u/epd0133

Hey everyone!

I'm relatively new to managing Google Ads for a B2B manufacturing company, and I'd really appreciate some advice from more experienced advertisers.

A little context:

I recently joined a company that manufactures cardboard packaging for other businesses. I'm currently the entire marketing department, handling everything from market research and graphic design to video editing, website development, Meta Ads, Google Ads, and reporting to management.

Basically, I'm the marketing department, the agency, and the intern. LOL.

Originally, the company wanted to focus on e-commerce, but after evaluating production costs, we realized that selling individual products online wasn't financially viable for now.

So we shifted toward B2B lead generation.

Our ideal customers are companies looking for bulk orders, recurring supply, custom dimensions, and industrial packaging.

I built a landing page using Shopify, and we're now running a Google Search campaign to generate quote requests.

Campaign results so far (October 2–8):

Metric	Result
Campaign type	Google Search
Total spend	~$1,408 MXN (~$75 USD)
Impressions	312
Clicks	46
CTR	14.74%
Average CPC	$30.62 MXN (~$1.65 USD)
Reported conversions	3
Conversion rate	6.52%
Cost per conversion	~$469 MXN (~$25 USD)

USD amounts are approximate, and the sample is still very small.

One important detail about tracking:

We initially had some conversion tracking issues, but those have already been fixed.

There was also one real lead that Google Ads didn't attribute correctly.

I'm not counting that lead as an additional Google Ads conversion in the numbers above because I want to keep platform-reported conversions separate from actual CRM leads.

What I'm currently seeing:

The CTR seems encouraging, and the campaign is getting clicks from people searching for cardboard packaging.

Our ad copy emphasizes B2B manufacturing, bulk orders, custom dimensions, and industrial applications.

However, the CPC varies quite a bit from day to day, and I'm not sure whether that's normal given the low volume.

Our sales team is still evaluating lead quality, so I don't have enough information about qualified opportunities, closed deals, or profitability.

I know that 3 reported conversions are nowhere near enough to draw strong conclusions.

Here are my questions:

1. Bidding strategy: For a new B2B Search campaign with only 3 conversions, would you recommend Maximize Conversions, Maximize Clicks, or manual CPC? What factors would influence your decision?
2. Learning period: How long would you let a campaign like this run before making meaningful changes? Would you base that decision more on elapsed time, clicks, spend, or conversion volume?
3. Keywords and match types: For niche B2B manufacturing, would you start with phrase/exact match or include broad match? How would you approach search term analysis without accidentally excluding valuable business inquiries?
4. CPC fluctuations: Is it normal for average CPC to fluctuate significantly during the first week? At what point would you consider it a real problem rather than normal auction variability?
5. Negative keywords: How aggressively would you add negatives during the first few weeks? I'm concerned about blocking relevant B2B searches because some general terms can also have commercial intent.
6. Conversion optimization: Since actual qualified leads are relatively rare, would you initially optimize for submitted quote requests and later import qualified lead conversions from the CRM?
7. Landing page: Would you prioritize improving the landing page and lead qualification process before making changes to the campaign?
8. Overall: Based on these early results, what would you investigate first, and what would you deliberately leave unchanged?

I'm not trying to scale aggressively or chase the cheapest possible leads.

My priority is attracting companies with genuine purchasing potential, ideally recurring orders, rather than generating lots of low-quality form submissions.

I also don't want to make unnecessary changes just because the campaign is new and I'm impatient to see results.

I'm especially interested in hearing from people who have managed Google Ads for B2B manufacturing, industrial suppliers, packaging companies, or other businesses with longer sales cycles.

Any practical advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!

And please, no agency pitches. I'm already doing the work of about five people here. LOL.

Aproximadamente el 25 de mayo de 2026 entré a trabajar como gerente en esta empresa. Estuve un mes a prueba y todo iba bien. De hecho, gracias a Dios tengo evidencia de que me iban a renovar el contrato, que querían seguir trabajando conmigo. Hasta ahí, todo bien.

