Creating a budget for online marketing is more important than ever. With the help of the internet, you can reach out to a much larger audience at a considerably lower cost than traditional marketing such as roadside advertising.

But even so, you have to be selective. Not every online marketing approach is feasible. Some businesses use ads and banners on different websites, some create videos on YouTube, some use blog marketing and others thrive on social media platforms.

But there’s one thing you can always count on when marketing online: Google AdWords. Google AdWords puts people’s ads on Google search results and advertisers can even target keywords nationally or locally. However, the competition to rank on search results is fierce, so many local business are looking towards Google AdWords management consultants to help them attain a better ROI.

This is why you need to know precisely what you are doing in order to use Google AdWords effectively. Before we look at AdWords in more detail, let’s look at the basics of online marketing.

The Importance of Local Search in Google Ads

According to research by Kelsey Group, 74% of internet users use local and rely on local search to find out what they need. Additionally, Search Engine Watch says that 61% of local search results end in sales.

But what exactly is ‘local search’?

Well, local search, or more commonly referred to as local SEO (search engine optimization), is a type of service that businesses use to reach out to local markets and people. Basically, anything you search for online is a local search. Companies and people can target the words you would use and optimize their website to meet that particular search result.

For instance, if you are looking for a hotel in California, you are likely to search for “best hotel in California”.

An owner of a hotel in California will target this and other similar keywords to optimize their website in a way that when you search these keywords, their website comes first in search results. This is how local search works and why it is so important for small businesses. Also its important to note that local search strategy can also be setup in AdWords, so ask your Google Ads consultant to help you with this.

Digital Marketing is More Important Than Ever During Covid-19

Online shopping has increased significantly during the pandemic. The E-commerce industry as a whole has improved a lot in this short time. According to a report from Retail Economics & Natwest, 46% of UK consumers bought a product from an online shop that they only bought previously from physical stores.

Online delivery services have also worked night and day to make their services more efficient. You might have noticed several business ads and video campaigns whenever you scroll through social media.

The best way to tap into this large market is by using local SEO and other digital marketing tactics, such as content marketing, email marketing, social media marketing, and more.

Because online traffic is increasing by the day, you will have an increased chance of making more sales if you can land on the first page of Google search results.

Why Traffic Relevancy is Crucial

There are a few ways to check if your digital ads marketing strategy is working or not. The most important indicator is ‘traffic relevancy’. The more traffic you have on your website, the more likely you’re going to make a sale.

High traffic also indicates high customer retention rates. Now, higher traffic may not mean your business is going to skyrocket right away but having a 20% retention rate is certainly better than 2%.

You need to check your website’s traffic when you are testing different Ad strategies and find the one that best suits your business model.

How Does AdWords Work?

Let’s return back to one of the most efficient tools for digital marketing: Google AdWords (or Google Ads). Google is one of the largest online platforms that almost all types of businesses use to reach out to potential new and current customers.

With Google Ads, you can target keywords and display your ads in a controlled targeted fashion be it geographically, interest based, targeted based, ad spend based, impression based, competitor based, or even age or keyword relevance based. You don’t always have to spend huge by putting your ads everywhere on the internet. Instead, you can be more clever and precise with ad placement to get better results. Ask your local Google Adwords management support person to show you the best ROI based strategy that can be setup in Google Ads for your specific situation, budget, and product or services set.

How to Effectively Use Google Ads

Using Google Ads is simple, but to get the most effective results you can’t be solely relying on the platform to do everything for you.

Here are some things you must consider to ensure you’re not wasting away your marketing budget.

1. Clearly Define Your Objectives

You have to be specific and clear about which categories, products, and offers you want to highlight. First, figure out if you want to launch a brand new product, sell unsold items or maximize your overall sales.

After that, post the best items from your catalog in line with your objectives, and then identify which ones are most successful.

2. Target the Best Keywords for Creative Campaigns

Digital marketing campaigns should be creative, but you have to make sure you target the right audience using the best keywords. Without them, you won’t even get to advertise in front of your right customers. This is why keyword research is the foundation of all digital marketing activities. You need to have a comprehensive list of keywords to target your customer base. You need to have a clear concept of three types of keywords:

1. Head keywords – single words with large search volumes
2. Body keywords – 2-3 phrased keywords, and
3. Long-tail keywords – a combination of keywords

Use Ahrefs, Google trends, or forums to find out what your audience is searching for and then use that in campaigns offered by Google Ads.

3. Properly Structure Your AdWords Account

Structuring your AdWords account is important because it will help operate and monitor your campaigns smoothly.

The account structure will determine how and to whom your ads will be displayed. It will also impact your quality score. The best way to achieve that will be to match the structure of your Google Ads with the structure of your site.

The structure of your site is basically how your website content is organized. As your site grows, the number of published content, blog posts, and product articles will grow too. This might make the site cluttered. To rank well in Google, you need to keep your site clean and organized.

Once you have done that, make a similar structured AdWords account. This way, your website will be better synced.

Tip : Keyword relevance, AdWords copy relevance, and page keyword density, and page relevance all play a role towards how often your Ads will show to your potential new customers.  If you would like to know more, don’t forget to reach out to your local Google Ads consultant.

4. Use Creative & Effective Ads

You need to come up with unique point of difference ads if you want the customers to click on them. Most competitors will have similar keywords or phrases in their ads which are expected since they are targeting the same audience. This is why you need creativity to stand out from the rest.  Think about what you can do to help your customers that your competition can’t.

