It’s something that nearly every business owner has thought about at least once: “Should I put digital advertising in my marketing budget?” But for startups and small businesses, it can be intimidating to build and maintain a Google Ads campaign, especially for those who have fewer resources to devote to marketing.
This week’s blog aims to clear up some of the confusion that surrounds Google Ads and get you some of the base-level information you should know about! Read on to learn more about how you can be leveraging Google Ads to boost your business.
What is Google Ads?
Google Ads has been around since the year 2000 and has been providing marketing services ever since. It’s Google’s integrated ad platform that delivers ads to users of that search engine. Google currently leads the field in popularity, with nearly 8.5 billion searches per day. That’s 90,000 searches every second!
Because this platform is so frequently used, it provides limitless opportunities to reach potential customers, and to specifically target those most likely to buy from your business. This high degree of targeting is what makes Google Ads so effective.
What kinds of ads can I serve to people?
Two of the most common forms of Google Ads are search ads and display ads. Each come with their own unique benefits and placement.
Search ads are essentially just what they sound like – they’re served to customers when they search for a product or service. When a user Googles a question, these search ads are the first to come up on the results list with “Sponsored” written above them.
There are multiple different forms of display ads, but they’re generally picture-based ads that appear on websites. These ads give you a chance to catch your audience’s attention with attractive graphics and allow potential customers to click on them to visit your site.
How does targeting work?
One of the many upsides to using Google Ads is the high degree of targeting available to advertisers. Ad campaigns can hit specific demographics, target unique keywords that your customers are most likely to search for, and retarget people who have visited certain websites. By inputting the websites of your competition, it’s even possible to target people who have viewed your competitors’ sites with ads for your own products and turn the tables! Building out good audiences and targeting can take some time, but the end result is nearly always worth the effort put into it.
How do I get started?
Google Ads allows you to create an account and get up and running in no time, but there’s certainly a few different things that need to be considered first. You’ll need a website, a method of payment, and, most importantly, the audience you’d like to target.
You can build this audience to fit your specific campaign objectives, and it pays to get creative with the ways you target possible customers. This part of the process tends to take some time and requires frequent maintenance to keep your ads performing their best and making the best use of your budget.
You’ll also need to develop the ads’ creative elements, whether that includes text for search ads, or graphics for display ads. These need to be attractive and strategic if you want to catch the attention of your target audience.
Google Ads can be one of the most cost-effective forms of advertising for small businesses. It pays (literally) to get the word out about your products and services, and this ad platform gives you a high degree of targetability, all while accessing the world’s most popular search engine. Don’t let your competition outpace you – learn about Google Ads and take the plunge soon!
BPM has been Google Certified for nearly a decade and has experience in designing campaigns for all types of businesses and initiatives. Give your digital marketing the attention it needs and let the Baer Performance Marketing team bring you the results you’ve been looking for! Reach out today for an initial consultation; we would love to talk about what we can offer.
