Let’s face it: choosing from a pool of various digital marketing channels for paid advertising can be drowning. Looking where to spend your marketing budget can also be frightening, especially if you have no clue what’s the best choice for your business. Of course, as a wise business owner that you are, you are careful and aim to invest your money in the right place, to reach your target audience without aimlessly spending on campaigns that won’t pay you back.
As you already know, marketing works by influencing a prospect to take the action you desire from them – open up their wallets and willingly spend their money on your offer. And it is much easier to achieve this if you’ll be able to focus your efforts on the right customer at just the right time. Knowing who’s likely to buy from you and when they are ready to buy, allow you to spend less money and potentially skyrocket your ROI.
So you ask, “Where should I spend my money, time, and effort on paid advertising, then?” Well, how does somewhere with over 259 million unique visitors and over 5 billion searches a day sound like? Somewhere you might have overlooked – like Google? When someone looks for something online, their first stop is usually Google. Billions of times per day, people turn to Google to look for an answer to a question, discover a new place to visit, find solutions to their problems, and look for products to buy. Every search presents you an opportunity to show your offer, to show the solution that your business has to these persons problems, filling the need of these customers. And because they tell Google what exactly they are looking for, it’s no surprise that Google can connect businesses like you with customers potentially looking for your product or service. That’s where Google Ads comes in.
Google Ads is one of the most powerful platforms for paid advertising which can bring you thousands and millions of return on investment. But it can be really hard to choose what’s the best type of Google Ads is perfect for your business. If you choose the wrong one, then your success can turn into a costly nightmare.
You don’t want that to happen, right? Well, you’re in luck! In this article you will learn the different types of the Google Ads that will help you choose the best google ads you can implement for your business.
What is Google?
To effectively understand how Google Ads work and choose what types of google ads is the best for you, it’s important to understand first how Google works. Google is the biggest search engine in the world. Where almost all internet users find information and solution to the problems they want to satisfy. Advertisements on Google is a form of marketing on a search engine. It is the process of gaining traffic and visibility from search engines through both paid and unpaid efforts.
But here, we’ll be focusing on paid search – Google Ads.
What is Google Ads and Why it Works?
Google Ads is amazing and it works because businesses get to place their ads in front of people who are actively searching for them. Unlike on platforms like Facebook or Instagram, people there aren’t looking to be advertised to. They are not looking for solutions to the problems that bothers their lives each day. But rather they search for the current updates of their family and friends, latest news and stories. They are not there to actually buy something. That’s why advertisements there get tuned out easily.
But with Google, people are already aware they have a problem, and all they need to find is the best solution to it. They already have high intention to buy, so there is way less persuading needed to be done. And high chance to convert them into actual paying customers. All you need to do is to show up, get on top of their search and present your offer and make it irresistible so they can’t resist.
Google Ads and How it Works?
Google Ads run in a way that advertisers bid for specific keywords, and the one with the highest bid has their ads displayed. It is a paid advertising platform that falls under “Pay-Per-Click” (PPC) also known as “Cost-Per-Click” (CPC), and in the bidding process, you let Google know what your maximum bid price or offer and compete with other advertisers that bid for the same keyword you bid with. The auction process runs each time someone searches for a certain keyword.
Is Investing in Google Ads for your business?
If you are worried whether Google Ads will work for you, it is good to know that the best part about it is that it gives you control over your advertising budget. You get to manage how you spend your ad budget per month, per day, or whether per ad. You can pause or adjust your ad, spend any time you need to. You will only pay when someone clicks on your ad. On top of that, you can see which ads get the clicks and which ones don’t – allowing you to quickly see where to invest less, and more in your campaigns and helps you maximize your return on investment.
Types of Google Ads and What’s Best For You?
In running a successful Google Ads you need to start with a goal and a campaign. You select one of the google ads campaign types based on your marketing goals, advertising needs, brand strategy, and how much time, effort, and money you can invest.
There are Five (5) Main Google Ads Categories namely Search, Display, Video, Shopping, and Display Campaigns. You can reach your ideal customers or clients using any of the campaign types you can run among these categories.
There are also ten (10) effective types of Google Ads presented below that you can apply for your business.
Search Ad Campaigns
Search Ads are text ads on Google search engine results. It is usually placeed on the top of the page results where people find information first and is specifically marked by Google as an Ad.
It’s perfect for driving traffic and leads to your website and potentially win a sale as you can show your ads to people actively searching for your products and services.
1. Responsive or Dynamic Search Ads
If you still do not have the expertise to run a search campaign, and you just want to get started just to see how it goes without spending too much, then responsive or dynamic search ads is best for you.
The best starting point to get performance data from your campaigns as it allows you to earn a sale from search keywords generated by Google. Multiple variations of headlines and ad copy are tested to select the one that’s getting the most clicks and impressions.
