Want to achieve a real, measurable boost in sales and conversions? Then Google Ads is your new best friend.
A fun fact for anyone who’s ever wondered how Google makes its money as a free search engine: Google Ads is responsible for 97% of Google’s revenue.
That doesn’t mean a lot when it comes to creating your own campaign, but it does demonstrate that Google Ads is a hugely popular marketing tool that’s not going away any time soon. Everyone from your closest competitors to your mum (okay, maybe not your mum) will be using it to build awareness and get to the top of page one of Google.
Most of us interact with Google Ads every day, even if we’re not aware of it. The ads are split into four categories:
- Search ads – these involve bidding to appear as the top search result for a keyword
- Display ads – these are the blocks and banners that appear alongside the content on web pages and YouTube videos
- Google shopping ads – these are the product image ads that appear at the top of Google’s results when your search for an item. Clicking them takes you straight to the web page that is selling the product
- YouTube ads – these come in the form of skippable or non-skippable videos
What all of these have in common is that they increase the visibility of your products, services and brand, and encourage people to click through to your website.
The most popular question we get asked about Google Ads is “isn’t it expensive?” The real question is, “what is a lead worth to you?”. Execute your campaign successfully and you can achieve a huge return on your investment.
At PMW we know a thing or two about delivering a successful Google Ads campaign. In fact, the industry average conversion rate for Google Ads is 3.5%. At PMW we average at an 8.5% conversion rate across all our active accounts.
So, want to make a success of your Google Ads campaign? Here are our top tips for achieving great results.
Lay the groundwork
The first, and golden rule is: don’t drive traffic to a website that’s not performing. If your site’s got confusing navigation, poor design, and hasn’t been updated since 2005, then no matter how much you invest in Google Ads, many people are going to click straight off. You might see an increase in your web traffic, but what’s the point if it’s not leading to conversions and sales?
To get results from your Google Ads campaign, you need to ensure your landing pages are supporting the user journey with conversion rate optimisation. Your potential customers will favour and trust up-to-date websites designed with user experience (UX) in mind.
Know your objectives
Pin down what you want to achieve from your campaign. This will inform the type of ads you choose to run. For instance, web display ads and YouTube display ads are great if your goal is increased awareness of your brand. Search ads are best suited to reaching people who are searching for keywords relating to your service, and Google shopping ads are good for promoting specific products.
It’s also a good idea to set numerical goals. How do you know if your campaign has been a success if you have nothing to measure it by?
No data is bad data
The beauty of Google Ads is that it offers more reporting than any other marketing platform. A successful campaign will use this to its benefit. Viewing and analysing your data will help you understand audience behaviour and make the right adjustments to optimise results. We measure everything to ensure we are getting the best return on investment for our clients.
Nurture your ads
Once you’ve created your ads and sent them out into the world, don’t just forget about them.
We mentioned how making adjustments to your ads can optimise your results – the Google Ads management platform lets you adjust the audience of your ads by age, location, marital status and much more. If you’re new to Google Ads, you have to be willing to experiment; it might take some trial and error before you hit upon a winning formula.
Remember that the audience requirements for each ad you run can change depending on the product or service you’re promoting, and what your goals are. Be prepared to set aside time to nurture your ads and help them achieve their potential.
If you don’t know what you’re doing, hire someone who does
If you’re not sure that you can get the best results on your own, then it might be time to call in someone who can.
While it is certainly possible to set up your own Google ads campaign, an experienced Google Ads manager will have all the knowledge to hone a laser targeted campaign that can quickly reach and surpass your goals.
If you would like to speak to us about our Google Ads services, then don’t hesitate to get in touch to discuss your marketing goals with our friendly team.
