Guide to get the most of your Google Ads

If you have decided to get your marketing team started with Google Ads, or if your team is already using it and needs to improve, this is for you!

Google is still one of the biggest players (if not the biggest player) in the advertising industry thanks to its search engine's 1.2 trillion annual queries and 40,000 searches per second 💵. Also, Google Ads lets you enhance the positioning of your website.

So, to get started with your Google Ads, let's take a look at the following steps:

Step 1: Pick the best type of Google Ad

Step 2: Choose your Google Ads Strategy

Step 3: Decide your Google Ads budget

Step 4: Analyze your Google Ads Results

Step 1: Pick the best type of Google Ad 🎯

Depending on your goals and available resources, you can choose between the various types of ads available in Google Ads.

FYI: Even though different types of Google advertisements are typically used for specific goals and demand specific resources, this does not preclude you from picking any of these advertisements and focusing them on a goal of your choice!

Search Ads Network ✏️

Type: text ads with a max 3 lines for the title (30 characters) and 2 description lines or the body copy (90 characters). You also will need to select the search terms or keywords you're targeting (this implies specific keywords and negative keywords too).

Placement: Google Search Results (search engine results or Google Play).

Objective: more online traffic and conversion. The Google Display Network serves 6 billion impressions per day.

Good if: your brand is well positioned and you know your target's interests.
Bad if: your market is very saturated or there are very strong players.

Display Ads 👣

Type: images also called banners or videos.

Placement: websites associated with the display inventory. You can choose the theme of the site where you want to appear. The Google Display Network serves 180 billion impressions each month (about 6 billion a day!) (comScore).

Objective: visibility, branding, and brand awareness.

Good if: you have a recognizable brand and are familiar with the interests of your target market. According to Specific Media, consumers who see display ads are 155% more likely to search for terms or keywords related to a specific brand or market segment.
Bad if: you lack solid graphics, design, or support resources.s.

Shopping Ads 👟

Type: a product image with a description of up to 70 characters, and the product price.

Placement: Google Search Results in the Google shopping bar.

Objective: eCommerce with conversion goals.

Good if: you run an online store and sell physical goods.

Bad if: your online store does not permit purchases directly, it’s under construction, or you lack high-quality product images.

Universal App Campaigns (UAC) 📲

Type: image, app name, and description.

Placement: Playstore. 97% of the money spent on mobile search advertising goes to Google, according to Search Engine Land.

Objective: app download.

Good if: you have an app that has been developed.

Bad if: your app has negative reviews or you failed to correctly target your audience.

Local Ads 🏢

Type: Google My Business tab.

Placement: Google Maps.

Objective: booking or positioning of a store.

Good if: you have a physical store. When making a local search, 72% of customers decide to go to a store that is within 5 miles.

Bad if: you have negative reviews or incomplete information on your listing.

The Google Ads help center is available, where you can find information on all kinds of Google campaigns.

Step 2. Choose your Google Ads Strategy 💥

As soon as you decide on the campaign type, you need to consider the resources you need to build them and research the tactics you'll employ.

You should evaluate what you already have and what you can get for your Google Ads campaign.

For instance, if you don't have a graphic designer but have the funds to hire one, you might be interested in hiring one to create some images for the display network.

To achieve this, look for inspiration in other campaigns that you find appealing, consult with your clients, or research the competition.

In the case of Google Search Ads, for instance, you might consider the following tactics:

• Product, where you place a greater emphasis on discussing the advantages of your products or services.
• Problem or pain points, where you'll concentrate on the difficulty experienced by your target audience (and provide a solution).
• Offer or discount, if you have something relevant that could be interesting for your target audience.
• Alternatives to your competition, and be very clear about the contrasting benefits you offer.
• Complementation of products or services, if you have some kind of integration or collaboration with other companies.

The strategy you choose must always be connected to the goal of your campaign, and by extension, the goal of your company, but don't be afraid to research and test various options!

In this article, you'll find different methods for your Google ads campaigns.

Step 3. Decide your Google Ads budget 💸

It's time to balance the marketing budgets and set your ad spend!

In the Google Ads platform, you can easily set daily budget limits and modify your bidding to fit your needs. However, don't set them too low or your Google Ads might not be as effective as possible.

What's the typical bid or spending limit? It depends... On the nature of your company, its size, your objectives, your plan, your campaign, etc.

For inexperienced beginners or companies making their first Google Ads, Google advises capping the daily budget at $50 per campaign.

However, we recommend you follow our method based on your objectives:

1. Set your Goal of new marketing leads [Example: 1000 leads].
2. Distribute the leads you'll expect to acquire on each of your marketing channels [Example: Google Ads 20% of leads].
3. Identify the Conversion Rate of your website. If you don’t have this info, search on Google average conversion rates for your industry [Example: 10% website conversion rate].
4. Investigate the Average Cost per click for your keywords [Example: $5/click*]. (*Average Cost per Click recommended by Google Keyword Tool for relevant terms.)

With this info, you can calculate the Investment in Google Ads:

• Total Leads won on that channel/ Conversion rate on the website = Total users to impact with GAds

• Total users to impact with GAds * Average Cost per Click = Investment in Google Ads

Let’s see it with the figures from the Example:

1000 total leads / 20% from Google Ads leads = 200 leads from GAds

200 leads / 10% website conversion rate = 2.000 impacts from GAds

2.000 impacts * $5/click = $10,000 inversion in GAds

However, make sure the cost per click is aligned with the ROI (Return On Investment) to make sure you invest according to your other marketing efforts.

Step 4. Analyze your Google Ads Results📊

Now it's time to test and result analysis!

It can be a dream or a headache to dive into an open, seemingly endless sea of statistics, PPC (pay-per-click), conversions, impressions, etc. You can use different tools like:

• Google Ads to have a more thorough understanding of all campaigns and to track them on a weekly basis. Here is an article on how to track conversions.
• Google Analytics is also a way of tracking your ads as advertising on Google is tracked with this tool.
• Gretel to receive notifications in real-time about the progress of your campaigns and learn what is or what is not working.
• Dashboards that allow for the cross-referencing of data from various campaigns to assess the costs and resources allocated to each channel.

We hope this will help you and your team with better ad execution, and if you have any successful, proven tactics that worked for you, please don't be shy about sharing them with us 👂!

If you are already working with Google Ads and need more to boost them, check out this great list of 9 recommendations for 2023.