El 26 de julio, pese a no tener contrato firmado, seguí laborando ese día porque, según la recomendación de mi abogado, si sigues trabajando se entiende que se extendió tu periodo de prueba y que ya lo superaste. Ese mismo día, como una hora antes de salir, RH me dijo que prescindirían de mis funciones por problemas económicos de la empresa. Honestamente lo entendí y ni siquiera me molestó, porque ya venía viendo cosas medio sospechosas en la empresa.

El problema viene después. El viernes me comentaron que el martes pasara a recoger mi finiquito. Ese mismo martes me dijeron que hubo una reestructura administrativa y que ahora sí, el viernes, tendría mi finiquito. Ese viernes llamé a RH y, oh sorpresa, no me contestaron. Insistí hasta que me respondió la contadora, diciéndome que efectivamente hubo un cambio en los bancos y que mi pago saldría el lunes o miércoles de esa semana. Hoy, lunes, me dicen que no saben cuándo será, ya ni siquiera me dan fecha ni hora.

Me deben cerca de $10,000 pesos de salarios por las dos semanas trabajadas después de la quincena de junio, más la parte proporcional (sé que no es mucho porque fue solo un mes, pero el tema del dinero sí me tiene molesto).

Mi único error fue confiar en ellos y firmar la carta de despido por "no pasar el periodo de prueba" —aunque en realidad no me importaba mucho esa parte porque era solo un mes, pero era condición para que me dieran el finiquito—.

Tengo grabaciones, capturas de pantalla y ya cuento con el apoyo legal de un abogado. Honestamente, ¿ustedes creen que valga la pena ir a conciliación, o solo espero a que la empresa "despierte" un día con ganas de pagarme?

Entré a liderar un departamento... que ya tiene líder. ¿Qué hago?

Hola, creo que más que una duda de marketing, tengo una pregunta sobre liderazgo y dirección. Les cuento la situación:

Llevo menos de un mes en esta organización. Al llegar, entendí el contexto así:

Había una chica que era jefa del departamento de Imagen y Diseño (el nombre importa, ya van a ver por qué). Por sus buenos resultados, ascendió y ahora tiene un rol más amplio como Project Manager de todas las áreas: contabilidad, finanzas, etc. Al subir, dejó vacante su puesto anterior.

Lo lógico habría sido promover a la persona con más experiencia dentro del departamento. De hecho sucedio y actualmente hay una chica liderando el área de Imagen y Diseño.

Sin embargo, según palabras de la propia Project Manager: "No tiene la visión que yo tenía; realmente solo es de diseño."

Entonces entré yo, supuestamente para liderar toda esa parte. Al menos, eso era lo que debía suceder en teoría.

¿Qué encontré en la práctica?

El equipo existe y está completo; diseñadores gráficos, un programador web, dos productores/editores de video y una community manager.

Mi función debía ser asignar tareas, dirigir el área y desarrollar la parte estratégica. Pero desde el primer momento encontré resistencia, y no del equipo, sino de la chica que actualmente lidera Imagen y Diseño.

Hablamos con el director y se llegó a un acuerdo: ella seguiría liderando operativamente el área y yo únicamente le pasaría la estrategia.

Honestamente, no tengo problema con eso; incluso representa menos estrés. Pero me genera otro problema: me deja en una posición ambigua donde básicamente soy alguien de mercadotecnia que está ahí... y nadie sabe exactamente para qué.

El problema de fondo

¿Recuerdan que el departamento se llama Imagen y Diseño? En la practica solo hacen eso, Imagen y Diseño. Se enfocan en publicaciones para redes sociales, comunicados, materiales gráficos y producción de contenido. Pero cuando llega el momento de construir una estrategia, definir objetivos o pensar más allá de la ejecución... ahí empiezan las fallas.

El detalle adicional es que yo, en etapas anteriores de mi carrera, fui prácticamente todo ese departamento en otras organizaciones; diseñador, estratega, community manager, creador de contenido y encargado de marketing. Conozco cada uno de esos roles desde adentro.

