Elements of a Successful AdWords Campaign

When you search for anything on Google, what do you see first in the results? Ads. When your customers are searching for anything on Google, what will they see first in the results? Ads.

Are your ads appearing in search results? If you want to put your ads (and your website, phone number, location, etc.) in front of the right customers, you can create a Google AdWords campaign and watch the leads or conversions roll in.

If you aren’t using Google AdWords, you are missing out on a huge opportunity to communicate with consumers when they are online. Google processes around 40,000 searches on average every second. Consumers don’t have to search through phone books or watch television to find the products and services they are looking for; they just go to Google. Even if you exclusively sell products in stores, your customers are still online; 87% of consumers conduct online research before they visit a physical store. In addition to inbound marketing strategies, AdWords is one of the top ways to show up in search results and bring consumers to your landing pages.

Benefits of Google AdWords for Businesses

Flexibility

Google AdWords provides an infinite amount of options for creating and customising your ads. Do you want your ads to show up on search results, or on other websites where your customers are reading the news? Are you looking to place your ads in apps, or encourage people to download your app? No matter what your business goals, budget, or ideas for ads may be, Google can help you make these ideas a reality and place ads in front of your customers.

Affordability

When it comes to the costs of AdWords, your team chooses your budget for the day or the month. Google will never go over your budget, but it will personalise your budget so that your ads appear on optimal days and times so your customers see them.

Even if you don’t have too much to bid, you can still get big returns from investing in Google AdWords. Bids are only one element of how Google ranks and displays your ads. The quality and relevancy of your ads is more important than how much money you are giving Google to display them.

If you create clear and enticing ads, whatever money you put into AdWords will come right back to you. Businesses that run AdWords campaigns make $2 in revenue for every $1 they spend. The method behind the AdWords madness is simple; when your ads are on the top page of search results, consumers are more likely to click. If consumers click, they are more likely to convert. The more converted customers you have, the more revenue you bring in.

Accurate Measurement

In the days of television and radio ads, you could get a decent idea of how valuable your ads were, but there was no exact measurement of how many people saw your television ads and how many people were influenced by your advertisements to go out and buy your products. Google AdWords allows you to track every dollar that you spend and the behavior of consumers that see your ads, click on your ads, or convert to become customers. Precise measurement benefits Google and your business; you can invest more money in ads that are more effective at converting customers and get a good idea as to what keywords, copy, or landing pages are working for your business.

Don’t get too excited just yet. Not every ad will appear at the top of relevant searches. Competitors may be able to push you aside with more optimised ads or a higher rank. In order to appear first in your industry, you will have to consistently work on your campaign and make adjustments based on data.

Before you start setting up your ad campaign, take some tips from the AdWords pros at Digital Squad.

Elements of a Successful AdWords Campaign

Optimised Landing Page

Google prioritizes ads from businesses who have relevant landing page copy. If your website is difficult to navigate or doesn’t relate to your ad copy, your ad won’t show up at the top of search results. Take the time to make sure the design of your landing page is clean and the copy is useful to readers who may be clicking on your ad.

Thorough Keyword Research

Ask yourself this question before setting up any Google Adwords campaign: what are your customers searching for?

Think beyond one or two sets of obvious keywords. For example, if you are a yoga retreat in Bali, adding “yoga” as a keyword will probably not get your ads very far. Yoga is not only a very competitive keyword; it’s very vague. Consumers searching for “yoga” may not be consumers who are interested in retreats or have the means to travel to Bali. Choose keywords that give you a better chance at a high ranking and appear in front of consumers who are ready to move along the buyer’s journey with your business. Google suggests including 5-20 keywords for every ad group in your ad campaign.

Clear AdWords Marketing Goals

Google AdWords gives businesses a lot of opportunity for targeting consumers and leading them different parts of the buyer’s journey. Whether you are trying to get local customers to come into your store or potential leads around the world to convert on your website, Google AdWords can help. If your goals aren’t clear, however, you might end up targeting the wrong customers. Specific goals can have a big influence on how you and your marketing team makes the following decisions:

• What metrics to measure your campaign with
• What ad extensions to use
• Where your ad is placed
• What keywords you target
• What landing pages you advertise

Think about your specific marketing goals and the buyer personas of the audience that you want to target.

Ad Extensions

One of the best ways to tailor your ads to your goals, and reach them faster, is to use ad extensions. These extra add-ons may only be a line or a phone number, but ad extensions increase click-through-rates by up to 10-15% – and they won’t cost any extra money to set them up and include them in your ad.

Ad extensions include:

• Including your phone number at the bottom of the ad
• Including the location of your store or office
• Directing people to your social media profiles
• Displaying specific products with photos and information about prices
• Adding more text to advertise sales or specific product features

Don’t think too hard about where and when to use ad extensions; Google may automatically place different ad extensions under your ad if you turn them on.

In order to use ad extensions, your ads will have to have a high rank. Before you focus on extensions, focus on producing clear, concise copy that helps your ad stand out amongst competitors.

Measurement and Analytics

So you’ve set a budget and your ads are out. Your work isn’t done yet. Google AdWords isn’t perfect; your ads may show up on irrelevant searches or to consumers who won’t be interested in buying (they live in another country, are searching for a completely different product, etc.) Luckily, Google AdWords offers data that shows you exactly where your ads are appearing and when consumers are clicking. The answers to low conversion rates are right in your Google AdWords data.

Say for example, you are a brunch restaurant in Melbourne. You place ads that will display when customers are looking for brunch options, but consumers who see the ads just aren’t clicking. When you check your AdWords data, you notice that a significant number of people are seeing the ad when they search “brunch options Sydney.” An ad for a brunch restaurant in Melbourne is not useful to someone who is currently in Sydney. Fixing this problem is actually quite quick; you can adjust your location settings or make “sydney,” “brisbane,” or “cairns” negative keywords.

Situations like the one above may come up every day as Google collects data on your ads and who is clicking. If the data is available to you and your team, use it. Check on your AdWords campaign every day and adjust your settings accordingly to get the most out of your budget.

Hand Your AdWords Marketing Strategy to the Experts

Optimising your AdWords campaigns requires frequent testing and adjusting your bidding strategy. If you want the right consumers to see ads that will encourage them to engage with your website or visit your store, leave the daily work to AdWords experts.

The team at Digital Squad dedicates each day to setting up, analysing, and adjusting AdWords campaigns for our clients. We can help you create and place ads that reach customers as they are ready to become a lead or buy your products. When we partner with a client, we send monthly reports of each AdWords campaign that we run and show you how you (and your competitors) are ranking on AdWords. If you ever have questions about your campaign or would like to see how you are performing, we are just a phone call away.

Give your AdWords campaign to the experts and watch your business meet its growth goals in no time. Get a free quote and consultation about your next AdWords campaign and more by reaching out to the AdWords marketing agency Auckland.

Megan Okonsky is a copywriter and content marketing specialist with Digital Squad. She is originally from Philadelphia but has landed in Melbourne after traveling for eight months in Southeast Asia and New Zealand. She also teaches vinyasa yoga online.