Why Cheaper Clicks Can Cost You More: The Truth About Ad Quality and Buyer Intent

Why Cheaper Clicks Can Cost You More: The Truth About Ad Quality and Buyer Intent

If you want to run cheap , digital product ads - and get more clients... this is for you. 
When it comes to digital advertising, especially on platforms like Facebook, Meta, TikTok, and Google, the common instinct is to optimize for the cheapest clicks. After all, lower CPC should equal better ROI, right? Not quite. The reality is: not all clicks are created equal.

 

Some clicks come from curious browsers with zero buying intent, while others—though more expensive—come from potential customers ready to act.

Time to dive in to:

  • Why cheaper clicks don’t always mean better performance.

  • When curiosity clicks do make sense.

  • The sales process and intent alignment.

  • Real campaign data and lessons learned.

  • How to tailor your ad type to your market sophistication.

Begin Here My Young 'Ad-awan': The Click Cost Illusion
Advertisers often obsess over CPC and CTR—but what if your cheap click brings in a disinterested scroller who didn’t even understand your offer?

Example: You run a visually enticing TikTok ad with a vague hook. It generates tons of traffic—but visitors bounce quickly. Why? Because you optimized for curiosity, not intent.

For low-ticket digital products with short sales pages, it’s crucial that the traffic arriving is primed to buy. In our recent test, product image ads with shorter, more straightforward copy drastically outperformed clickbaity real-style video ads.

When Curiosity Clicks Work
There is a time and place for curiosity-driven ads.

Specifically:

  • High-ticket coaching funnels

  • Webinars or VSL-based funnels

  • Sales processes involving multiple touchpoints

In these models, you have time—through video, webinars, and calls—to warm up the lead.

A curious click may eventually convert after 20 minutes of storytelling and objection handling. That’s the power of long-form nurturing.

A Real-Life Low Ticket Funnel Test
We ran a low-ticket funnel throughout September. Here's what happened:

  • First 17 days: -£375 in losses

  • Last 7 days after ad and funnel change: +£461 in profit

The difference? We killed curiosity ads and focused purely on product image ads with short, informative copy. CTR dropped slightly, but sales page conversion more than doubled, from an average of 0.81% to 1.91%.

Key Insight: More expensive, high-intent clicks > cheap, low-quality ones in fast-conversion environments.

 Market Sophistication Changes Everything
Your ad strategy must match the awareness level of your audience:

  • Low sophistication audiences (e.g., beginners in your niche):

    • Need to be sold on the opportunity and your product.

    • Require more education, longer sales cycles.

    • Need ads that clarify what’s being sold up front.

  • High sophistication audiences (already familiar with the solution):

    • Only need to be sold on why your version is best.

    • Can be driven by curiosity clicks.

Example: A Law of Attraction product aimed at people who’ve already tried scripting performed well with clickbait-style ads. These users were already sold on the method—just not your product yet.

 The Long Form Ad Myth
Back in 2016, long-form copy ads dominated.

People read more, attention spans were longer, and desktop browsing was king. Today?

We’re mobile, fast, and distracted.

We tested a 2024 version of the long-form ad style (Ad Set #4)—and it flopped:

  • CTR: 0.61% (lowest in the test)

  • CPC: £23

  • ROAS: 0.65x

Why? It asked too much from a mobile audience with low attention. Moral: Tailor your format to modern consumption behaviors.

What This Means for Your Strategy

  1. Cheapest click doesn’t mean best click. Focus on buyer alignment, not just ad cost.

  2. Match funnel type to ad format. Use curiosity for long-cycle, nurture-based funnels; use clarity and directness for fast-selling offers.

  3. Test formats intentionally. Run side-by-side tests like product image vs. short reel vs. long-form copy.

  4. Track everything. Sales page conversion rates, CPA, AOV, ROAS—not just clicks.

It's Not About Clicks—It’s About Conversions
In paid media, especially in today's short-form, mobile-first world, your job is not to get the cheapest attention. It’s to get the right attention.

The best ad is the one that gets your perfect buyer to your offer, aligned with intent, and primed to take action. That’s how you scale.

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