Businesses today are increasingly seeing the value of online advertising as a viable alternative to traditional marketing and advertising methods. But setting up a Google AdWords campaign requires thoughtful planning and a considered approach to make sure you are on the right track for your business. A Google AdWords campaign is different from traditional advertising and can generate qualified leads to your business when done right. 

Why is Google AdWords Different From Traditional Advertising?

Seen as a cost-effective alternative to television and radio ads, Google ad campaigns can effect real change through targeted marketing practices. While there’s minimal control over the target audience for traditional advertising channels, Google Adwords campaigns are directed at relevant people who can be converted into genuine customers based on their interests and behaviour.

Setting Up Google AdWords Campaigns

In order to set up a Google AdWords campaign, you will need to follow a few steps to ensure you get it just right. Begin by going to AdWords and follow these strategies for your online marketing campaign.

Choose Your Campaign Organisational Structure

Your first step should be to choose the organisational structure for your campaign, so you can set it up for success from the start. Start by breaking down your services and products into specific categories, so you can set up the structure with better care. Essentially, there are two structures you create for every AdWords account – the campaign itself (at the top level) and the ad groups (at the lower level). You can have multiple campaigns or multiple ad groups within a single campaign. Here are some examples to help you plan:

• Example 1: You run a footwear business for both men and women.

o    Campaign 1: Men’s footwear

• Ad Group 1: Formal shoes
• Ad Group 2: Runners
• Ad Group 3: Boots

o    Campaign 2: Women’s footwear

• Ad Group 1: Heels
• Ad Group 2: Boots
• Ad Group 3: Wedges

• Example 2: You run a home ware store with a range of products and services.

o    Campaign 1: Kitchen essentials

• Ad Group 1: Dining and serve ware
• Ad Group 2: Cookware
• Ad Group 3: Glassware

o    Campaign 2: Living room

• Ad Group 1: Cushions
• Ad Group 2: Wall décor and artwork
• Ad Group 3: Side tables

Creating isolated campaigns and ad groups will help you optimise specific keywords for each category to help you ensure they remain relevant to particular searches, which in turn will drive more qualitative leads to your website – and will eventually translate into more conversions for your business. More specific and focussed ads will help you reach an audience that is genuinely interested in your products and services.

Consider Your Geographic Location

There is no point of creating an ad campaign reaching out to people in different parts of the world who may not benefit from your products and services. For instance, if you’re selling your products to a Sydney-based audience, an ad that is fed to people sitting in New York would serve no purpose for your business. And you may end up paying for clicks to your website anyway. Here is what you need to consider from a geographic location point of view:

• How large or small is the geographical area you wish to target?
• Who does your product or service cater to and where are they based?
• Will you benefit from reaching out to more people for future expansion plans? Or do you want your ad only fed to your current target?

Once you’re able to answer these questions, you’ll be in a stronger position to finalise your geographic location – allowing you to target more relevant prospects for your business.

Plan Your Budget

The best part about setting up a Google AdWords campaign is the fact that you have control over how much your spend based on your daily budget and bids. Consider the following:

• The budget you set is the amount you are willing to spend on the campaign every day. Setting a daily budget helps you better control the way your campaign runs.
• The bid amount is the amount you are willing to spend on particular keywords if someone types in that particular search phrase and clicks on your ad.

If you have decided to start with multiple campaigns, you may want to spread your overall budget evenly across them all. Once you are in a better position to understand which ones work best for your business, you can tweak your budget strategy accordingly. You are allowed to change budgets and bids at any point, so you don’t have to commit to something if it doesn’t work for you. When choosing your bid strategy, consider manual selection to get better control over how you spend your money.

Choose Your Keywords

When picking keywords for your Google AdWords campaign, make sure you choose terms people are searching for when they look online for products and services related to your business – or your ad campaign will end up being completely futile. Consider the following:

• You want the keywords to be as relevant as possible to the ad.
• You want to offer products related to specific search phrases.
• You want to identify the most typed in keywords related to your products and services.
• You’ll want to identify which keywords are the most competitive because they will cost you more to bid on.
• You may choose to avoid high-competition keywords at the start so you don’t blow your budget on a few clicks.

Google AdWords offers a free tool known as Keyword Planner that can generate a list of keywords relevant to your particular campaign. Review all the recommendations and only choose what is most applicable to your business. The Keyword Planner also helps you plan how much to bid on specific keywords based on your budget.

Plan Your Landing Pages Strategically

A landing page is essentially where the customer is directed to once he or she clicks on your ad. To get a professional landing page, you might consider using a digital marketing agency Sydney or do it by yourself. You will want to choose the right page based on your specific ad call to action, which could differ between different campaigns and ad groups. Consider the following:

• In Example 1 where you run a footwear business, you’ll want to direct the campaign to the overall men’s footwear page, ad group 1 to formal shoes, ad group 2 to runners and ad group 3 to booths – each campaign and group will have its own landing page in order to display the most relevance to your ad.
• In Example 2 where you run a home ware business, you’ll want to direct the campaign to the kitchen essentials page, ad group 1 to dining and serve ware, ad group 2 to cookware and ad group 3 to glassware – again each campaign and ad group will have different landing pages.

Choosing relevant landing pages for your ad will help people find what they need quicker, which could help convert them into genuine customers more easily for your business. If your ultimate call to action is to get them to buy, make sure you have a checkout button on every landing page to ensure that your customers know what they need to do next.

Write An Ad With A Compelling Headline To Trigger Your Desired Call To Action

Keywords help trigger clicks to your landing pages, which is why they need to be as prominent as possible in your ad campaign. Consider the following:

• Write headlines with the keywords included in them to generate your desired call to action.
• Use shorter terms and abbreviations to fit the headline into the character limit.
• Use the second and third lines to better describe the products and services you offer.
• Use the final line for your display URL.

Writing an ad isn’t just about penning down copy. Strategic word use and placement can make all the difference when it comes to getting users to click on your ad over others.

Consider The Devices You Want For Your Ad Display

Not only marketing people but others are using mobiles more than ever before, so you may want to consider optimising your ad campaign for multiple devices such as desktops, laptops, mobiles and tablets. Consider the following:

• What is your target demographic? Younger people tend to access the Internet more often from devices like mobiles and tablets compared to older people.
• Are you interested in reaching shoppers who are on the move or do you want people to make an online purchase? The former requires mobile advertising, while the latter requires desktop advertising.
• Are you looking for immediate results or simply looking to bring leads to your business?

Considering all these factors will help you decide which device works best for your particular ad campaign, so don’t follow a one size fits all strategy in this instance.

Always make sure you review any ad before and after it goes live. Don’t just let it stay live without checking on it every once in a while to make sure it is helping you achieve the results you desire.

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