A good first 90 days includes comprehensive campaign setup with proper conversion tracking (Week 1-2), active learning phase management with weekly keyword refinement and negative keyword additions (Weeks 3-8), and strategic optimization based on conversion data (Weeks 9-12) that reduces cost-per-lead by 30-40% while improving lead quality. You should see clear month-over-month improvement in efficiency, regular communication from your manager with specific optimization actions taken, and cost-per-booked-job declining from initial $400-600 to $250-350 by day 90.
Week 1-2: Foundation and Launch
The first two weeks establish proper campaign infrastructure that determines long-term success. Rushing through setup to generate leads faster often creates structural problems that limit performance for months. Quality managers invest time building strong foundations.
Essential setup activities:
- Campaign structure creation organized by service category—separate campaigns for emergency services, water heater installation, drain cleaning, repiping, and maintenance. This structure allows independent budget control and performance tracking by service profitability.
- Keyword research and selection focused on commercial intent terms (“emergency plumber,” “water heater replacement near me,” “sewer line repair”) rather than informational queries (“how to fix a leaky faucet”). Initial keyword lists typically include 100-200 core terms across all campaigns.
- Ad copy development with multiple variations testing different value propositions—same-day service, licensed and insured, upfront pricing, family-owned business. Each ad group should have 3-4 ad variations for testing.
- Landing page review and optimization recommendations identifying conversion barriers like missing phone numbers, poor mobile experience, confusing navigation, or lack of trust signals. Ideally, quick fixes are implemented before launch.
- Conversion tracking setup including call tracking (phone calls), form submissions, and ideally offline conversion import to track which leads become booked jobs. This data foundation is critical for optimization.
What to expect: First leads within 24-48 hours of launch, though volume may be modest as campaigns start with conservative budgets and bidding. You should receive a detailed setup documentation showing campaign structure, keyword strategy, and tracking implementation.
How crftsmn helps: Our Google Search Advertising service includes comprehensive setup, pre-launch campaign audits, and conversion tracking verification to ensure campaigns launch properly with full measurement capabilities from day one.
Week 3-4: Initial Data Collection and Quick Wins
Weeks three and four focus on gathering performance data while implementing obvious improvements identified in early results. This is still learning phase, but active management prevents wasteful spending.
Key activities during this period:
- Search query report analysis identifying actual searches triggering your ads. You’ll discover unexpected variations of your keywords, plus irrelevant searches that need blocking through negative keywords. Good managers add 30-50 negative keywords weekly during this phase.
- Underperforming keyword identification and bid adjustments. Some keywords will immediately show high costs with no conversions—these need lower bids or pausing. Others convert well and should receive increased bids to capture more volume.
- Geographic performance review revealing which cities or ZIP codes generate leads efficiently versus wasteful areas outside your true service territory. Budget shifts toward profitable areas and away from distant or unprofitable zones.
- Day-parting analysis showing which hours and days drive best results. Plumbing companies often see strong performance during business hours but expensive, low-converting traffic late at night or early morning.
- Ad copy performance comparison identifying which headlines and descriptions generate best click-through rates and conversion rates. Winning variants get increased rotation while weak performers are paused.
What to expect: Cost-per-lead should show slight improvement from week one (potentially 10-15% better), though still above long-term targets. You should receive weekly or bi-weekly updates identifying specific optimizations implemented, not just generic “monitoring” claims.
How crftsmn helps: We provide detailed reports showing initial performance by campaign, service category, and geography, plus a prioritized optimization roadmap based on early data patterns.
Week 5-8: Active Learning and Refinement
The middle month represents intensive optimization as campaigns accumulate 50-100 conversions enabling more sophisticated algorithmic learning and data-driven management decisions.
Critical optimization work:
- Conversion-based bidding transition from manual CPC to automated strategies like Target CPA or Maximize Conversions. This typically happens around week 5-6 once sufficient conversion data exists. Automated bidding leverages Google’s machine learning for better performance than manual management.
- Campaign structure refinement based on performance differences. If emergency services significantly outperform scheduled maintenance, smart managers allocate more budget to emergency campaigns or create additional emergency ad groups for specific services.
- Audience layering adding remarketing lists (people who visited your website), customer match (existing customer lists), and similar audiences to improve targeting precision. These audiences often convert 2-3x better than cold traffic.
