The Agents of Change Digital Marketing Podcast · Rich Brooks | Interviews with Marketing Experts | SEO | Social Media Market

Google Ads Success on a Small Budget with Andy Janaitis

October 1, 2025·30 min·2 clips

Andy reveals why consolidating campaigns, not splitting budgets, is the key to Google Ads success for small businesses.

Host Rich Brooks interviews Andy Janaitis, founder of PPC Pitbulls, who specializes in helping small businesses run profitable Google and Meta ads. Andy explains that small businesses often fail by copying complex, multi-campaign strategies used by large brands with bigger budgets. A core mistake is creating too many campaigns and ad sets, which fragments a limited budget and prevents algorithms from gathering enough data to optimize effectively. He advocates for consolidating campaigns and using fewer creatives to concentrate spending and improve machine learning. Andy emphasizes the critical need for proper conversion tracking setup, using tools like Google Tag Manager or Shopify apps to send purchase signals back to the ad platforms. For businesses with very few monthly purchases, he suggests using "micro-conversions" like add-to-cart events to provide the algorithm with more data until enough sales volume is achieved. He recommends dedicating only about 10-20% of an ad budget to testing new concepts, ensuring the majority of funds support proven, winning campaigns. Andy distinguishes between Google Ads, which excel for products with existing buyer intent, and Meta Ads, which are better for educating customers about new or differentiated offerings. He illustrates this with an example of a meat snack brand that created specific ads for CrossFit enthusiasts and busy moms, rather than generic messaging. A surprising insight is that server-side tracking can improve data accuracy in a privacy-focused world, though it may not be worthwhile for businesses spending under $10,000 monthly on ads. Andy reveals that creative fatigue is real, but testing new ad components can be done within existing campaign structures without splitting the budget. He advises that small brands have an advantage in being able to speak directly to a niche audience, unlike large brands that must create broad, awareness-focused ads. Andy suggests $1,500 per month as a rough minimum ad spend, but notes this depends heavily on a business's average order value and required management fees. The episode is educational and conversational, with a practical, no-nonsense tone focused on actionable strategies. Small business owners and marketing managers struggling with limited ad budgets and complex platforms would find this episode immediately useful. Listeners seeking advanced technical deep dives or entertainment-focused marketing stories might want to skip it.

As heard by us

A practical look at keeping Google Ads focused when budget is tight.

The episode stays focused on a basic problem small businesses face: too many campaigns and creatives spread budget too thin. Rich Brooks keeps the discussion practical, with attention on which data deserves trust and when simplification helps.

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Why you'd press play

Make your Google Ads budget work harder by consolidating campaigns and creatives instead of splitting spend too many ways.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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