Why Top PPC Experts Are Abandoning Lead Volume Metrics

The industry's top PPC strategists are coming to an uncomfortable realization: optimizing for lead count is one of the fastest ways to waste budget. 

Across the service industry, lead gen, and even e-commerce, the pattern repeats:

High-volume campaigns kill profitability by flooding clients with unqualified prospects that never convert.

This is the lead quality blind spot, and it's forcing a shift in how advertisers measure success. The best PPC experts are switching from lead volume to lead value—and here’s how they’re doing it.

The insights below come from leading PPC experts featured in Lunio’s Paid Media Lab report.

When Platforms Optimize for Easy, Not Valuable

Sofia Akritidou, PPC Director at ThinkWise Digital, stresses that "platforms optimize for the 'easiest' conversion (like form fills), which fuels the wrong signals if success isn't clearly defined."

That's exactly what happens when conversion tracking treats every lead identically. Feed the platforms form submissions; they'll find more people willing to submit forms. 

The algorithm doesn't know whether those leads ever generate revenue.

The result?

• Budget concentration on low-intent keywords that generate form fills but never progress
• Bid inflation on broad match terms that attract tire-kickers instead of buyers
• Wasted spend on wrong-fit audiences the platform can't distinguish from qualified prospects

Value-Based Optimization: How Lead Tracking Fixes Blind Bidding

The solution isn't generating fewer leads. It’s teaching ad platforms which leads actually matter.

Scott Carruthers, Head of PPC at Journey Further, emphasizes the core challenge: advertisers need conversion values "tied to genuine business objectives—such as qualified leads, bookings, or sales—so the platform's AI is optimizing toward outcomes that matter."

WhatConverts solves this by connecting individual conversions to real business outcomes. Instead of treating every lead the same, you can assign values based on what they do after they convert.

The workflow is straightforward:

• Track complete lead journeys—capture every touchpoint, from first contact to signed contract. WhatConverts automatically captures 70+ data points per lead.
• Evaluate leads—add dollar amounts so lead value flows back to your bidding strategy.
• Send quality leads to platforms—filter out bad leads, so only real leads count as conversions.

This shifts campaigns from volume-based to value-based optimization.

How One Agency Traded Lead Volume for 50% Higher Order Values

Sophisticated Marketing Solutions managed campaigns for a high-ticket window installation company. The client was drowning in leads, but too many were unquotable or unqualified.

Volume looked impressive. Revenue didn't.

The agency used WhatConverts to analyze call transcripts, durations, and customer journeys. Facebook was producing high volume but low quality. Google Ads was the opposite.

By reallocating spend toward quality sources, they increased average order value by 50%. They also trained the algorithm by only feeding it calls lasting over 120 seconds.

The client stopped wasting time on leads that would never close.

Read More: 50% Boost in Average Order Value via Smarter Channel Attribution [Case Study]

From Volume Chaos to Value Clarity

Lead volume will always be easier to measure than lead value. But in a world where ad costs are rising and competition is intensifying, "easier" is a luxury few can afford.

Campaigns that win in 2026 won't drive the most leads—they'll drive the most valuable ones.

Ready to shift from lead volume to lead value? Start a free trial of WhatConverts today and discover which leads drive revenue. Or, book a demo to see how top agencies are proving ROI lead by lead.