- Landing page optimization based on conversion funnel data. If specific landing pages convert poorly (under 10% of traffic to leads), managers should recommend changes to headlines, calls-to-action, phone number placement, or form design.
- Competitive analysis monitoring what other plumbers in your market are advertising, which positions they’re achieving, and identifying gaps in your coverage. This reveals opportunity keywords or messaging angles you should test.
What to expect: Noticeable cost-per-lead improvement—potentially 25-35% better than week one. Lead quality should improve as targeting refines. You may see 15-30 booked jobs monthly by week 8 if you’re spending $8,000-10,000 monthly.
How crftsmn helps: Our Google Search Advertising service implements aggressive week 5-8 optimization based on proven best practices for plumbing campaigns, accelerating the learning phase so you reach mature performance faster.
Week 9-12: Optimization and Early Maturity
The final month of your first 90 days shows campaign optimization paying off with costs declining toward sustainable levels and lead quality consistently converting to booked jobs.
Focus areas for weeks 9-12:
- Performance benchmarking against initial baseline and industry standards. Your manager should provide clear comparisons: “Cost-per-lead improved from $250 in week one to $150 now, approaching our $100-125 target.” This demonstrates concrete progress.
- Budget reallocation based on proven performance. Campaigns or ad groups delivering strong ROAS get increased budget while underperformers are reduced or restructured. Total budget might increase 10-20% if performance justifies scaling.
- Seasonal planning and preparation adjusting campaigns for upcoming weather patterns, holidays, or busy seasons. Plumbing has predictable seasonal demand—smart managers prepare campaigns for summer heat or winter freezes in advance.
- Advanced testing including new ad formats (responsive search ads with additional headlines), ad extensions (promotion extensions, price extensions), and landing page A/B tests comparing different layouts or offers.
- ROI analysis calculating return on ad spend, cost-per-booked-job by service category, and customer lifetime value estimates for Google Ads customers. This data informs budget decisions and proves (or questions) channel viability.
What to expect by day 90: Cost-per-lead of $125-175 (40-50% improvement from start), lead-to-job conversion rate of 35-40%, cost-per-booked-job of $250-350, and ROAS approaching or exceeding 3:1. You should have clear confidence that Google Ads works for your business and understanding of which services perform best.
How crftsmn helps: We provide performance reviews comparing actual results to initial projections, detailing optimization actions taken and their impact, and recommending budget and strategy adjustments for months 4-6 based on proven campaign performance.
Communication and Reporting Standards
Throughout the first 90 days, expect regular communication showing active management rather than passive monitoring. Quality managers provide:
Weekly updates (Weeks 1-4): Brief emails or dashboard summaries showing lead volume, cost-per-lead, major optimizations implemented, and any issues requiring attention. This frequency ensures problems get caught and fixed quickly during critical setup phase.
Bi-weekly updates (Weeks 5-12): Detailed summaries every two weeks showing performance trends, optimization activities completed, conversion data analysis, and planned next steps. Less frequent than weekly but more detailed.
Monthly strategy calls: 30 minute conversations reviewing overall progress, discussing performance by service category, explaining optimization rationale, and planning next month’s priorities. This is your opportunity to ask questions and provide feedback.
Ad-hoc communication: Proactive alerts if something unusual happens—sudden cost spikes, conversion tracking issues, competitor activity changes, or budget pacing problems. You shouldn’t discover problems in monthly reports that occurred weeks earlier.
Reporting should focus on business outcomes: Leads generated, estimated jobs booked, cost-per-lead trends, cost-per-booked-job, and revenue attributed to campaigns. Technical metrics like impressions, clicks, and quality scores are interesting but secondary to actual business results.
How crftsmn helps: Our Google Search Advertising service provides real-time dashboard access plus structured weekly/monthly reporting and strategy sessions, ensuring you always understand campaign performance and optimization priorities.
Red Flags That Indicate Poor Management
Watch for these warning signs during your first 90 days:
- Lack of meaningful optimization activity—if monthly reports show the same keywords, ads, and targeting month after month, your manager isn’t actively managing. Good campaigns evolve weekly.
- Vague reporting focused on vanity metrics (impressions up 15%!) rather than business outcomes (cost-per-lead decreased to $150). Managers hiding behind technical jargon often lack results to report.
