Google Ads that bids on pipeline, not cheap form fills.
Left alone, Smart Bidding chases the cheapest lead, not the one that closes. Patricia feeds HubSpot's SQLs and closed-won back into Ads so it learns what real pipeline looks like, and shows you cost per SQL, not just cost per lead.
@Pati Fernbrook's cost per lead looks great this quarter but sales says the leads are junk. What's actually happening?
Sales is right, and I can see why. I matched this quarter's Google Ads leads to their HubSpot deal stages. The cheap leads and the good ones come from different campaigns:
- The "free consultation" campaign has a $22 cost per lead, but only 4% reach SQL in HubSpot. Its cost per SQL is $540.
- The higher-intent "fractional CMO" campaign looks worse at $71 per lead, but 31% become SQLs, so its cost per SQL is $229 and it sources most of the closed-won pipeline.
- Ads is currently bidding to raw form fills, so it's pouring budget into the cheap campaign that doesn't close.
So make Ads optimize for the leads that actually reach SQL. Set that up.
Here's the plan, ready for your yes before anything changes. I'll import HubSpot's MQL, SQL, and closed-won stages back into Google Ads as offline conversions, keyed to the click that sourced each deal, and value them by pipeline stage so Smart Bidding optimizes for SQLs instead of form fills.
Once it's feeding, I'll switch the target to cost per SQL and rebalance budget toward the "fractional CMO" campaign. That's a bidding and budget change, so it waits for your approval. I'll keep the offline import running weekly on its own after that.
1 + 1 > 2
What Google Ads and HubSpot do together.
Each is useful alone. Joined, they answer the question neither can on its own.
Feed HubSpot closed-won and SQLs back into Google Ads as offline conversions
She imports the qualified and won deal stages from HubSpot into Google Ads, keyed to the click that sourced each lead, so Smart Bidding optimizes toward the campaigns that produce pipeline instead of the ones that produce cheap form fills.
See cost per SQL and per pipeline dollar, not just cost per lead
She joins Ads spend to HubSpot deal stages so each campaign is judged on cost per SQL and the pipeline it sources, which is the number that tells you whether the spend is working, not the flattering cost per lead.
Find which campaigns bring leads that actually reach SQL
By matching leads to their HubSpot lifecycle stage she shows which keywords and campaigns convert into qualified pipeline and which fill the CRM with leads sales never works, so you can defund the junk.
Retarget budget toward the campaigns that source pipeline
Once quality is visible she drafts the shift of budget from the cheap-lead campaigns to the ones sourcing closed-won, and applies it on your approval, so spend follows revenue instead of form volume.
Keep the offline conversion feed and lead-quality report current
She keeps the HubSpot-to-Ads import running on a schedule and reports cost per SQL by campaign each week, so Smart Bidding stays trained on real outcomes and you see quality drift the moment it starts.
How it works
Google Ads and HubSpot, connected in minutes.
Add Patricia to Slack
She joins your workspace like any teammate. Two minutes, no engineering.
Connect Google Ads and HubSpot
One OAuth click each, per client account. She gets only the access you approve, and you can disconnect anytime.
Ask
Mention @Pati with the job. Reading both and reporting run on their own; changing the bid strategy, moving budget, or turning on the offline import waits for your yes.
Say it like you'd say it
Things to ask her.
Fernbrook's cost per lead looks great but sales says the leads are junk, what's happening?
Which campaigns bring leads that actually reach SQL in HubSpot?
What's our cost per SQL and per pipeline dollar by campaign, not just cost per lead?
Set up offline conversion import so Ads bids on closed-won, not form fills, for my approval
Shift budget toward the campaigns sourcing the most pipeline
More combinations
Other pairs that work like this.
The stack rarely stops at two. These combinations pull the same trick.
FAQ
Google Ads + HubSpot, answered.
What does connecting Google Ads and HubSpot together let Patricia do?
She feeds HubSpot's MQL, SQL, and closed-won stages back into Google Ads as offline conversions, so Smart Bidding optimizes for lead quality and pipeline instead of raw form fills. And she reports cost per SQL and per pipeline dollar by campaign, the numbers a cost per lead alone hides.
Why not just optimize to the cheapest cost per lead?
Because cheap leads often do not close. When Ads bids to form fills it pours budget into whatever converts on the page, even if none of it reaches sales. Importing qualified and won deals back as conversions retrains bidding on the leads that actually become pipeline.
Does she change the bid strategy or budget on her own?
No. Reading both and reporting cost per SQL run on their own. Turning on the offline conversion import, changing the bid target, or moving budget waits for your explicit yes in Slack.
Do I need both connected?
Yes, that is the whole loop: HubSpot for the deal outcome, Google Ads for the click that started it. Each also works on its own.
Does this work across all our client accounts?
Yes. Connect each client's Google Ads and HubSpot, and every client's leads and pipeline stay walled off from the rest.
What does it cost?
Nothing extra. Every integration is included, on every plan.
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