The Building Blocks Of Google Ads

If you’re reading this blog, there’s a high probability that you have already heard of Paid Search advertising. You’ve also probably clicked on several Google Ads in the past and made a purchase or interacted with a brand.

There are more than 5.8 billion searches per day [1] and stats show that internet traffic funneled through pay-per-click ads result in 50% more conversions than organic web traffic. Even if a business doesn’t sell its products online, omni-channel strategies are said to drive an 80% higher rate of incremental store visits for local businesses. That is how much more advanced online advertising has become and is also why it is crucial for companies to develop their online presence.

The first step of your Paid Search journey is to decide what your goal is going to be, and this will depend on what actions you would like your customers to take. Your goal will also be assisting you in choosing your campaign type. The below image, taken from the Google Ads interface, shows the different types of goals that are available.

Goals

Once you have decided on your goals, you can choose from the six different campaign types that are available to you, as shown in the image below. Make sure to explore all the different types of campaigns and choose the best suited one. This step will determine where and what type of ads your customers will see. For someone who is setting up their first campaign, making this decision could be slightly overwhelming but do not fret, further down are adequate examples to guide you through the process.

Campaign Types

So which campaign should you choose and why?

Search Ads

Search campaigns will allow you to show text ads on the search network. With 3.5 billion searches taking place every day, 35% of product searches start on Google. Searches for services are non the less. If a business is looking to target a particular set of audiences to achieve more qualified leads, search ads would be the way to do so.

Some of the main advantages that you get when you opt for search ads are:

Placement

Paid ads are often shown on top of the search results page and they appear above organic results. This gives them high visibility and it has been mentioned by several users that they can’t differentiate between the two, which is a huge advantage to the text ads. As the number of mobile users continue to increase, people have become more comfortable with making important decisions through their phone and it is now unbelievably easy to target them through a relevant mobile ad.

Budget

Since text ads are aiming at people who are in the lower parts of the marketing funnel, there are higher chances of getting conversion at a lower cost. Because of this reason, it becomes one of the cheapest ways to advertise online.

Ease of creation

Unlike YouTube, Display or Shopping ads, text ads do not need any creatives or additional information other than the messaging. For this reason, they become one of the easiest type of ads to implement. Also, unlike offline it can be continuously editing and improved.

Targeting

Relevant ads can be shown to people based on the device they use, their gender, the income that they get, their interests and more. There are also multiple ways in which you can reach out to the right audience, in the right way and at the right time. Below is an example of how text ads look on the SERP:

Display Ads

If you are interested in raising brand awareness, running remarketing campaigns or showing your ads on high trafficked websites, display ads are the right option for you. These ads come in various formats, have the ability to appear on over a million websites and can reach over a billion people.

The ads reach the right audience since websites can be targeted based on keyword, demographic, placement, topic and interest, which is then further split into different segments. You have to get your targeting right if you want to see any results from your display ads.

Shopping Ads

If you are looking to set up a campaign for an eCommerce business, shopping ads should be your go-to campaign type. One main reason why a retailer would choose shopping ads over text ads is that they lead to a higher conversion rate, and a better ROI is something every business looks for[2].

This type of ads often appear within a search query and the above example would probably show up when someone searches are Nike shoes. Since they include visuals of the product, price, reviews, special promotions and appear above text ads, and are capable of generating lower funnel conversions, these ads are becoming more and more popular amongst advertisers.

A key difference between shopping and text ads is that the former ads are bid at product level which is based on a product feed that is uploaded through Google Merchant Center. 

Video Ads

Video has become a huge part of the online world. With 4 billion videos being watched every day, it has been proven that one-third of shoppers will purchase a product after viewing a video.

Choose from multiple ad formats and advertise on YouTube with video campaigns. From 6 second bumper ads to much longer skippable videos, you have the option to choose the right video to showcase your brand.

Several products or services are comprehended much better when they are displayed through a video. It also delivers a huge amount of information in a short time and plays a key role in brand storytelling.

Universal App Campaigns 

As the name indicates, this type of campaign provides an all-in-one channel to find new users for your mobile app by driving app installs and also essential in increasing in-app conversions. You will be given the option to advertise on some of Google’s largest ad networks such as search, display, YouTube and Google play store. For a business that is entirely focused on their app, this should definitely be a priority campaign.

Summary

There are so many possibilities to explore within Google ads and it is not a one size fits all solution. Every advertiser needs to decide on the right mix of campaign types and formats for them. Advertisers must work towards identifying the right goal, campaign type, targeting and optimization techniques.

In this exponentially changing environment that we are in, digital marketing is changing even more rapidly. It is essential for advertisers to keep up with the trends, test new products and tools, and explore the endless opportunities that are available.

At Merkle MENA, we pride ourselves on having specialist knowledge across all the above campaign types. If you’re interested to know more on what we recommend is the best strategy for you, get in touch at [email protected].

[1] https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/google-search-statistics

[2] https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/marketing-resources/data-measurement/farfetch-tops-trends-with-google-shopping-campaigns/