- Missed communication commitments—scheduled calls that don’t happen, reports that arrive late or not at all, unreturned emails or calls. This indicates you’re not a priority for their attention.
- Declining performance without explanation or action plan. Cost-per-lead increasing month-over-month should trigger immediate investigation and corrective action, not passive acceptance.
- Inability to answer basic questions about campaign strategy, keyword selection rationale, or optimization priorities. Your manager should confidently explain why they’re making specific decisions.
- Defensive reactions to questions or feedback. Quality managers welcome questions and constructively discuss concerns; poor ones become defensive or dismissive when challenged.
If you see these patterns, address them immediately through direct conversation. If problems persist, consider switching managers—the first 90 days establish trajectory for long-term performance.
How crftsmn helps: Our service includes clear deliverable commitments, proactive communication, and transparent reporting that makes performance and optimization activity completely visible throughout your first 90 days and beyond.
Preparing Your Business for Campaign Success
Your first 90 days success depends partly on internal readiness:
Strong phone sales processes: Answer calls promptly (under 3 rings), professionally capture caller information, follow up persistently on leads who don’t book immediately. Many campaigns appear to underperform when the real problem is sales execution.
Website conversion optimization: If your manager recommends landing page changes, prioritize implementing them. Driving traffic to poorly converting pages wastes money regardless of campaign quality.
Adequate capacity: Ensure you can handle 20-40 additional jobs monthly if campaigns succeed. Nothing sabotages Google Ads faster than turning away customers because you’re too busy to serve them.
Reasonable expectations: Understand the 90-day timeline to profitable performance. Don’t evaluate final campaign viability based on week three results or expect mature performance before algorithmic learning completes.
Active feedback: Share with your manager which leads convert to jobs, which services are most profitable, and any patterns you notice. This business intelligence helps refine targeting and strategy.
How crftsmn helps: Our Google Search Advertising service includes sales process consultation, landing page optimization guidance, and capacity planning assistance to ensure your business infrastructure supports campaign success.
Conclusion & Next Steps
A good first 90 days of Google Ads management includes comprehensive account setup with validated tracking (Weeks 1-2), active learning and refinement with weekly optimization (Weeks 3-8), and data-driven improvements showing 40-50% cost-per-lead reduction (Weeks 9-12). You should see consistent month-over-month improvement, transparent communication with specific optimization actions, and cost-per-booked-job declining to $250-350 by day 90. Work with a manager who sets realistic expectations, provides detailed reporting, and demonstrates active optimization—not passive monitoring.
Contact crftsmn to discuss our proven 90-day onboarding process for Google Search Advertising that systematically moves plumbing companies from campaign launch to profitable performance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What happens if my first 90 days don’t meet these benchmarks?
A: First, determine whether the problem is campaign management, sales follow-up, or market conditions. If your manager has implemented all standard optimizations but conversion rates remain low despite good lead quality, sales process might be the issue. If costs aren’t declining month-over-month despite optimization claims, management quality is questionable. crftsmn provides diagnostic reviews identifying specific performance barriers.
Q: Should I pause campaigns if early performance is disappointing?
A: Not unless you’re seeing zero conversions after four weeks or costs are dramatically above projections without improvement. Many campaigns look mediocre in weeks 3-5 before optimization kicks in. Give optimization the full 90 days unless performance is catastrophically bad or your manager can’t explain what’s being tested to improve results.
Q: How much of my time should the first 90 days require?
A: Expect 2-3 hours during week one for setup consultation, 30-60 minutes weekly for updates and feedback in weeks 2-8, and 30-45 minutes for monthly strategy calls. Quality management shouldn’t require constant involvement—your manager should handle day-to-day optimization independently while keeping you informed.
Q: What if I want to add new service categories after 30 days?
A: This is normal and good—as campaigns prove themselves, many plumbing companies expand to additional services. Your manager should be able to launch new campaigns building on learnings from initial 30 days rather than starting from scratch. Testing new services is easier and faster after establishing initial campaign infrastructure.
Q: Should my first 90 days focus on all services or just emergency plumbing?
A: Starting with 2-3 service categories (typically emergency services plus one or two installation categories) provides focus while generating sufficient conversion data. Launching 8-10 service campaigns simultaneously spreads budget too thin for meaningful optimization. crftsmn recommends strategic phasing that proves core services first, then expands based on what’s working.