Why your dog treat ads are getting clicks but not purchases

I was in my local supermarket yesterday and dropped a pot of custard.

Just after being rammed into the back of my legs by a woman who looked like she was doing a supermarket sweep.

Minding my own business, reading the ingredients (I have allergies) — and then thud, splash, and a sharp pain to the heel.

I spin round with a face like a dog that's lost his bone.

There's a woman there. Forties. Skinny jeans, white t-shirt, brown hair tied back. No emotion. No apology. She just looks me up and down and heads straight for the milk.

I'm standing there in shock. Fuming. Custard splashed over my almost spotless shoes and a sore heel to boot.

I compose myself, alert the young store assistant — who almost does the splits on the custard (if you don't know, custard on a supermarket floor is slippery as anything), and then go looking for another pot.

None left.

Now if this were a one-off, I'd have been fine with it after an hour or so. But these empty shelves? They're always happening.

You wander over to the chilled section, open one of those big glass doors, and just stare into the cold.

The only thing staring back at you is some out-of-date coleslaw stuck at the back.

Nothing jumps out or excites you.

You slam the door and walk away.

No purchase.

And here's the thing...

That's exactly what a lot of your customers are doing after they click your dog treat ad.

They arrive full of interest. Your ad grabbed their attention, they wanted to see more. So they clicked.

And then they opened the fridge.

(Your landing page is the fridge, by the way — if you hadn't clocked that yet.)

And if it doesn't deliver on whatever the ad promised them, the flavour, the feeling, the specific thing that made them click, they slam the door and move on.

Sale gone.

So the fix isn't always more ad spend. And with the Andromeda update, it isn't better targeting either, not if you're already using the right hooks and creative volume.

It's making sure your landing page speaks the exact same language as your ad.

Match the ad, and the fridge suddenly looks a lot more full.

And a full fridge?

That's a sale.

If you are experiencing this problem with your business right now, hit reply with your landing page URL and the ad you're running it to. I'll take a look and tell you exactly where the disconnect is, and also if you have any other issues going on.