Knowing how and when to spend your digital marketing budget is never easy. So many platforms and options are available that even sorting through the list of possibilities can feel daunting, especially when so much is riding on your choice.
And with the holiday season turned topsy-turvy by the pandemic, record-setting business closures, and still-climbing engagement with online shopping, this year offers significant challenges and greater opportunities to turn your marketing dollars into profit.
This is why as we move into the holiday season in this anything-but-normal year, Summit Crew strongly recommends that our clients consider investing more than usual in Google ads. An outstanding program that delivers a strong return on investment (ROI), Google ads has a proven track record of increasing conversion rates and capturing new customers’ attention. Here are some of the most compelling reasons we feel an investment in Google ads is the right decision.
Focus on High-Intent Users
One of the most powerful benefits of Google ads is their ability to be tied directly to search terms. This connection means that your Google ad appears prominently when high-intent users begin their research into a product or service they have self-identified as a need or want.
Who are high-intent users? Think of it this way: There are three fundamental reasons people use Google to search the internet. The first is to answer questions or learn something, which is called an information search. The second is to locate a specific website or a navigational search. And the third is when a person searches for a particular item or service to buy, which is the all-important transactional search. High-intent users conduct transactional searches, signaling their intent to make a purchase immediately or soon.
Summit Crew can build your Google ads to take full advantage of the commercial intent keywords that are the magic behind transactional searches. There are two types of these keywords: Buy Now and Product, each of which addresses the user differently. Google ads offer several formats perfectly suited to optimize these high-intent keywords. Knowing which strategy to use with which keywords is essential to any Google ads campaign. The perfect match goes a long way to converting a high-intent search into a sale.
Google Ads Scale
There is no minimum spend required for Google ads, which means there is a price point that can allow any size business to take advantage of even a single ad’s reach and impact. Start with even a $250 investment, and as your business grows and budget increases, you can look at expanding your campaign, increasing your exposure, and tracking the increase in conversions that make it all worthwhile.
When is the right time to scale your Google ads campaign? Here are a few common signs that you might want to consider taking your campaign to the next level:
- Click-through rates are peaking, which usually means you are in the 1.91 percent range. A higher click-through rate means a higher ad quality score, which translates into a lower cost per click for your ads.
- The quality score is above 7 (the higher, the better, of course), which is a sign that Google deems your ad copy and landing page relevant. Expanding your campaign while your quality score is high ensures that you get maximum impact per dollar invested.
- Spending is consistent (or going down), and conversions are up, which means that you have a reliable formula in place, so time to build on these successful ads with more successful ads.
Control your KeyWord Investment
As Google ads make very clear, not all keywords are created equal. High-value keywords cost more per click because they are more likely to attract high-intent users and generate higher conversion numbers, which creates competition. Keywords are using in each auction that takes place. There are some keywords that cost more than others based on intent and competition. For success, you must strategically utilize keywords correctly within your campaigns that get you to that ‘sweet spot’ of spending and conversions.
Immediate Results
Google ads are still one of the fastest-acting digital marketing platforms available, which means that your investment will start to show results sooner and more consistently than other platforms. And there is nothing more rewarding or that makes more business sense than getting immediate feedback on your investment.
Testing, Testing, Testing
Google ads make testing a single component of your ad or campaign easy. Known as A/B tests, they help Summit Crew fine-tune each aspect of your ads: creative, keywords, budget, and so on. As you add more money to your budget, testing can also expand, allowing for more insights, quicker adjustments, and increasingly effective (and profitable) campaigns.
One increasingly important area that testing can help with ad positioning. Despite what intuition tell us, top positions on a page are not always the most profitable. Testing goes a long way toward finding the perfect formula that ensures the placement that works best for your business.
As a Google Partner, Summit Crew is committed to the highest standards possible for making your Google ads campaign the most valuable part of your marketing portfolio most valuable. Our in-house experts know that creating an effective campaign combines data-driven science and creativity, and we have the skills necessary to hit that delicate balance every time. Whether a first-time buyer or a veteran of many past campaigns, we can help make 2022 the year that Google ads worked magic for your bottom line.
If you need help growing your business and averaging 400% or more ROI from your digital efforts, give us a call today or schedule a free strategy session with one of our experts in digital marketing. You will have an opportunity to discuss your business and your marketing goals, and we will provide recommendations on what you should be doing based on our BOOST Method. This is a sales-pitch-free no-obligation meeting, just real advice.