Imagine an existing ad campaign with poor ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) as a critical patient in the ICU—a system on life support, struggling to function. The patient’s poor health represents the campaign's underperformance, with weak metrics like low CTR (Click through Ratio), high CPC (Cost Per Click) or CPV(Cost per View), and few conversions.

After discussion with marketing managers/owners of medical clinics and going over the underlying campaign performance reports, we identify various attributes what's broken—whether it's poor targeting or a badly designed landing page, slow website leading to bad user experience, irrelevant keywords, unengaging ad copy, or a misallocation of budget.

It may be a combination of the above attributes or all of them. Over years, working with many client campaigns, our team of certified experts approach a structured audit, like a skilled professional managing a critical case.

The first step in reviving a struggling ad campaign is to diagnose the patient, much like a doctor conducting tests to uncover underlying conditions. This begins with a thorough campaign audit. A vitals check involves reviewing essential metrics such as CTR, CPC, and Quality Score to assess the campaign's baseline health. Blood tests delve deeper, analyzing keywords, ad copy, and targeting to identify blockages like irrelevant keywords, poorly crafted ads, or misaligned audiences. X-rays provide an even closer look at the foundation, uncovering potential structural flaws such as a poorly organized account or weak landing pages.

Once the diagnosis is clear, the next step is to stabilize the patient to prevent further deterioration. This involves immediate fixes to halt the decline. Administering oxygen comes in the form of pausing underperforming ads and irrelevant keywords to conserve resources. Controlling bleeding requires adding negative keywords to stop wasted spend. Providing IV fluids means enhancing ad extensions, enriching the campaign’s “lifeline” by creating a stronger connection between the ads and potential users.

With the campaign stabilized, attention turns to treating the root cause to ensure lasting recovery. Prescribing medications involves rewriting ad copy to include compelling unique selling propositions and clear calls to action, much like a targeted prescription to improve engagement. Physical therapy focuses on optimizing bidding strategies and improving Quality Scores, strengthening the campaign incrementally. Dietary changes are made by refining audience and demographic targeting to ensure the campaign receives only the most relevant traffic, fostering healthier performance.

Monitoring the recovery is vital even after the campaign shows signs of improvement. Regular check-ins, akin to daily rounds, are necessary to track performance metrics and maintain steady progress. Adjusting medications through A/B testing ad variations and refining landing pages ensures continued fine-tuning, preventing any setbacks and pushing the campaign closer to peak performance.

Finally, when the patient is out of the ICU and stable, the focus shifts to long-term health. Lifestyle changes come into play, such as investing in retargeting campaigns that nurture audiences who showed initial interest, akin to a rehabilitation plan. Preventive care includes implementing automation and smart bidding strategies to sustain performance over time. Regular check-ups, in the form of periodic audits, help catch issues early and prevent another critical decline, ensuring the campaign remains in optimal health.

Like a critical patient, a failing ad campaign can recover and thrive with careful diagnosis, targeted treatments, and consistent monitoring. As the campaign "heals," it regains strength, efficiency, and the ability to deliver results—just like a healthy patient regains his/her quality of life.

In the next case study, you will learn how the NectarSpot team helped a leading endocrinologist to grow his practice (from one location to multiple locations) by auditing and creating ad campaigns.