The Mistake That Cost Me Extra Money (And Taught Me Something Important)

In January 2025, a major wildfire hit California — the same kind of situation I mentioned before.

If you didn’t read the last post, here’s the quick version: demand for air purifiers at the company I work for jumped 60% because of a wildfire, we capitalized on that moment by increasing the ad budget — and sales went up 42%.

But this time, the exact same situation led to a completely different result.

What I Got Wrong

I increased the budget right away — but only on Google.

What I didn’t know: when everyone is searching for the same thing at the same time, Google ads get expensive fast. Every new customer cost me double or triple the usual.

It wasn’t a mistake in the idea — it was a mistake in where I put the money.

What I Do Now

Now, I put the budget first into Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube — the places where people discover the brand first, before they think to search for it by name on Google.

Same demand, but at a much lower cost.

A Question For You

Next time you increase an ad budget, where will you put it first?

In the next post, I’ll show you the numbers I track so I can catch something like this quickly.