Google Ads is the No. 1 paid advertising platform on the planet, allowing businesses to reach a vast audience of potential customers. The Google Display Network (GDN), which comprises more than 2 million websites, videos, and apps, reaches over 90% of all internet users worldwide—and nearly 65% of those users are reached on a daily basis. Put simply, Google Ads is the strongest marketing tool you have at your disposal, which makes getting it right all the more important when it comes to growing and scaling your business.
- Brand
This campaign bids specifically on your business name and brand keywords or phrases. The first and most important thing is: You are not guaranteed that traffic. If you look at organic search results these days, you’ll notice that they’re more than halfway down the page—pushed out of the way by ads, maps, suggestions, and maybe even a video or two. Which means that between someone typing in a search term and your organic result appearing, a lot can happen. The nice thing about branded phrases is that you’re the most relevant result, so you’re virtually guaranteed the first position (as long as you’re doing it correctly). This makes protecting your brand really, really important.
- General campaign
This is the campaign most people think of when they think of running Google Ads. Here, people are searching for your offer or relevant pivots (more on that in just a sec) or trying to solve a specific problem. This is where your short- and long-tail keyphrases come into play, and it’s where we direct the majority of your ad spend. Incidentally, it’s likely where you will waste the majority of your ad spend in the beginning, because again—many of these approaches won’t work. Remember, you’re paying for data, which means you’re paying to learn.
- Competitor campaign
Yes, this is where we’ll target your direct competitors, but it’s also where we will learn how to target your alternatives. Targeting alternatives may sound a little sneaky, but it’s actually a perfectly ethical (and highly effective) way to redirect traffic by positioning your product as the solution people need. It’s really important that you learn to be expansive in your Competitor campaign because this will enable you to reach for traffic that you might not have pursued otherwise.
- Retargeting campaign
Retargeting (also called remarketing) is the campaign we use to bring people back to your site who have already been there and seen or heard your messaging. Ninety-eight percent of your traffic is not going to convert on their first visit, so this campaign helps you stay in front of prospects, reinforce your brand, and maximize your conversions. It also delivers the highest ROI; however, it’s important to point out that without the other three campaign types, your results will dry up in weeks (if not days).
