Stop competing where you can't win and rethink your Google Ads game

Big budgets make marketing easy. When there’s plenty of cash to play with, hitting performance goals and driving millions in revenue is the straightforward part. The real challenge is making an impact with a small budget.

I’ve worked with companies of all sizes, and it’s the small business owners trying to stretch every marketing dollar who know how tough it can be to move the needle on traffic and conversions. If that sounds familiar and you’re ready to learn how to build a smart, effective strategy on a small budget, keep reading.

The budget gap is real

Over the last 15 years, the gap between big brands and small businesses has only grown. Large companies pump enormous budgets into advertising and as a result, Google ads spend on CPCs keep going up. This leaves smaller players struggling to keep up (source).

Still, there’s one area where big brands haven’t quite tapped into and fully embraced as an opportunity. This is where small players have a chance and it can be done by thinking outside the box with a full funnel search strategy for Google ads.

Let’s talk about the funnel

We’ve always been told the funnel works like this:

• Top of funnel is for paid social and building awareness

• Middle of funnel is for conversion-focused social and maybe some search

• Bottom of funnel is for high-intent search campaigns

It sounds logical, but for small businesses with little budget and man power quickly becomes unsuccessful. Social Media feeds are already saturated with content from massive brands that outspend you every day without breaking a sweat. And the bottom of the funnel? That’s where CPCs are sky high and competition is brutal.

The marketing funnel exists for a reason. Each stage Awareness, Interest, Desire, Action and Purchase, reflects a different mindset and behaviour from your target audience. And each stage requires a different message, approach, and expectation. If you skip this step, your campaign is working blind. 

For Paid Search in particular, understanding the funnel is critical to getting real results, not just clicks. That’s why we’ve reimagined the Paid Search marketing funnel to better align with how users actually search, engage, and convert. Here’s how it works:

So how can small businesses make search work?

Most marketers overlook one simple question, "what is your customer searching for before they’re ready to buy?". Not the moment they are ready, but in the pre purchase phase of the buyers interests and behaviours. 

Let’s say you’re running an architectural firm in Melbourne. You might think it makes sense to bid on keywords like “architects near me” or “best architects in Melbourne.” Those are high intent keywords, sure. But they’re also expensive and flooded with older, more established firms.

Instead, consider something like “how much do architects cost.” It’s a question someone might ask early in their search. It costs less, has lower competition, and if you’ve got the right content to back it up, a strong landing page or blog, it positions you as a helpful expert. You build trust before you sell.

Here’s a SaaS example

Say you’re running a time tracking tool for remote teams. Your first instinct is to bid on “time management apps” or “productivity tools for remote teams.” Makes sense. But now you’re bidding against giants like Toggl, Clockify, and Harvest, who have hundreds of thousands of dollars in their Google ads marketing budgets.

So what happens? Your CPCs skyrocket, you get a handful of clicks, and maybe a few trials if you’re lucky. But no real traction.

Now imagine bidding on something like “manual timesheets vs apps” or “how to manage time zones with remote teams.” These are middle of funnel searches. They’re specific, they show pain points, and they cost less. Best of all, they give you space to educate and convert. This is where the real opportunity lies.

Why don’t big companies do this?

Because middle of funnel thinking is messy. Big teams are split, SEO here, search there, content somewhere else. Their strategies don’t align. It takes speed and coordination to run good middle of funnel search and that’s hard when you need five approvals to write an ad headline.

And let’s be honest. If you’re aiming for ten thousand leads this quarter, a keyword with 320 monthly searches probably doesn’t even register.

But that’s exactly where small businesses can win.

Why middle of funnel works

• Lower CPCs: You’re not competing with every brand under the sun (source)

• Higher ROI: Nielsen reports full funnel strategies drive better long term returns than last click conversion tactics (source)

• Real connection: You show up early, offer value, and stay top of mind when they’re finally ready to buy

A few tips if you’re ready to try this

1. Map out keywords across the funnel, have separate strategies across awareness, consideration, and conversion stages.

2. Write ads that match intent, don’t try to sell to someone who’s still figuring out what their problem is.

3. Use bidding strategies that suit the stage, manual or target CPA can help you control costs at the middle.

4. Set different KPIs for each stage, awareness might mean impressions, middle is engagement, and bottom is conversions.

5. Know your customer's customer and understand what they're searching for in every step of the way.

According to Think with Google, most customer journeys are non-linear and start with discovery or research well before any conversion happens.

Final thoughts

Bidding only on high intent keywords is like trying to win a race after the other guy has already taken a lap around you. For small and medium businesses, success isn’t about going bigger. It’s about going smarter.

When you focus on the full funnel, you find the gaps the big players ignore. You reduce wasted spend, show up where it matters, and build trust early.

If you’re tired of wasting money on expensive clicks and want a smarter search strategy that actually works for your budget, book a call. I’ll walk you through how to build a full funnel plan that drives real results, no fluff, no bloat, just performance.