ChatGPT Ads beat Google Shopping on clicks — work out your own click price first
Beslist.nl reports that ads inside ChatGPT delivered more than twice the click-through rate of Google Shopping in the first few days, at a cost per click below what the market expected. Whenever a new channel shows up, you immediately hear that you have to be there. I'd rather do the maths first.
What was actually reported
Beslist.nl recently started running ads inside ChatGPT and shared its first numbers through Emerce. The click-through rate is more than twice that of Google Shopping. The cost per click came in lower than expected.
That's all of it. Nothing more is in the report, and I don't know more either.
Here's the context that belongs with it: this is one large webshop, over a handful of days. A new ad channel is nearly always cheap at the start, simply because few advertisers are in it yet. Once everyone piles in, the price goes up. So I read these figures as a snapshot of an empty channel, not as proof that it is cheaper there.
Start with your own invoice
Before I try something new, I want to know what the existing thing costs. Take last month and find three numbers:
- what you spent on ads in total
- how many clicks that bought
- how many enquiries came out of it
Divide the spend by the clicks. That's your click price. Divide the clicks by the enquiries. That's how many clicks you need for one conversation.
If an agency runs it, add their monthly management fee. That's part of what a click costs you, even if it sits on a different invoice line. Plenty of freelancers look up what other people pay for outsourced marketing. Your own two numbers say more than any average.
How many customers do you actually need?
Put one more number next to it: what a customer is worth to you. Not just the first job, but what that person books or orders in the year after.
Divide that by the number of clicks you need for one enquiry, and you know the most a click may cost you. If a new channel comes in under that, it's worth a test. If it comes in above, a high click-through rate is just a pricier way to hear no.
A click-through rate only measures the click. What happens after it — the conversation, the quote, the booking — depends on your site and on your trade. A different ad platform changes nothing there.
What you can do with this tomorrow
Write those three numbers down. Half an hour with your bank statements and your ad account, and you know what you pay per click and per enquiry today. From then on you never have to guess about a new channel: you put its price next to yours and you can see it.
Already advertising on Google and it works? Leave it alone. Don't move budget because of a few days at someone else's company. Not advertising at all and busy enough? Then this news isn't news for you.
I do this kind of maths for people who never get round to it — it's part of the €35 a month. And if the sum doesn't come out in your favour, I say so before you pay. Sometimes my answer is: don't.
Frequently asked questions
Should I start advertising inside ChatGPT now?
Only if you know what a click costs you today and what a customer is worth. Without those two numbers you're buying traffic whose value you can't judge. With them, it's a few hundred euros of testing you can assess yourself.
I have no ad budget at all. Am I missing out?
No. Most self-employed people I speak to get their work from referrals and returning clients. That's cheaper than any click. Ads exist to fill a gap, not to create one.
My agency says we need to be early. What do I say back?
Ask for your current click price, your clicks per enquiry and the monthly management fee. An agency that delivers those three numbers within a day is thinking with you. If the answer stays 'you have to be there', you're paying for urgency.
