However, Google Ads is an absolute force when advertising online. You need more than just running ads; you must ensure that the people the ads are running to see are the right people. This automatically means targeting plays a massive role in avoiding wasting your ad dollars on commercials that don’t even reach the audience you want to target.
But how do you get to the right audience with Google Ads? Let’s break it down.
Start With Keywords
Google Ads targeting is built on keywords. Keywords are the link between your ad and your excellent customer’s search. Put yourself in your target audience’s shoes enough to get it right. So, what are people typing into Google when searching for things such as your products or services?
With a mix of exact, broad, and phrase-match keywords, you will have more control. Exact and broad match types capture similar but broader or narrower types of searches, respectively. Phrase match sits just in between, meaning your keywords will appear in searches with other words before or after.
Pro tip: Negative keywords will help you get rid of irrelevant searches. For example, suppose you’re advertising for small businesses on Google but not targeting that price point. In that case, you’ll want to weed out keywords that don’t match your target audience.
Leverage Audience Targeting
Forget just keywords; understanding your audience is involved with Google Ads, too. Using Google’s audience targeting tools, you can zero in on people according to their interests, activity, who they are and much more.
- Affinity audiences are so interested in things related to your product that they always seek out information. For example, if you’re marketing travel gear, you can target someone who frequently searches for or interacts with travel content.
- In-market audiences: In other words, potential customers looking online for products and services within your industry. What if you are working with a Google Ads Marketing Agency? If that happens, they can help you find audiences willing to buy based on their online actions.
Geotargeting for Hyperlocal Coverage
If you’re targeting any location, geotargeting is your best friend. It allows an ad to reach users in a specific area, country, city, or neighbourhood. Brick-and-mortar businesses would be pretty practical for it.
Geotargeting also informs you that you target people only within your service area if you operate a service-based business. A Google Ads management company can set up hyper-targeted campaigns for you to help you boost your local presence.
Device Targeting
Targeting the appropriate devices is crucial in today’s mobile world. You might target your Google ads on a desktop, a tablet, or a mobile. If, for instance, you are marketing an app, then targeting on mobile would be a good idea.
Think also about user behaviour. Mobile users have shorter attention spans, so desktops are preferable if you sell something people must research before purchasing. Mobile devices are mainly used for impulse purchases and rapid searches. A Google ad agency near you can analyze your audience’s preference for different devices and choose the best ads.
Time of Day Targeting
Time targeting is all about your audience’s behaviour. Do your customers browse in the morning, or are night crawlers? Google Ads can schedule the times and days your ads will be displayed.
For instance, targeting customers at noon or in the evening may work better than targeting them at six o’clock if one runs a restaurant.
Remarketing: Don’t let them forget you
Sometimes, people may visit your website but will ultimately convert later. That is when remarketing kicks in. Using Google Ads, you can serve ads to users who have visited your site before and remind them about your product or service.
Its remarketing helps customers return and buy again. Whether running a discount campaign or simply reminding them of your existence, remarketing ensures your brand stays in the customer’s headspace. If you continue to need support, you may opt for Google PPC management services to ensure the proper working of your remarketing campaigns and get back customers.
Custom intent audiences
Another advanced feature you will receive from Google is Custom Intent Audiences. You can create an audience based on specified keywords and URLs they’ve visited, virtually building almost your dream audience of people actively researching what you have to offer.
For example, if your product is tech-related, you can target people visiting comparison sites or researching reviews of differences between their products. Such targeting is granular enough to ensure that the ad reaches that particular already-not-in-market segment for what you offer.
Demographic Targeting
This narrows your audience further by considering crucial demographic factors such as age, gender, household income, and whether the person has children. This can be useful if your product appeals more to a specific group.
For example, targeting high-income households makes sense if you sell high-end fashion. On the other hand, products that cater to babies would automatically target parents.
Final Thoughts
Proper Google Ads targeting goes beyond selecting keywords and setting them off. Instead, leveraging several targeting tactics would help ensure your ads hit the mark every time.
By combining keywords, audience insights, geolocation, remarketing, and many more, you can guarantee to reach a well-targeted audience with a probability of conversion without wasting a single penny on the wrong target group.
Google Ads can be pretty powerful if paired with the proper targeting. So, you should know your audience well and deliver ads that target their specific behaviours, interests, and needs.
