The point of view

Your ads pour into a sieve.

Alexey Palkin 5 min read

I watch companies spend thousands of euros on videos, ads, and sponsorships to draw a crowd. And all that crowd shows up… nowhere. Traffic comes in one end and runs straight out the other. They paid a fortune to build a sieve.

In short

  • Plenty of people pour thousands of euros into videos and ads, for nothing.
  • Without a solid destination, all that traffic leaks out: you built a sieve.
  • The order of priorities: first the destination (site, landing), then the content.
  • A video is watched once. A good destination converts every single day.

It might be the most common strategy mistake out there, and the most expensive. You go all in on visibility and forget the one thing that matters: the place where all those people are going to land. The result is that you're filling a leaky bucket.

You built a sieve

The scenario is always the same. You pay for videos, posts, and sponsorships to get known. People discover the brand, click, arrive… and hit nothing. No site, or a site that doesn't work, or a page that leads to no clear action. So they leave. All that money, all that attention that's so hard to capture: straight down the hole.

Take a video. It costs you 1,000, 2,000 euros, sometimes far more. It gets 10,000 views, 100,000 views, great. But it's watched once, then the algorithm buries it. What did it actually earn you? If it dumps its audience into the void, the answer is: nothing. Views that turn into nothing don't pay a single bill.

Making content with no place to receive your visitors is like pouring water into a sieve. You can pour in buckets of it: nothing stays.

The destination first, the content second

There's an order, and almost everyone gets it backwards. Every level has its priority. And priority number one is never the content. It's the destination.

The destination is the place you send everyone to. Your base, your point of arrival. If you don't have a site, or if it isn't up to par, that's where it all starts. Full stop. You don't pour water while the container is leaking.

The content has one job: bring people to that destination. It's the pipe, not the tank. A pipe with no tank waters the ground, nothing more. And that destination has to be solid: a real page built to convert, not your homepage, fast, clear, perfect on mobile, and measured.

A video passes, a destination stays

Do the math, it's simple. A video is watched once, in a feed scroll, then it disappears. Its effect is immediate and fleeting.

A good destination works every single day. For every visitor, whatever the source: your video, your ad, Google, word of mouth. The same 2,000 euros put into a destination that converts keeps paying off months later. Content pulls people in once; the destination converts without letting up.

Careful, I'm not telling you to stop making videos. You have to make them, really. It's reach, presence, groundwork for the long haul. I'm just telling you: don't dump them into the void. Build what's going to hold on to them first.

So before you spend your next euro on content or ads, ask a single question: where does this send people, and does that place actually work? If the answer is "my homepage" or "nowhere", stop everything. Plug the holes first. Otherwise, pour all you like, you'll never fill a sieve.

Frequently asked questions

Should I build my website before running ads?

Yes, in that exact order. Ads send people somewhere: if that somewhere doesn't exist or doesn't convert, you're paying for traffic that leaves right away. I always advise making the destination solid before spending the first euro on acquisition.

Why don't my ads convert even though I get a lot of clicks?

Often the problem isn't the ad, it's the landing page. People click, hit a slow, confusing site with no clear action, and leave. You built a sieve: traffic comes in one end and runs straight out the other without leaving anything behind.

What is a marketing sieve?

It's when you make noise to draw a crowd but have no destination able to hold that crowd. You're pouring water into a leaky container: you can pour in buckets of it, nothing stays. All the attention you captured leaks out through the holes.

Is it better to invest in a video or in my website?

A video is watched once, then the algorithm buries it: its effect is immediate and fleeting. A good website works every single day, for every visitor, whatever the source. The same 2,000 euros put into a destination that converts keep paying off months later.

Content or destination, which comes first?

The destination first, the content second. Content has only one job: bring people to a destination. It's the pipe, not the tank. A pipe with no tank waters the ground, nothing more.

Is it bad to send my ads to my homepage?

Yes, it's one of the most common leaks. A homepage speaks to everyone, so to no one in particular, and scatters attention. To convert, you need a real page built for a single action, not the company's general storefront.

How many views does a video need to make money?

View count means nothing until there's a destination behind it. A video with 100,000 views that dumps its audience into the void earns zero. Views that turn into nothing don't pay a single bill.

What should a good landing page look like?

It has to be solid and frictionless: fast, clear, perfect on mobile, measured, and focused on one obvious action. It's not your homepage, it's a page built to convert. If it leaks, you don't pour water until it's fixed.

Should I stop making videos and content?

No, absolutely not. Content is reach, presence, groundwork for the long haul, and you genuinely need it. I'm just saying: don't dump it into the void. Build what's going to hold on to the people it brings in first.

How do I know if my marketing budget is wasted?

Ask a single question before spending: where does this send people, and does that place actually work? If the answer is my homepage or nowhere, your budget is leaking. Plug the holes before pouring in more money.

Why does my traffic never turn into customers?

Because traffic is just an entrance: what converts is the destination. If visitors land on nothing, a broken site, or a page with no clear action, they leave. Content pulls people in once, the destination converts without letting up, and with no solid destination there's nothing to convert.

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