Y ahora estoy en una situación donde no puedo aplicar un plan de marketing ni desarrollar nada, porque la justificación siempre es "hay mucho trabajo", trabajo que, desde mi perspectiva, ni siquiera está alineado con una estrategia clara.

Ya hablé con el director y con la Project Manager sobre KPIs, objetivos comerciales y metas del área. La impresión que me dio es que nunca habían trabajado con alguien con este enfoque; el tema les resultó completamente nuevo.

Mi situación actual

Francamente, ya me está frustrando haber entrado para liderar un equipo que ya tiene líder, y una líder que, según percibo, no busca dirección; quiere seguir haciendo las cosas a su manera sin que nadie interfiera.

No sé si el problema es de definición de roles, de cultura organizacional o simplemente de expectativas mal gestionadas desde el inicio.

¿Qué harían ustedes en esta situación?

I’ve always been quite good at lower-body exercises: Bulgarian squats, hip thrusts, abductions, and so on. Over time, I’ve realised that I have a solid foundation of leg strength, but my upper body is a different story.

I train at home for reasons of time and convenience, so exercises that involve lifting weights above my head without supervision, such as the bench press, are out of the question for safety reasons. I also have a titanium plate in my left arm, which limits my mobility in overhead pushing exercises such as the military press.

I have dumbbells of various sizes, resistance bands and a gym bench.

The problem is that I’ve never been able to train my upper body as I’d like to, either because I can’t support my body weight properly or because I simply can’t get the exercises right. For my chest, I’ve tried push-ups, flyes and cross-overs, but I feel like I’m not making any progress. It’s a similar story with my back: horizontal band rows and vertical chest pulls have never worked out for me.

Does anyone have any specific recommendations for this situation? I’d appreciate any advice.

Our company is going through an interesting phase: our recent customer acquisition strategies have worked well and we’re attracting new people. However, we now face a new challenge.

We manage a three-tier rewards system based on purchase volume. The problem is that the vast majority of our customers are at Level 1 (the entry level), and only a minority have reached Level 2. Level 3 customers are practically non-existent or very few and far between.

We want to achieve two things:

Retain the Level 2 customers we already have

Convert a significant proportion of Level 1 customers to Level 2, as this would represent a greater return for the company

What strategies would you recommend to encourage Level 1 customers to move up to Level 2? Have you had similar experiences with loyalty or upselling programmes?

I would appreciate any advice or experiences you can share.

Ya tengo como más de 3 años de experiencia en Marketing, no sé otra cosa que no sea Comunicación y Mercadotecnia. Toda mi vida ha girado en torno a eso. Pero este año, trás un despido presuntamente por "No estar alineado con la organización", me ha hecho cuestionarme si soy bueno en lo que hago. Y no me mal entiendan, yo sé que soy bueno, he podido dar los resultados, pero ese despido me afectó mucho, (mencionado que estuve desempleado 6 meses)

Recientemente ingresé a esta nueva empresa, y siento que mi rendimiento en mis primeras dos semanas (si, solo llevo dos semanas) ha sido pésimo. Mis campañas no me están dando resultados, no he logrado llegar a los KPI de ninguna forma, estoy atendiendo bomberazos del área, y me está siendo muy frustrante.

Hoy teníamos este webinnar que la meta era llegar al menos a 30 asistentes nuevos, tener más de 100 registros, y poder cerrar al menos unas ventas. Y la Campaña estaba marchando bien, pensé incluso que solo eran unos malos días. Solo tuvimos 13 asistentes, de los cuales 9 eran nuevos y los demás ya habían visto el webinar o eran socios.

Me sentí fatal, por sobre todo que el director si se veía decepcionado de mí, y no lo culpo, en la entrevista me vendí muy bien (porque como dije, he tenido logros grandes) pero está vez, no se que me esta pasando.

