and stay flexible.
Use data to guide your decisions. Start small, then ramp up slowly. Don’t be afraid to adjust. If something works, do more of it. If it doesn’t, change it. Keep testing, refining, and learning. Over time, you’ll find the balance that works best for you. That’s the real secret to scaling paid ads. Not mindless growth. Not extreme caution. But a thoughtful plan that keeps your bottom line healthy while still reaching new audiences.
Building a business isn’t about instant wins. It’s about the steady climb. Paid ads are a part of that journey, not the entire story. Use them wisely. Know when to push for visibility and when to aim for profit. Stay honest with your metrics. And always remember: the ultimate goal is to run a business that serves real customers, keeps them happy, and grows in a sustainable way.
With that mindset, you can scale your paid ads at a pace that makes sense for you and your brand. You’ll avoid the traps of empty growth and short-sighted profit. Instead, you’ll create a marketing engine that fuels both your expansion and your bottom line. That’s how you succeed in the long run.
Blogging gives me a chance to share my extensive experience with Google Ads. I hope you will find my posts useful. I try to write once a week, and you’re welcome to join my newsletter. Or we can connect on LinkedIn.