In our day and age, three things are certain: death, taxes, and the fact that most of your potential customers use Google on a regular basis. It’s therefore somewhat staggering that many businesses are leaving this goldmine of consumers relatively untapped. So, how does a business like yours make the most of this opportunity? There are a few answers to this question, the simplest of which is Google Ads.
Google Ads (formerly Google AdWords) is an online advertising platform that utilises Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising. It’s also a great way for your business to be there for potential customers in their time of need. The best part? You only pay when someone actually clicks on one of your ads, and you’ll never be overcharged with any surprise costs. You can advertise on more than just Google as well, with millions of other websites and apps on Google’s advertising networks. Intrigued? You should be. Read on for a breakdown of how Google Ads can benefit your business.
Capture Intent – Search Ads
It has recently been discovered that 88% of consumers will research online before purchasing, and over 60% of searchers will click on one of the top 3 search results. In other words, if your website shows up one or two places too low, you’ve just lost a customer! As you can see then, winning the race to the top of the list can play a huge part in increasing business success. This is where Google Search Ads come in. You’ll recognise a search ad by the small green ‘Ad’ label next to its URL (unlike the unpaid results). Don’t know what we’re talking about? Go and search for any product right now and you’ll be served a first-hand example.
As you’ve probably noticed, the best thing about search ads is that they are typically displayed right at the top of search results pages. This makes them an extremely cost effective way to capture existing customer intent, and gain an immediate edge over your competitors. Pretty useful, right? When you set up your own search ads, you can also determine exactly which Google searches are eligible to display them. Therefore, unlike traditional advertising, your ads will only be served to people who are already looking for the products or services you offer!
Grow Your Brand – Display Ads
Google Display Ads are essentially small images that can be served almost anywhere around the web. The Google Display Network reaches over 90% of internet users, across over 2 million websites and 1 million apps! Display Ads generally have two main strengths, which you can choose to utilise depending on your business goals.
The first of these is brand awareness. Let’s try a quick comparison, imagine you have a billboard set up next to a busy highway. Not only would the billboard be extremely expensive, it would also be irrelevant to many people who see it. With Google Display Ads however, you can choose exactly who your ads are shown to, and will only be charged when the ads are actually clicked. The result? Loads of cheap branding!
The second main strength is known as remarketing. This allows you to show your ads to people who have already visited your website in the past. This way, you can keep your brand front of mind, and encourage people to come back to make a purchase or enquiry. This also works well if the ad gives the audience some kind of offer or discount.
Reach Specific Audiences – Targeting
As with any advertising campaign, it is essential to have a specified target audience. The primary way of reaching your audience with Google Ads is keyword targeting. This means you can choose a specific list of search terms to show your ads for. If you sell sports shoes for example, you might want to target keywords like ‘running shoes’ or ‘tennis shoes’.
Bear in mind however, it’s important to only target keywords that are most relevant to your business, as these will be the most valuable. Sticking with the sports shoes example, you may also think to simply target ‘shoes’ as a keyword. However, because ‘shoes’ is quite a broad search term, you’ll also end up targeting people looking for other kinds of shoes you don’t actually sell. It goes without saying, but this is just about the fastest way to waste your advertising budget!
If you want to narrow your targeting further, Google Ads also allows you to specify your audience by demographic. You can choose to target people by interests, age group, gender, or even household income!
Spend What You Want – Daily Budgeting
The beauty of Google Ads is that there is no minimum spend. All you need to do is set a daily budget and let Google take care of the rest. Whether you’d prefer to spend $1 or $100, you’ll never be charged more than you specify. If your total daily budget is used up throughout the day, your ads simply won’t show until the next day. Make sense?
As you can change your budgets at any time, we recommend starting off small so you can figure out what works best. Once you have sufficient data, you can scale up from there. Put simply, the bottom line with Google Ads is continual monitoring and optimising. If you’re not paying attention to how your ads, keywords and demographics are performing, it can be very easy to throw your budget away!
How Dubzz Can Help
As an official Google Partner, Dubzz Digital Marketing operates in line with Google best practice, continually delivering real world business success for a range of clients. Our team of qualified Google Ads experts have experience managing search & display campaigns across many different industries. Whether you find it all a bit overwhelming, or just don’t have the time, we’re here to help. If you’re looking to get started with Google Ads but don’t know where to start, don’t hesitate to get in touch!
