Hey, the more you spend the better, right? And when ad platforms – such as Google, TikTok, and Snap – hand out some extra bacon for your campaigns it’s always tempting to just go for it. But how worthwhile are they actually?
There’s no free lunch: Google recently started offering $100 ad credits to advertisers. Sounds sweet, but there’s a condition – enroll in automatically applied recommendations.
In a way, Google incentivizes you to hand campaign optimization over to… Google. Which naturally came to a negative response from advertisers – with some being against it for “literally any amount of money.”
Shop small, spend smaller: TikTok is another platform announcing they’ll hand out $100 ad credits to any small business that spends $50 on their first ad campaign. See TikTokShopSmall.com and TikTok Newsroom Shop Small® to Create Big Impact for more details.
Again, a solid initiative to bring new advertisers on board, but it’s important to note it will hardly move the needle for smaller brands. Without a proper strategy, it can be $50 wasted.
Why we care: On paper, ad credits are a solid way to motivate brands to spend. But examples like these most recent show that brands still need to be cautious..
Handing your ad ops to Google for a hundred bucks may bleed you much more in the long run. Also, TikTok giving you $100 for $50 spent doesn’t mean it will be money well spent – it could also be money lost.
Always leverage pros and cons of such incentives before you go all in. It may save you money… and nerves.