There are many types of Google Ad campaigns to choose from for your digital marketing strategy. There are pros and cons of each depending on your goal. Let’s look at the 5 main types of Google Ad campaigns and which would be a good fit for your business.
Google Search Ads
Search ads are a specific Google Ad campaign that places your ad on search engine results pages. No one can miss these ads when performing any Google search. They are designated usually at the top of the results page by a tiny tag next to the listing with “AD”. Whenever you click on one of these ads, the business pays for it. This is known as pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. Google will place up to 4 paid ad listings at the top of search results.
Below is a screenshot of my google search for “Hiking trails in Alabama.” Notice the bolded word “Ad” next to the listing for the site “The Land Trust of North Alabama.” This ad was shown to me because of the keywords I input and the fact that my location is in North Alabama.
Ads appearing at the first position of Google search engine results have an average click-through rate of 7.94%. The industry you are in and which search terms (known as keywords) you want your ad connected to will determine the cost of your google search ad. Competition may be high for certain keywords making them more expensive but usually expensive keywords also bring in more revenue offsetting the cost. For a detailed breakdown of Google’s pricing for Ads in general, visit our post: All About Google Ad Campaigns.
Google search ads can have a high return on investment when done correctly. Some statistics report as much as 800%.
The average cost for Google search ads is $2.32 per click but this is not an accurate price for your ad necessarily. There are so many factors to consider in keyword choice. The price per click could be much less.
Display Ads
Make the most of your stunning, high-quality images with Google’s Display ads also called Banner ads. These ads run all across Google’s vast network that includes websites, Gmail, articles, and videos. Display ads require a minimum of 2 images (one in landscape composition and one square) but you can add up to 15. Based on these images Google will place your ad in varying places for the best chances of generating clicks.
Display ads are not linked to specific search results like search ads. This means the audience that sees your ads is not necessarily searching for them. Because of this, display ads work well for increasing brand awareness. The audience may not be searching for your ads specifically but since you have set up specific targeting for your campaign, (hopefully targeting your ideal customer demographics) then the people seeing your ad will find it relevant and intriguing!
Display ads also work well with retargeting campaigns. Let’s say you visit a website but do not take any action such as signing up for a newsletter or making a purchase. A retargeting campaign will recognize your visit and show you ads from that site while browsing other places online. This keeps the site on your mind with the hopes of you returning and taking action.
Here is an example of one of our own display ads “in the wild” as we say here in the office. This was shown to me while reading an article via Google Chrome.
The average cost for display ads is usually under $1.
Video Google Ad Campaigns
Video Ad Campaigns show videos on YouTube and other networks. The goal of these ad campaigns is usually to increase brand awareness, expand your reach, drive conversions, and allow follow-ups with viewers who saw your ad or visited your website. To begin this ad campaign, you must first create your video content and then upload it to YouTube.
Below I am sharing a few tips that will help you to make the most of your ad budget in regard to video ad campaigns on Google.
As mentioned above, video ad campaigns are shown on Youtube as well as “other networks.” These other networks are websites that are video partners with Google. This may be what you want but you may decide to focus your video ads on Youtube. You can always uncheck the “Video partners on the display network” setting when choosing where your video ad is shown. This may help you fine-tune the data from the results.
Also, note that your video ads that include clickable call-to-action buttons will not be shown the same to those who watch Youtube on their televisions. (You can’t click the call to action button or link on a TV screen) So again your results data may be skewed if you run a video action campaign. The solution? Uncheck the TV screens option when setting up these video ads.
Final tip: Always preview your video ad before beginning your campaign. If you have more than one video ad, Google recommends conducting a video ad experiment by conducting small-scale campaigns with each version of the video ad and then determining which video resonated most with your desired audience.
Below is an example of an “in-video retargeting ad.” I was searching for a science video in Google to send to my son to help him with 6th-grade science. When watching the video this ad at the bottom popped up. Since I am both a content writer and SEO Specialist at Dogwood- the ad targeted me after me researching SEO information previously.
The average cost for video ad campaigns on Google is 1 cent per view. A view is counted if the video ad is watched over 10 seconds or clicked from the thumbnail to watch in full screen.
Shopping Campaigns
If you have an e-commerce store then shopping campaigns are a great way to sell your inventory via Google ads. You could also focus your storefront inventory on a local audience to promote its sale. Good product photography and well-written product descriptions are a must for an effective shopping campaign. While the initial setup of shopping campaigns can be tedious, once they are set up they are easily managed.
Shopping ads can be well worthwhile. If a user enters a shopping query into the search engine, notice that the carousel of matching links shows up, then a list of paid ads, and finally organic search shopping results. Shopping ads are intent-based. This means that when someone searches for a product, it is usually to make a purchase rather than just browsing a general term. This is one reason that the written product descriptions mentioned above are important. Make sure those looking for your products can find them.
To begin a Google Shopping ad campaign you must first create an account in the merchant center to upload your inventory.
The average cost of shopping ads is around $0.66 per click. This could mean an exceptional profit margin for your listings!
App Campaigns
App campaigns help to promote your app to new users and increase sales within your app. App campaigns are understandably more focused on mobile devices. You can promote your app on Google search, the Display Networks, YouTube, Google Play, and many other networks all in one campaign.
Google shares these specifications on getting app campaigns started: “To get started, all you need to do is provide some text, a starting bid, and budget, and let us know the languages and locations for your ads. We also strongly recommend that you provide at least one landscape image, one portrait video, and one landscape video, and where relevant, HTML5 assets.”
There are 3 types of app campaigns that are usually available: installs, engagement, and pre-registration. The installs campaign obviously targets new installs. The engagement campaign is to encourage current users to interact and take action in your app and the pre-registration campaign is to encourage pre-registration for users before the app is officially released on Google Play.
The cost for an app campaign can be priced by cost per install and/or cost per action and the prices vary.
Google Ad Campaign Help
In this blog, we only discussed the 5 main types of Google ad campaigns. If you do some research yourself you will see that there are even more subsets of Google Ad campaigns available. All of that to say, if you want to advertise with Google, find the best fit for your business. It may take a little trial and error to find what works best. Our crew at Dogwood can help you choose the best Google Ad campaign for your business and make the most of your ad spend budget. Reach out to us today to get started!
