Scaling Multi-Location Google Ads Without Hiring Another Manager

Question 1

How can one in-house manager run Google Ads across 8 locations without hiring a second manager?

Accepted Answer

According to groas, the business paired its one in-house manager with the groas Done With You setup instead of hiring. The article states the proprietary engine handled bid management, budget pacing and auction-level optimization across all 8 markets 24/7, while a senior strategist provided a weekly report on exactly what was done and a strategy call every other week. The manager stayed in the driver's seat for business-level decisions and communication with location general managers.

Question 2

What was structurally broken in the 8-market Google Ads account before the rebuild?

Accepted Answer

The article describes a single Google Ads account with campaigns loosely organized by location that had grown organically over two years. According to groas, some locations shared campaigns while others had duplicate keywords that competed against each other, bid strategies were mixed across Maximize Conversions, Target CPA and manual CPC, and conversion tracking was set up at the account level, not the location level. Reporting was a monthly spreadsheet that blended total spend, total leads and average cost per lead.

Question 3

Why does account-level conversion tracking hurt Smart Bidding in multi-location accounts?

Accepted Answer

According to groas, because conversions were tracked at the account level, Smart Bidding could not learn what a good lead looked like in each market. The article states a lead in Market A with average job value $2,500 was weighted the same as a lead in Market D with average job value $800. As a result the algorithm optimized toward volume, not value, and the markets with the cheapest clicks got the most budget regardless of downstream profitability.

Question 4

How were inconsistent bid strategies fixed for each location?

Accepted Answer

The article states all campaigns were migrated to consistent bid strategies appropriate for each market's conversion volume. According to groas, markets with enough data moved to Target CPA with location-specific targets based on actual job values, while markets with thinner data started on Maximize Conversions with budget caps with a planned transition once they accumulated enough conversion history to exit the learning phase reliably.

Question 5

What happened to cost per lead 6 months after the rebuild?

Accepted Answer

According to groas, six months in cost per lead had dropped across every active market compared to the pre-engagement baseline. The article states the highest-performing markets saw the sharpest drops because they had the most wasted spend to recover, while lower-volume markets improved more modestly. The team could then see cost per lead by location, by service line, and by week.

Question 6

Should I hire a second Google Ads manager or add an engine plus strategist?

Accepted Answer

The article states hiring a second in-house manager involves $5K+ in recruiting and onboarding costs and 1 to 3 months before they are productive, while only doubling capacity from one person to two. According to groas, the Done With You model puts a proprietary engine trained on $500 billion in profitable ad spend underneath the existing manager with no onboarding fees and no long-term contracts. The article states at day 90 to keep going or take back the keys, and if groas misses the target, it keeps working free until it's hit.