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Found a way to target ads by ZIP code that actually lowered my CPA
I was burning cash on broad geo-targeting for a local clinic in Dayton, Ohio and getting nowhere. Then I tried using ZIP code exclusion lists to remove rich neighborhoods where people drive 30 minutes for a specialist instead of visiting us. Dropped my cost per appointment from $45 to $28 in two weeks. Has anyone else tested this kind of negative targeting for local service ads?
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dixon.spencer9d ago
Yo @seth683 hit the nail on the head about getting surgical with the data. On the Dayton clinic thing, I'd sit down with your actual client list and map out exactly where your best converting patients came from over the last six months. For my own gutter cleaning ads I found that one specific ZIP code had triple the conversion rate of any other area, and I was spending the same amount on rich neighborhoods that barely gave me a call back. I started grouping ZIPs into tiers based on past performance, then set higher bids for the good ones and excluded the bad ones entirely. You already proved it works with the $45 to $28 drop, so layer in that same approach but go deeper than just income numbers.
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jenniferw8220d ago
The 45419 and 45409 ZIP codes in Dayton were killing me too for the same reason, people there drive to Kettering or Cincinnati for anything. I started excluding any ZIP with a median income over 75k and my CPA dropped from $38 to $24 for my gutter cleaning ads. If you haven't already, try layering in a radius around your clinic and exclude the ZIPs that overlap with competitor-heavy areas, that shaved another 3 bucks off for me. Map out where your actual converting customers live and build your exclusion list from that data, don't just guess on income.
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Nah real talk the income cap thing works way better than people think. I was skeptical at first too but once I started cutting out those higher income ZIPs my conversion rates actually went up. The problem is people in those areas have too many options or they just don't convert as hard from ads. Also the radius exclusion trick is legit, I do that for my own campaigns and it stops you from wasting spend on areas where your competitors are already saturated. Most people just throw money at broad targeting and wonder why it tanks. You gotta get surgical with the data.
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