Targeting Both Search & Display Networks With the Same
Ad Campaign
First,
it’s important to point out why so many businesses make this mistake.
Google
encourages advertisers to set up campaigns that target both the Search
Network and the Display Network. The first option when creating a new
campaign is to target both networks and Google provides “advice” that
this is the “Best opportunity to reach the most customers.”
Sure,
targeting both networks will give you more reach, but that doesn’t mean
it’s a good idea. The key to advertising is getting your product or
service in front of the right audience, not just the biggest. A car
dealership wouldn’t be well served buying ads on a popular children’s
show nor would a toy company do well advertising on late-night comedy
shows. They’re both reaching a lot of people but not the right people.
Unfortunately,
Google’s default advice to use both Search and Display networks in this
example is self-serving. The reality is that Google makes money when
businesses spend more in advertising so it’s in their best interest to
encourage businesses to expand reach (aka, expand budgets) regardless
of whether or not the ad spend is profitable or effective.
Smart
ad strategy is about getting the most for your dollar, Google is in the
business of making money not giving free strategy advice which
undercuts their revenue. Remember this whenever reading Google’s advice
or talking to one of their reps.
Alright,
let’s get back to why targeting both the search and the display network
is such a bad idea…
Search vs. Display 101
When
you think of Google Ads, you probably think of the ads that show up
when you search in Google.com.
Those
ads are on the Search Network. Makes sense, right? The Search Network
gives advertisers the opportunity to display ads at the precise time
when prospects are searching
for their products or services.
You
can think of the Search Network like the old Yellowpages. Prospects
used to “search” in the Yellowpages when they were about to make a
purchase and businesses could prominently advertise their products and
services. Now, most prospects use Google.com to search and the Search
Network is the new Yellowpages.
However,
the Display Network has nothing to do with searching on Google.com!
Display
Network ads are displayed on other websites across the internet that
are trying to make money from Google AdSense. Any website can add
AdSense ads to their website and then advertisers can use the Display
Network to target those webpages. According to Google, almost 3 million
websites use AdSense, which gives you an idea of the enormous size and
reach of the Display Network.
Again,
the key difference is that when you target the Display Network, you’re
not targeting prospects searching
for your products or services; You’re interrupting people as they visit
one of the nearly 3 million websites in the Display Network. That’s why
display advertising is sometimes referred to as “Interruption
Marketing”.
That
leads us to the first key takeaway in this article…
Takeaway #1: Each Network Requires Different Ads
When
a prospect is searching in Google.com for a product or service, then
there is an immediate need. For example, if someone searches for a
“math tutor in NYC” it’s obvious that this person is seeking to hire a
math tutor in NYC. Why else would anyone search that phrase in Google?
With
that in mind, your ad copy for the Search Network should precisely
match the keyword searched so that you’re presenting the best option.
If the keyword searched was “math tutor in NYC,” then the ad should
mention that you are a math tutor in NYC and encourage the prospect to
contact you.
Pretty
straightforward, right?
Now
let’s switch gears and consider someone surfing around online and
reading an article about how to study for the math section of the SAT.
This
person is clearly interested in learning more about math, but it’s not
100% clear if she wants or needs a math tutor. There is no indication
of an immediate need like there is in the Search Network.
See
the difference? In this case, to be effective, your Display Network ads
may need to make the case for why a tutor is the best option to ace the
math section of the SAT.
As
you can see from these two examples, your ad copy for the Search
Network will almost always need to be different than your ad copy for
the Display Network. If you try to use one campaign for both
networks, then it’s impossible to match your ad copy to the network.
That’s one reason why it’s never a good idea to target both networks in
a single campaign.
Next,
we can take this concept of matching ad copy a step further…
Takeaway #2: Each Network Requires Different Targeting
With
a basic Search campaign, your primary targeting option is to use
keywords. When you target a keyword your ad will be displayed whenever
a prospect customer searches for that particular keyword.
With
a basic Display campaign, you have many more options…
First,
you have contextual targeting. In the Display Network example above, I
assumed the ads were targeting a contextually relevant article about
how to study for the math section of the SAT. This is the most basic
targeting option which relies on Google to match your keywords and ads
to relevant webpages across the over 2 million websites.
Another
option in Google Ads is behavioral targeting. Behavioral targeting is a
method of displaying your ads to prospects who appear to be interested
in your product or service based
on their internet browsing history.
For
example, if I visit a lot of test preparation and tutoring related
websites, over time Google learns that I’m interested in this topic and
will place me into the audience group called “Test Preparation &
Tutoring.” That allows advertisers to then target prospects who based
on their browsing history appear to be a good fit for their products or
services.
And
yet another option is demographic targeting. With demographic
targeting, you can select male or female, parents, and different age
ranges to laser target your ideal customers.
Once
you understand contextual, behavioral, and demographic targeting, you
need to match your ad copy to the targeting options you select. When
you create separate Search and Display campaigns you then have the
ability to perfectly match your ad copy to your target audience,
ultimately leading to better ad performance.
|
No comments:
Post a Comment