Google ads can help you to drive business through all your touchpoints, digital and in-person. They target customers at the awareness and consideration stages of the buyer’s journey and encourage these customers to interact with your business and consider your products and services. Google ads are a great marketing tool to increase brand awareness.
How do google ads work?
Google ads work on a pay-per-click model. Your ad will target a specific factor on google, whether that be a keyword or an audience characteristic, and bid on that factor competing against others with the same target factor. The bid you make is the maximum you would pay for an ad. If Google decides that the cost per click on that ad is worth less than your bid then you will win the ad placement. If it is more then you don’t.
You can choose to set a budget limit per click or per day depending on your budget for your Google ad campaign.
When creating a Google ad campaign there are three main goals you can focus on for your business. You can ask Google for:
- Impressions
- Click-throughs
- Conversions
You can use your Google ad campaign to achieve the goals that best suit your business. Each of these goals is a different bid option. Impressions are calculated in cost-per-mille (CPM) where you pay per every 1000 ad impressions. Click-through rates are calculated in cost-per-click (CPC) where you pay when a user clicks on your ad. Conversions are calculated in cost-per-acquisition (CPA) where you pay when a user performs a specific action on your ad.
Who can use google ads?
The versatile nature of google ads means that it is a marketing tool that any business can utilise regardless of sector, business level, or budget. Google ads can help you grow and achieve goals whether you are a new business or heavily established.
Types of google ads
There are several different types of google ad campaigns. It is important to choose the right one for your campaign in order to increase its effectiveness. The type of Google ad you choose will depend on your business goals, your product, and your audience.
- Search ads- Your ad will show at the top of the results list on the google results page
- Shopping ads- An image ad will show in a scroll bar at the top of a google image results page
- Display ads- An image, video or banner will show on relevant websites to relevant customers
- YouTube ads- This will show as a skippable or non-skippable ad at the beginning of a YouTube video
How to use google ads to advance a specific goal
In order to choose your Google ad goal and type you must understand what your ultimate business goal is for your Google ad campaign and how you will best reach and interact with your target audience. Using your buyer persona can be an effective way to do this. Google ads can be highly effective if used correctly. Referring back to your primary business goals and your buyer persona will help you create a more effective Google ad by informing the goal you should ask google for and the type of Google ad you should use.
For example, a sportswear business, advertising their new running trainer at 18-30 year old new customers, would have the most success with a shopping ad that aims for impressions or click-throughs. However, a dentist who has recently created a video on the best toothpaste to use targeted towards existing customers would have more success with a YouTube ad or display ad that aims for conversions.
It is possible to run a basic Google ad campaign without a professional, providing you put the proper time and effort into research and activity. However, a Google ad’s professional like those at Logic Digital can help you complete a more advanced and successful Google ad campaign and achieve results more efficiently.
For support when starting a Google ad campaign get in touch with our team or for advice on improving an existing Google ad campaign read our article on how to improve your CTR in Google Ads.