Google Ads – four effective strategies to target your audience

16.06.2022 Strategy

In 2022, all businesses should use audience targeting to create effective advertising campaigns with a better Return On Investment (ROI).

Find out in this article how Google Ads can help you create digital campaigns with an advanced targeting and thus maximize the Return On Ad Spend (ROAS). Here are four smart strategies to better target your audience with Google Ads.

What is Google Ads, how it works, its benefits

This, is Google Ads

Google Ads is Google’s adware that allows companies to buy ads or banners, which will be displayed on the many products in the Google universe: Google search engine, Gmail messaging service, YouTube, Google Maps mapping service, Google Shopping, Display network.

Some Google ad types

Today, Google ad campaigns are diverse and numerous. If you do not use this type of advertising, it will create a competitive disadvantage for your business because almost all companies use it in many different industries (private schools, banking, luxury, insurance, real estate, cosmetic surgery clinics).

How Google Ads works

Every time an Internet user uses the Google search engine, two lists of results appear. The results of the search engine itself, which are classified according to « objective » criteria, are the natural results. Conversely, the results that come from the Google Ads program are sponsored links.

These ads created with the Google Ads platform target the audience according to the browsing behavior of the user.

Businesses pay when the user clicks on the ad according to a logic of auction and quality: the more relevant the advertising is to the user, the lower the Cost-Per-Click (CPC) and the advertising highlighted.

To guarantee users a relevant ad and an optimal search experience, Google Ads evaluates the quality of an ad in relation to a keyword.

This score of 1 to 10 (Quality Scores) is based on three criteria:

So that your ad is classified as high as possible in the search results, your company has every interest in creating a relevant and qualitative ad in relation to the user’s need.
Read also :
→ Google Ads Insights Diagnostic

Google Ads benefits for your company

Using Google Ads is highly recommended as part of your company’s online strategy. Google Ads helps you increase your sales and brand awareness, test new online business models or collect data.

Read also : → Google Ads offers a new way to measure offline leads

The main Google Ads benefits

Google Ads – four relevant strategies for advanced audience targeting

1. Proper use of Remarketing Lists for Search Ads (RLSA)

Remarketing lists for search ads (RLSA) are useful to customize your search ad campaigns based on the user behavior of previous website visitors. Using these remarketing lists allows you to tailor your bidding options on keywords so that your targeting prioritizes meeting the needs of these previous visitors when they are searching on Google.

Used properly, RLSA campaigns help you improve your conversion rate and maximize your return on investment as your budget is spent to retain profitable customers.

2. Simultaneous use of social ads and RLSAs

Creating social ads helps you reach the widest possible audience as these sites attract several billion monthly active users. Take the case of Facebook. Unlike Google Ads, Facebook can provide you with data about what users “like” or “follow” and detailed information from users’ personal profiles. For optimal customized targeting, you have to share insights gained from Facebook to Google.

Your advertising strategies on these two platforms must be aligned and complementary in order to maximize the success of your overall digital strategy. Identify new potential customers through Facebook. Then, target these users on Google search in order to convert them.

Read also : → How to use Google Ads Performance Max campaigns to boost your conversions?

3. Use of custom affinity audiences

To help businesses target an audience that is truly interested in their products or services, Google Ads introduced a feature called “Custom Affinity Audiences”. This feature is based on Internet users’ areas of interest. It gives you more control and flexibility than Google’s predefined affinity audiences.

In a Google Ads Display campaign, you can create an audience tailored to your product/service by entering specific interests as keywords (e.g. drawing enthusiasts).

4. Simultaneous use of in-market segments and remarketing

To help advertisers target a buying audience, Google Ads introduced a feature called “In-Market Audiences”. This feature focuses on Internet users who plan to buy soon or who are actively looking for a product/service (e.g. art supplies). This allows you to maximize your conversion rate.

In a Google Ads Display campaign, you can target an in-market audience segment by navigating to Targeting > In-Market and Life Events > In-Market Segments. To significantly increase your conversions, you need to combine the use of in-market audiences with the remarketing lists mentioned above.

Do you want to implement a successful strategic marketing strategy to achieve your business objectives?

→ Discuss it with our specialists

The main benefit of using advanced audience targeting is to create relevant online advertising campaigns to maximize the return on ad spend. Thanks to the smart strategies presented by our experts in this article, you will be able to optimize ads and banners to increase your conversions.

If you need help configuring advanced targeting or want to improve your Google Ads campaigns in general, don’t hesitate to reach out to Eminence, your Digital Marketing Agency in Geneva.