Congruence Is The Secret to Google Ads Success

Whether you’re new to Google Ads or a wily veteran, I can pretty much guarantee you will eventually fall victim to Campaign Tunnel Vision. This little-known ailment occurs when you overly focus your attention and effort on just one piece of your sales funnel at the expense of all the other key areas. For example, you may agonize exclusively over optimizing bids, or tweaking ads to find the highest click-through rate, or split testing landing pages to boost conversion rates. With Campaign Tunnel Vision, you can “optimize” your bids, your ads, and your landing pages separately, but your overall sales conversion rates will stay level or may even go down. The problem is a lack of congruence. And in this article, I’ll explain why congruence, above all other tips and tricks, is the secret to success with Google Ads…

 

Why Does Congruence = Success? Let’s first start by defining congruence in the context of a Google Ads campaign. Congruence is when your ad and landing page perfectly match the intent of the keyword searched. You may want to read that again so it sinks in. It sounds so simple, yet it’s one of the most common reasons why advertisers fail with Google Ads. If your ads and landing pages do not match the intent of the keyword searched, then it doesn’t matter how much time and money you spend to “optimize” your bids, ad copy, and landing pages. The campaign is DOA. Congruence ensures your sales message resonates with your ideal prospect. Plus, congruence reduces drop-off through the sales funnel because your prospect receives a consistent and reassuring message that she is going down the correct path to solve her problem. When this is done correctly, you’ll see a significant bump in click-through rates and landing page conversion rates, which in turn will lead to higher quality scores throughout your campaign. 3 Steps to Ensure Campaign Congruence The key to campaign congruence is to take a step back and analyze your entire sales funnel holistically. In other words, don’t lose sight of the forest for the trees. And to do this, I recommend you follow these 3 steps: Mind map your entire sales funnel from keyword searched to closed sale online, over the phone, or in-person Identify the intent of each keyword and make sure your sales message and offer answers the question in the prospect’s mind Repeat your sales message consistently throughout your sales funnel Step 1. Mind Map Your Sales Funnel If you’re not familiar with mind maps, then this may be the most valuable tip in this article. Go to Bubbl.us to quickly get started for free. Mind maps are great tools to map out any process in your business and they are perfect for visualizing your entire sales funnel. Below is a mind map of a basic Google Ads sales funnel that includes a remarketing campaign to target prospects that do not convert right away.

 

 

As you can see, the mind map makes it easy to see all the key points in your sales funnel so you can take a top-level view of your campaign as you move on to Step 2. Step 2. Identify the Intent of Your Keywords Step 2 is to identify the intent of each of your keywords so you can match your offer and sales message precisely in your ads, landing page copy, phone call scripts, email follow-ups, and any other touchpoints in your sales process. Keyword intent is really just the question your prospect is asking when she types the phrase into Google. For example, when a prospect types in “dentist in new york,” then she is really asking the question “Which dentist should I use in New York?” or “Where is the best dentist near my home in New York?” In some cases, keyword intent is fairly obvious. But sometimes, you’ll need to do some research by studying competitor ads and offers, reviewing top organic website results, and, if possible, asking or surveying prospects. Once you have identified the intent of each keyword, then make sure your offer and sales message match. If not, then now is the time to rethink your offer so you don’t waste money advertising something your prospect doesn’t want. If you’re confident that your offer matches the intent of the keywords, then move on to Step 3. Step 3. Repeat Your Sales Message Throughout Your Sales Funnel This is the step that many advertisers screw up because of Campaign Tunnel Vision. It’s critical to review every step in the mind map you created in Step 1 and ensure that you have a consistent message from the ad to the landing page to phone calls, emails, or in-person meetings. Remember, if your prospect becomes confused or loses trust because your message is inconsistent, then she is simply going to click the back button to check out your competitors. For example, if you’re advertising a “free teeth whitening with your first dentist visit” in your ads, then make sure your landing page prominently displays the same offer. By prominently, I mean it should be the first thing your prospect will see when your page loads up. Your prospect clicked on your ad because the offer was exactly what she was looking for, so don’t screw up the sale with inconsistent text and images. Reiterate the exact same offer and then move on to supporting sales copy and your call to action. Recap If you haven’t already, then I encourage you to create a mind map of your entire sales funnel from keyword to closed sale. Then take a look at the keywords in your account and group them by the intent of the prospect searching. At this point, you may see a problem with your existing offer that would never have been solved via traditional Google Ads optimization techniques. And finally, make sure your sales message is repeated consistently throughout your entire sales funnel. I know this sounds like a lot of work, but it’s well worth the effort and I know you’ll thank me once you see the improvements in your click-through rates and sales conversions!

 

 

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