Big Mistake:
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, and 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 Yellow Pages. Prospects used to “search” in
the Yellow Pages 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
Yellow Pages.
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, more than 38.3 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 38.3 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.
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