To make your ads effective, you have to be specific. Your ads can only have a few phrases so you have to make sure every word counts. For instance, if you are selling skincare products, then don’t write something like, “trying to get rid of acne?”. Instead, you should write, “Get rid of acne in (x days or weeks)”. This assumes that they’re trying to get rid of acne, and you’re telling them just how fast you can solve their problem.

If you provide services or marketing strategies then don’t write, “Get the best marketing strategies”. Be more specific and tell them what’s on offer. Instead, you could write, “Best marketing strategies: with 20 guides, 1000+ proven tests & free access”.

Try to understand the customer’s end view, be super specific, add current statistics, and make it sound personal.

5. Try Posting Ads at the Right Time & Place

You should create a schedule to make sure your intended audience sees your ads. You may have created the most creative and visually appealing ad, but if you get the timing and place wrong, it won’t matter if your audience doesn’t see it.

To make sure they see your ads, you need to use moment marketing, a strategy that targets your consumers so you can immediately give the service they need in real-time. Or if you have a good CRM in place see if you can target which suburbs have presented you with the best business over the years, and target them with your Ads.

You can use different Google tools and Google analytics to gain insights about your customers, preferences, and selected times. As we said above you can tweak your Google Ads account based on results and get better traffic and retention rates.

6. Use User Profiling for Unique Ads & Copies

Along with being demographic specific, you can also be psychographic specific as well.  User profiling means understanding the behavior and patterns of a group of users. By profiling your audience you can create more personalised ads and copy for them.

You can use subscription or registration forms to get access to more information about the customer and use it for your campaigns to get better results.

7. Check and Compare Your ROI

ROI, or return on investment, is how much you have earned from your ads compared to the amount you have spent on them.

You can check your ROI to determine if you are doing things right. There are a couple of things you can do to increase your ROI.

• Use the right keywords & be careful about negative keywords
• Optimize your website
• Get a better quality score
• Optimize your landing pages and align them with your Ads
• Recalibrate your targeted groups
• Do not overpay for every click
• Create Ad strategies that are targeted only for your best personas

8. Properly Optimize Your Website

As we mentioned above, make sure your site is fully optimized, ensure to do the following:

Make your website mobile-friendly

A lot of people use their smartphones when browsing, online shopping, and searching for things. If your website is not optimized for mobile phones, it won’t be fast or user-friendly for them. 

Tip: Try using Google Pagespeed to see how well your site is optimised.

Allow your site to be easy to navigate

Design your website clean and organized. Do not bombard it with ads and have a minimalistic menu (some people have fat fingers, so think about the user experience for your profiled customer). Implement search options inside the website. Use navigational titles and provide clickable links.

Check the fonts and see if they are easy to read on different devices. Check the formatting of your content so it’s not an eyesore.

Make sure your website loads fast

If your website is slow then most people will leave it before it even finishes loading. Most users will leave your website if it takes longer than 3 seconds to load. To speed up your website you should;

• Choose the right hosting plan
• Use cache plugins
• Optimize the images you add to the website. Resize the images and only use JPG and PNG files
• Minify Javascript, HTML, and CSS
• Avoid cramming your site with plugins
• Use lazy load techniques

9. Bid on the Best Location

Through Google Ads, you can use its four advertising spots that show at the top of the search results. Choose the spot that pays the best ‘cost per click’ and bid on it.

10. Add Google Shopping For Shopping Results

If you sell online products, you can increase the chances of landing on the search results by using Google Shopping campaigns along with your traditional text ads.

Google shopping is becoming more and more popular for online businesses because it allows you to optimize very specific parts. You can adjust your bid on different categories and even exclude specific products.

To use it, first, you have to enter the Google Merchant Center and enlist your product list. This includes all the descriptions, prices, and images of the existing Google Ads campaigns.

Then, broadcast the entire catalog to get better results from the search engine.

11. Remarket to Increase Customer Loyalty

Remarketing is a technique to target specific audiences who have interacted with your app or website before. This way you have a better chance to increase customer retention.

You might not have realized, but you’ve probably already faced this. If you see the same ad on different websites then you are being remarketed to. You can remarket your audience by using Google Dynamic Ads. Connect it to your Google Shopping Feed and broadcast personalized ads.

Here’s how it works. A potential customer searches for a heater on your website. Even if he does not make the purchase, he might see an ad regarding the heater automatically when he visits a partner site. This way you can even recommend complementary items to get more sales.

12. Banners Ads and Reach Out to More People

You can use Google Display to post banners on many third-party websites. Google display is said to be able to reach 90% of all internet websites, meaning you can have your banners across thousands of websites.

13. Always Check on the Sales Team to Get Feedback About Your Marketing

Tweaking and testing different marketing algorithms does not always guarantee increase sales. If what you assumed to target is different from how the organisation actually sells, then you have a break in the process. Then your sales do not increase. 

Many young digital marketers are lacking skills in good business acumen these days as the art of face to face is diminishing in society, so remember to ask the sales team how they sell; then you have information as to how you might change your campaigns, target different keywords, make better content and optimize your website even more to meet the sales process.

This is where having a sales team and getting their feedback can save a lot of time and money with your online marketing spend.

Final Thoughts

Google Ads is a revolutionary tool for marketers and businesses alike. It costs significantly less than traditional advertisements but offers better results. Google Ads has all the tools you need to successfully market your products and services, but you need to know how to use them effectively.

You should experiment with different tools and methods before you find the perfect one. Sure, you won’t get thousands of users overnight, but by consistently applying the tips above, you have a better chance at saving your marketing budget and growing your business. Good luck finding your best ROI strategy for your Ad spend.