Quiero llorar, gritar, no lo sé. Igual no se que me oase mañana, tal vez me despida, tal vez no tenga el contrató fijo, tengo hasta acidez con decirles.

Siento que no soy bueno en mi área, pero como les digo, no sé otra cosa más que comunicación y mercadotecnia, y irónicamente, no quiero hacer otra cosa que comunicación y mercadotecnia.

Me siento una farza total.

Hello.

I’m optimizing a Meta Ads campaign for a webinar and need advice from people who’ve been through something similar. Context and questions below.

Current Situation

Actual goal: 100 webinar attendees, which means aiming for approximately 250 sign-ups on the landing page (assuming a 40% attendance rate)

Limited budget (SME context)

Only 4 creatives: 2 videos and 2 images

Own audience: 500 active customers who purchased last month (not data from previous webinars)

Within that list, 80 are high-value customers

Current setup: the 500 active customers are excluded from targeting. The 80 high-value customers were uploaded as an audience signal within Advantage+, not as an exclusion

No traditional Lookalike audience was created

Specific questions

Pixel — how to speed up learning?

With so little data, Meta is slow to optimize. What do you recommend: switching the current campaign to the Traffic objective, running a parallel Traffic campaign with a small budget to feed the Pixel, or concentrating everything into a single campaign?

Placements and targeting

Is it worth manually excluding placements? Advantage+ Audience or manual targeting with small audiences?

Budget

CBO (campaign level) or ABO (ad set level) with a low budget?

Creatives

Does it make sense to create a carousel with all 4 assets, or is it better to keep the 2 videos and 2 images separate?

Hello

I’m optimizing a Meta Ads campaign for a webinar and need advice from people who’ve been through something similar. Context and questions below.

Current Situation

Actual goal: 100 webinar attendees, which means aiming for approximately 250 sign-ups on the landing page (assuming a 40% attendance rate)

Limited budget (SME context)

Only 4 creatives: 2 videos and 2 images

Own audience: 500 active customers who purchased last month (not data from previous webinars)

Within that list, 80 are high-value customers

Current setup: the 500 active customers are excluded from targeting. The 80 high-value customers were uploaded as an audience signal within Advantage+, not as an exclusion

No traditional Lookalike audience was created

Specific questions

Pixel — how to speed up learning?

With so little data, Meta is slow to optimize. What do you recommend: switching the current campaign to the Traffic objective, running a parallel Traffic campaign with a small budget to feed the Pixel, or concentrating everything into a single campaign?

Placements and targeting

Is it worth manually excluding placements? Advantage+ Audience or manual targeting with small audiences?

Budget

CBO (campaign level) or ABO (ad set level) with a low budget?

Creatives

Does it make sense to create a carousel with all 4 assets, or is it better to keep the 2 videos and 2 images separate?

Hola,

Estoy optimizando una campaña de Meta Ads para un webinar en México y necesito consejo de gente que haya pasado por algo similar. Contexto y dudas abajo.

Situación actual

• Objetivo real: 100 asistentes al webinar, lo que implica apuntar a aproximadamente 250 registros en landing page (asumiendo tasa de asistencia del 40%)
• Mercado: México
• Presupuesto limitado (contexto PYME)
• Solo 4 creativos: 2 videos y 2 imágenes
• Audiencia propia: 500 clientes activos que compraron el mes pasado (no son datos de webinars anteriores)
• Dentro de esa lista, 80 son clientes de alto valor
• Configuración actual: los 500 clientes activos están excluidos del targeting. Los 80 de alto valor se subieron como señal de audiencia dentro de Advantage+, no como exclusión
• No se creó Lookalike tradicional

Dudas concretas

Pixel — ¿cómo acelerar el aprendizaje? Con tan pocos datos, Meta tarda en optimizar. ¿Qué recomiendan: cambiar la campaña actual a objetivo Tráfico, correr una campaña paralela de Tráfico con poco presupuesto para alimentar el Pixel, o concentrar todo en una sola campaña?

