How to Maximize the Impact of Google Ads

Digital marketing professionals would do well to put themselves into the customer’s shoes every now and then. Putting on a “customer hat” and thinking like a consumer can do wonders for boosting the effectiveness of a brand’s digital marketing strategy.

After all, it’s easy to get caught up in marketing jargon and metrics, while forgetting to bear in mind what the customer wants and needs. But it’s quite valuable to be able to see a brand’s marketing efforts from the consumer’s point of view.

This approach comes in handy when it comes to utilizing Google Ads and the targeting ability they provide to businesses in need of new customers.

Google Ads are separated into two categories, each with its own target and strategy. These categories are the Search network and the Display network. In addition, businesses with a physical address can also increase their success with a solid local ad listing — though these local ads are not paid promotions.

Search Network Ads

Search network ads are a great way to boost visibility for the brand, particularly if the website has not quite reached “first page” status on search yet.

As an aside, having a solid grasp on SEO and quality content on a website will help a website reach the first page of search results over time. This is an important element to focus on, as first page results cannot be paid for, and the majority of consumers will not click past the first page.

While the business is working on backend strategy and SEO, a strong search network ad can help boost conversions. These ads, and whether or not they show up, are dependent on many things: keywords and budgets are two of the primary determining factors.

Google Ads has made the use of their service as simple as possible for marketing professionals. Testing out copy on Search Network ads to have a strong call to action is helpful. Additionally, it’s important to remember that any changes made to ads should be given proper time to obtain results, instead of changing tactics too frequently.

Search network ads should be informative, eye-catching, and should not make false promises. Often, Search network ads are great for introducing customers to brands or products. A high ranking on the first page (ads are typically shown at the top and bottom of each results page, depending on budget) can elicit plenty of clickthroughs.

Conversions to these ads may be lower, as many customers do not make a purchase on their first visit to a website. This brings us to Display network ads.

Display Network Ads

Display network ads are generally served to a different segment of target audience members. While Search network ads are prompted by specific keywords, Display network ads are often more dependent on a user’s search history.

What does this mean, exactly? Display networks can be deployed to reel users in who may not be actively searching for the brand. For example, let’s say that a new business is marketing CBD products. The business can set up Display network ads to target users who have previously searched for “CBD oil”, prompting these ads to populate on any website that has enabled Google AdSense.

This means that a user could see an ad for this brand of CBD products virtually anywhere, not just on a search engine. This concept widens the virtual net that is cast in an attempt to bring in new prospects and leads.

Of course, not every customer who sees these ads will turn into a conversion, which is where retargeting comes in handy.

Proper utilization of the full suite of Google Ads available to businesses is a great way to have a well-rounded digital marketing strategy that grabs attention, educates, and encourages conversions.