Google Ads: Why You (May) Need It in Your Marketing Ecosystem | Guest Blog

Google Ads: Why You (May) Need It in Your Marketing Ecosystem | Guest blog

We are inundated daily with new and exciting (maybe?) ways to get in front of our target audience. In many ways, it can be fun and fulfilling to find a way to get in front of your audience for free, such as by implementing proper SEO or now AIO, GEO, E-I-E-I-O...

But, Google Ads or any paid marketing should not be scary because you need to pay. In reality, being on these platforms, even with a reasonable budget, may save you money in the end, with the data from these platforms and complementary platforms that can connect for a more holistic look at your marketing.

Are there going to be instances when paid ads may not be the best? Absolutely, which is also why the title has (May) in it. But let's stick with the idea that you are like, "Heck yeah, ads!"

You first want to look at what you are offering and if it is best suited for Google Ads, which is for people with a clear search intent or who are ready to make a buying decision. Or, are your customers better served on another paid ad platform, such as Meta, Pinterest, or even LinkedIn Ads, for discovery campaigns for your product or service? 

Before you get nervous, if you do not have any budget at the moment for paid advertising, that's okay, too. But let me make the case for why even a small budget Google Ads campaign may serve you and your business well in the long-term. Remember, you can always create a luxurious brand on a budget.

Google Ads creates another piece of search real estate for your business

The lowest hanging fruit in Google Ads benefits is that you are able to gain another piece of real estate on search, depending on the type of campaign you might use. Local Search Ads will go alongside your Google Business Profile, Display Ads may pop up on a banner for a site with similar audiences, and regular old Search Ads may place you at a different location on Google's search platform.

The obvious caveat is that if placement does not happen on Google's first page, then the extra real estate may not matter much, so some key items to focus on:

• Utilize Google's Keyword Planner and try to find keywords with a low to medium level of competition and target those keywords.

• Research the first page bid cost-per-click (CPC) to see which words have a higher CPC and those with a CPC that fits your budget.

• Check out the current first page of Google Ads and see what the ad copy says. How can you stand out or make your ad copy more compelling?

You can learn so much from the data provided in Google Ads

Google Ads Keyword Planner is actually free to use as long as you have an account, which doesn't require needing to spend any money to create.

Once you are running ads, though, you will also get a dashboard that shows you the search queries people actually typed in to have your ad pop up, competitors your ads are commonly being shown with, and also other data, such as how many people clicked through your ad (Click-Through Rate) and clicks turn into a conversion (Conversion Rate).

Another GOLDMINE piece of data is negative keywords. People forget this helpful component, but it will SAVE you money even when you are spending on ads.

A good example is being a pest control worker, but adding Volkswagen as a negative keyword. You don't want to be paying for clicks for someone looking for a VW Beetle vs. beetle pest control. 

Seeing your ads, which ones are performing better, and what may be driving these successes or needs for improvement can also inform landing page copy, let you know if something is not working, such as an ad not providing any data, or can help you test out wording for other items such as email subject lines, CTA buttons on your website and more.

Complementary platforms like Google Analytics can help piece together the marketing puzzle

Google Ads has a wealth of information on the dashboard, but in unison with other platforms, can give you a full idea of what is happening on the search end as well as on your website.

The most helpful items I find when testing ads are:

• The journey they take once they reach the landing page. Do they click elsewhere? Do they leave? Do they convert?

• Are a lot of ads being clicked from a specific country? Do I serve this country? If not, I may need to go back to Google Ads and change my targeting settings to exclude (especially if you can't work in specific areas).

• Am I receiving 404 page clicks, which you can see on Google Analytics? If I am seeing an increase, then a button on a landing page or a link may be sending them to a dead page.

• How long do they stay on a landing page after they click an ad? Is it 0:05 seconds, or is it over 0:30 seconds, in which I can believe they are actually reading the landing page and the offer?

Google Ads can give you the information on what happens when an ad is clicked, but Google Analytics can tell you the journey of where the user is heading after.

Psst..Also, a quick non-paid advertising dashboard you NEED to have is Google Search Console to showcase how people find you organically, aka SEO. Trust me.

You don't need a huge budget to start advertising with Google Ads

The biggest fear with paid advertising, especially Google Ads, is that you need a HUGE budget. Now, I won't pretend that having a $20 monthly budget will be entirely effective (you need that data), but you also can adjust after a test campaign provides you with enough data to edit, alter, omit, and optimize your advertising.

So, you can start with a $100 two-week Display campaign, collect the data, add the negative keywords, shut down the lesser-performing ad, and make helpful adjustments to the landing page to drive more conversions (and sales or sign-ups). Ultimately, the goal is that through the increased search real estate, the holistic view of your marketing journey, and a better understanding of your customers will allow you to make more informed decisions, saving you money.

So, what can you do today to get started with Google Ads?

1. Create a Google Ads account and play around with the free Keyword Planner

2. Create a Google Analytics account and request access to the demo dashboard to see some of the items above at work

3. Go on YouTube and watch a single run-through of a Google Ads account being made for a small business. I hope this takes a little fear out of the process when showcasing step-by-step, as this is being completed.

Need any help with your Google Ads strategy and creation? Wonderful! I love this stuff, so please reach out if you need anything.

Sarah DeGeorge is a digital marketing specialist passionate about fostering authentic connections between businesses and their customers. She leverages digital media, content creation, public relations, and social media marketing to help companies, especially small, growing businesses, attract the right audiences, increase conversions, and grow strategically. When she’s not optimizing marketing campaigns, Sarah can be found traveling, reading in quiet corners, or volunteering with animal rescues to help animals in need.