Ubicaciones y segmentación ¿Vale la pena excluir ubicaciones manualmente dentro de México? ¿Advantage+ Audience o segmentación manual con audiencias pequeñas?

Presupuesto ¿CBO (nivel campaña) o ABO (nivel conjunto de anuncios) con presupuesto bajo?

Creativos ¿Tiene sentido armar un carrusel con las 4 piezas o es mejor mantener los 2 videos y 2 imágenes por separado.

I recently joined a company and inherited an active Meta campaign promoting a limited-seat event. Current situation: 4 registrations out of 30 spots, event is in under 2 weeks. The pressure is real.

What I found wrong:

- Pixel was misconfigured (already fixed)

- Landing page looks great visually, but has way too many buttons and events — the pixel wasn't correctly identifying the main conversion

- After registering, users were redirected to join a group chat as a final step, adding unnecessary friction to the funnel

What I changed:

Based on past experience where native Meta forms outperformed landing page traffic for similar campaigns, I restructured everything:

- New campaign objective

- Instant Forms (Lead Ads)

- Only asking for name, email, and phone number to minimize friction

The campaign is currently in the learning phase.

Ad set structure:

- One broad ad set using Advantage+ to let the algorithm do its thing

- One with tighter, interest-based targeting

Budget: ~$25 USD/day per ad set = ~$50 USD/day total. Fewer than 10 days left until the event.

My actual questions:

1. Do you see any major flaws in this approach?

2. What would you change given the tight timeline?

3. Was switching to Lead Ads the right call here, or would you have kept traffic going to the landing page and optimized the conversion there instead?

I recently joined a company and inherited an active Meta campaign promoting a limited-seat event. Current situation: 4 registrations out of 30 spots, event is in under 2 weeks. The pressure is real.

What I found wrong:

- Pixel was misconfigured (already fixed)

- Landing page looks great visually, but has way too many buttons and events — the pixel wasn't correctly identifying the main conversion

- After registering, users were redirected to join a WhatsApp group as a final step, adding unnecessary friction to the funnel

What I changed:

Based on past experience where native Meta forms outperformed landing page traffic for similar campaigns, I restructured everything:

- New campaign objective

- Instant Forms (Lead Ads)

- Only asking for name, email, and WhatsApp number to minimize friction

The campaign is currently in the learning phase.

Ad set structure:

- One broad ad set using Advantage+ to let the algorithm do its thing

- One with tighter, interest-based targeting

Budget: ~$25 USD/day per ad set = ~$50 USD/day total. Fewer than 10 days left until the event.

My actual questions:

1. Do you see any major flaws in this approach?

2. What would you change given the tight timeline?

3. Was switching to Lead Ads the right call here, or would you have kept traffic going to the landing page and optimized the conversion there instead?

I recently joined a company and inherited an active Meta campaign promoting a limited-seat event. Current situation: 4 registrations out of 30 spots, event is in under 2 weeks. The pressure is real.

What I found wrong:

- Pixel was misconfigured (already fixed)

- Landing page looks great visually, but has way too many buttons and events — the pixel wasn't correctly identifying the main conversion

- After registering, users were redirected to join a WhatsApp group as a final step, adding unnecessary friction to the funnel

What I changed:

Based on past experience where native Meta forms outperformed landing page traffic for similar campaigns, I restructured everything:

- New campaign objective

- Instant Forms (Lead Ads)

- Only asking for name, email, and WhatsApp number to minimize friction

The campaign is currently in the learning phase.

Ad set structure:

- One broad ad set using Advantage+ to let the algorithm do its thing

- One with tighter, interest-based targeting

Budget: ~$25 USD/day per ad set = ~$50 USD/day total. Fewer than 10 days left until the event.

My actual questions:

1. Do you see any major flaws in this approach?

2. What would you change given the tight timeline?

3. Was switching to Lead Ads the right call here, or would you have kept traffic going to the landing page and optimized the conversion there instead?