Why Most Ads Fail on IT Founders (And What Actually Works)

Most ads targeting founders fail for a simple reason.They assume the agency is responsible for outcomes, and the founder is just a buyer. That assumption is wrong.

Founders of profitable but stuck product-and-services IT firms don’t buy marketing like a service. They evaluate it like a business lever. If your ad doesn’t acknowledge that, it’s invisible.

This guide is for digital marketers who want fewer but serious leads, and founders reaching out directly. Not vanity conversions.

Understand the Founder You’re Advertising To

You’re not talking to early-stage dreamers.

You’re talking to founders who:

• Are already profitable

• Have a product plus services motion

• Use marketing but don’t fully trust it

• Are stuck between “we should scale” and “we can’t waste money”

  
  

They’ve tried agencies. They’ve seen dashboards. They’ve heard promises.

Your ad has to signal: “I understand your situation, not just your channel mix.”

The Core Problem: “The Agency Should Figure Everything Out”

This belief silently kills performance. Founders who think marketing is something they can fully outsource usually get:

• Decent traffic

• Poor lead quality

• Long sales cycles

• Blame without accountability

  
  

Good ads don’t reinforce this belief.They challenge it—without sounding preachy.

If your ad doesn’t make it clear that effective marketing requires active founder involvement, you attract the wrong leads.

Sell the Cost of Inaction, Not the Solution

Founders don’t need to be convinced that ads exist.They need to be shown what not fixing the real issue is costing them.

Good ads focus on:

• Missed revenue because positioning is unclear

• Time wasted chasing bad-fit leads

• Sales teams stuck explaining instead of closing

• Brand stories that don’t exist beyond “we build X”

  
  

When an ad frames the problem properly, the solution becomes obvious. And self-selected.

Why Generic Ads Fail on IT Founders

Most ads talk like this:“We help IT firms scale with SEO, PPC, and social media.”

Founders hear:“Another agency that does activities, not outcomes.”

What works instead:

• Industry-specific language (SaaS dev, DevOps, infra, B2B enterprise)

• Clear trade-offs

• Strong opinions

• Willingness to say who this won’t work for

  
  

Clarity signals competence.

What This Means for You as a Marketer

Your job isn’t to make ads prettier or cheaper, Your job is to:

• Translate business realities into clear messages

• Call out flawed assumptions politely but firmly

• Attract founders who want to build something durable

  
  

When you do that, performance often improves without changing the platform.

Final Thought

Ads that work on IT founders are not clever.They’re clear, honest, and slightly uncomfortable. If your ad makes a founder pause and reconsider how they’ve been thinking about marketing, you’ve already won.

If you’re helping founders rethink, you’re doing real marketing.