2. Competitor Search Campaign
This campaign type is recommended for sellers who are already running profitable campaigns and wants to earn new customers. It is done by bidding on searches for your competitors’ branded keywords rather than bidding on your own brand’s name and products.
3. Branded Google Search
This captures those people who are actively and specifically looking for your brand by name. Best applied by businesses, no matter what the size and industry, since it will likely make sales when there is search intent for their specific brand. This type of campaign is not easy to implement if you lack knowledge with search engine marketing. So you might want to ask for help or assistance of an agency or in-house consultants or specialists.
4. Generic Non-branded Google Search Ads
The objective of this campaign is to generate qualified intent-based traffic and new customers, by advertising to prospects who may consider buying your products but are not familiar with your brand. This campaign applies keyword phrases that do not use your brand or products by name. Thus, your costs are likely going to be higher, since your relevance to users is lower.
5. Niche Non-branded Google Search Ads
The goal of this search ad campaign is to acquire new customers from a specific niche audience that matches with your niche products. Niche non-branded search campaigns often promote less competition than generic non-branded ones. Since they are more specific it allows you to be more relevant to the searcher’s intent if your products match what they’re looking for.
Display Ad Campaigns: Image ads on websites
Display Ads are the image ads that you come across on numerous websites. It comes in the form of display banners and can be customized by you or automatically generated by Google for you. It is a great way to expand your reach and stay top of mind with an audience beyond just Google Search. You use visually engaging call-to-actions to drive sales and signups for qualified leads. It allows you to create memorable ads to make people aware of your brand or consider your product and target people outside Google search results while they’re browsing other websites and apps. It is also best for remarketing and ask for a follow up with people who’ve already viewed your ads or visited your site.
6. Interest/Topic Display Ads
This type of display ads campaign boosts the awareness of your offer by advertising it on sites in the Google Display Network that relate to a specific topic or interest category.
With topic-based targeting, your ad will be displayed on any of the sites belonging to that category in the Display Network. Your ads will be shown to users who have recently started exploring those topics.
7. Contextual Display Ads
Through displaying your ads on web pages in the Google Display Network that includes a certain theme based on a grouping of keywords, you increase awareness around your product or service and earn thousands to millions of sales. Contextual campaigns are a great way to start on the Display Network because they let Google show you niche sites that might be available for you to directly target your audience on.
Video campaigns
Video ads on YouTube videos. Getting your offer to a relevant audience. With video ads, you can use demographic targeting and reach your ideal audiences based on age, gender, and interests.
8. In-Stream Ads
The goal of this is to convert and reach new audiences on YouTube. It appears before, after, or during a YouTube video and also appears as related videos, and across websites and apps than run Google ads.
9. In-Feed Video Campaigns
In-feed video campaign ads can appear on the YouTube homepage, in search results, or in the related videos section of a watch page. This is best for brands looking for a low-cost way to reach audiences.
Shopping campaigns
Shopping Ads are product-based ads that are displayed and listed specifically for product searches on Google. It is best used to increase traffic to your e-commerce store.
10. Google Smart Shopping
Google Smart Shopping campaigns use machine learning to optimize a mix of retargeting, display, and Shopping ads on your behalf. This campaign type picks which products to advertise, how much to bid, who to target, and which creative to show.
App campaigns
Do you have a mobile app for your business? Google App Campaigns is best for you. You can run ads that encourage your audience to install your app or, if they already use it, to take your desired action from them within your app. Google automatically designed the ads for you.
Run Your Google Ads Campaign and Maximize your ROI
Congrats! You are finally one step away earning clicks and conversion from your Google Ads campaign. Now, be on your way to drive easy, fast, and cheap sales repeatedly. So what are you waiting for? Run your Google Ads Campaign now.
FAQ
What are the main types of Google Ads and their purposes?
Google offers various types of ads, including Search Ads, Display Ads, and Video Ads. Search Ads appear on search engine results pages, Display Ads on websites, and Video Ads on YouTube. Each type serves different purposes, from increasing website traffic (Search Ads) to building brand awareness (Display Ads) and engaging audiences through videos (Video Ads).
How do I determine the best type of Google Ad for my business?
The choice of the best Google Ad type depends on your advertising goals and target audience. If you aim to reach potential customers actively searching for products or services, Search Ads may be suitable. For brand visibility and broader reach, Display Ads can be effective. Video Ads work well for engaging visual storytelling. Assess your objectives, budget, and the preferences of your target audience to make an informed decision.
Can I use a combination of Google Ads types in my campaign?
Yes, combining different Google Ads types in a campaign is known as a cross-channel approach and can be highly effective. This strategy allows you to cover various stages of the customer journey and engage users across different platforms. For example, you might use Search Ads to capture users actively searching, Display Ads for broader brand exposure, and Video Ads to convey a compelling message. Experimenting with different combinations can help you find the most effective mix for your business goals.