---
title: Aviaries Account Overhaul — Critical Issues Flagged (2026-03-25)
type: article
created: '2026-03-25'
updated: '2026-03-25'
source_docs:
- raw/2026-03-25-weekly-call-w-gilbert-132751713.md
tags:
- aviaries
- google-ads
- conversion-tracking
- account-audit
- pmax
- campaign-structure
layer: 2
client_source: AviaryAI
industry_context: saas
transferable: false
---

# Aviaries Account Overhaul — Critical Issues Flagged (2026-03-25)

## Overview

During the [[wiki/meetings/2026-03-25-weekly-call-gilbert|2026-03-25 weekly call with Gilbert]], a live audit of the Aviaries Google Ads account revealed critical structural and tracking failures. The account was spending approximately **$33/day with zero recorded conversions** — a clear signal of broken infrastructure rather than a performance problem. A full account overhaul was flagged as required before any optimization work can be meaningful.

## Audit Findings

### 1. Broken Conversion Tracking

The primary root cause of zero reported conversions was a misconfigured conversion action:

- **Submit Lead Form** was set as a **secondary** conversion action, not primary.
- Google's Smart Bidding and reporting only optimize toward primary conversion actions. With no primary conversion action firing, the account had no signal to optimize against and no conversions to report.
- This means historical performance data in the account is unreliable — actual leads generated are unknown.

### 2. Poor Campaign Structure

Beyond tracking, the campaign structure itself was not set up for conversion performance:

- **Phrase match only** — no broad match or exact match coverage to capture the full range of relevant queries or to lock down high-intent terms.
- **No conversion-based bid strategy** — campaigns were not using Maximize Conversions or Target CPA, meaning Google had no instruction to optimize for leads.

These two structural issues compound the tracking problem: even if tracking were fixed, the bidding strategy would not have been able to act on conversion signals.

## Impact Assessment

| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Daily spend | ~$33/day |
| Recorded conversions | 0 |
| Conversion tracking | Broken (Submit Lead Form = secondary) |
| Bid strategy | Not conversion-optimized |
| Campaign structure | Phrase match only |

## Required Actions

A full account overhaul is required. Piecemeal fixes are insufficient given the depth of the structural issues.

### Immediate Fixes (Karly)
- [ ] Fix GTM / conversion tracking setup — promote **Submit Lead Form** to a **primary** conversion action and verify it is firing correctly
- [ ] Once tracking is confirmed, implement call-outs and snippets (currently missing)
- [ ] Switch campaigns to a conversion-based bid strategy (Maximize Conversions or Target CPA)

### Working Session
- [ ] **Karly** to schedule a follow-up working session with **Mark and Sebastian** to complete the full account rebuild — campaign structure, match types, bid strategies, and ad extensions

## Next Steps

| Owner | Action |
|---|---|
| Karly | Complete GTM/conversion tracking fixes; add call-outs/snippets; switch to conversion bidding |
| Karly | Schedule Aviaries working session with Mark + Sebastian |

## Related

- [[wiki/clients/current/aviary/_index|Aviaries Client Overview]]
- [[wiki/meetings/2026-03-25-weekly-call-gilbert|Weekly Call — 2026-03-25 (source meeting)]]
- [[wiki/knowledge/google-ads/conversion-tracking-setup|Conversion Tracking Setup Best Practices]]
- [[wiki/knowledge/google-ads/pmax-strategy|PMAX Strategy and Lifecycle]]