{"id":634340,"date":"2024-09-05T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-05T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/is-it-time-to-rethink-your-google-ads-strategy\/"},"modified":"2024-09-05T17:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-09-05T14:00:00","slug":"is-it-time-to-rethink-your-google-ads-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/is-it-time-to-rethink-your-google-ads-strategy\/","title":{"rendered":"#Is it time to rethink your Google Ads strategy?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a284f299c792\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a284f299c792\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/is-it-time-to-rethink-your-google-ads-strategy\/#Reimagine_your_Google_Ads_with_a_focus_on_audience_targeting_Learn_how_a_strategic_overhaul_can_optimize_your_ad_performance_and_budget\" >Reimagine your Google Ads with a focus on audience targeting. Learn how a strategic overhaul can optimize your ad performance and budget.<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/is-it-time-to-rethink-your-google-ads-strategy\/#Start_with_the_business_goals\" >Start with the business goals<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/is-it-time-to-rethink-your-google-ads-strategy\/#Restructuring_the_account_to_support_business_goals\" >Restructuring the account to support business goals<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/is-it-time-to-rethink-your-google-ads-strategy\/#Focusing_on_high-value_keywords\" >Focusing on high-value keywords<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/is-it-time-to-rethink-your-google-ads-strategy\/#Shifting_to_an_audience-focused_strategy\" >Shifting to an audience-focused strategy<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/is-it-time-to-rethink-your-google-ads-strategy\/#Remarketing\" >Remarketing<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/is-it-time-to-rethink-your-google-ads-strategy\/#Customer_lists\" >Customer lists<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/is-it-time-to-rethink-your-google-ads-strategy\/#Obsess_over_your_customers_not_your_products\" >Obsess over your customers, not your products<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"subhead\" itemprop=\"alternativeHeadline\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Reimagine_your_Google_Ads_with_a_focus_on_audience_targeting_Learn_how_a_strategic_overhaul_can_optimize_your_ad_performance_and_budget\"><\/span>Reimagine your Google Ads with a focus on audience targeting. Learn how a strategic overhaul can optimize your ad performance and budget.<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"bialty-container\">\nProduct-focused, keyword-only campaigns are a common type of campaign used in Google Ads.<\/p>\n<p>If you sell vintage T-shirts for women, you might set up standalone keyword campaigns based on the keyword \u201cvintage T-shirts women.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For many B2C retailers, this <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>roach works well.\u00a0But for others, product-based, keyword-focused campaigns aren\u2019t necessarily your best strategy.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>We inherited the Google Ads account of a new B2B client, for example and all of their campaigns were product-focused, keyword-only campaigns. <\/p>\n<p>But after meeting with the client and analyzing their account, we decided to take a different approach \u2013 one that\u2019s outperforming their previous strategy, hands down.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In this article, I\u2019ll explain what we did \u2013 and use it to illustrate why you might want to move beyond keyword-only campaigns.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-start-with-the-business-goals\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Start_with_the_business_goals\"><\/span>Start with the business goals<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>We started this client engagement by sitting down with the client to understand their business goals.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s an old-school marketing practice that seems basic but is too often overlooked.<\/p>\n<p>When we talked to the client, we discovered a misalignment between their business goals and the structure of their Google Ads account.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The account was set up by region, and each ad group housed thousands of product-focused keywords. Brand and non-brand keywords were intermingled within the same campaigns (another strategy I really dislike).<\/p>\n<p>Organizing the account by region might have made sense at one time. But the company had changed. It had expanded the regions it served to encompass most of the U.S., yet all of its advertising focused on its \u201cold\u201d territory.<\/p>\n<p>Further, the company had expanded its product line beyond farming and agriculture equipment to include construction equipment \u2013 and growing its market share in the construction industry was an important business goal for them.<\/p>\n<p>You can see the problem: the Google Ads account structure we inherited made supporting the company\u2019s goals challenging because we couldn\u2019t target and measure campaigns to those goals.<\/p>\n<p>For example, we couldn\u2019t compare important metrics, such as cost per lead, for farming versus construction keywords. We couldn\u2019t even compare how brand versus non-brand keywords were performing for the same campaign easily. Everything was jumbled together.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m always a little surprised that more attention isn\u2019t paid to Google Ads account structure in <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">general<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Google Ads Help, for example, discusses the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/google-ads\/answer\/1704396?hl=en\">three layers of Google Ads<\/a> and even provides guidance on <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/google-ads\/answer\/14752782?hl=en\">how to structure your account to get the most out of AI<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>However, the importance of aligning account structure with business goals is missing.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Dig deeper: 5 ways to align PPC campaigns with business objectives<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-restructuring-the-account-to-support-business-goals\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Restructuring_the_account_to_support_business_goals\"><\/span>Restructuring the account to support business goals<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>With these issues and the goals of the client in mind, we proceeded to restructure the account.<\/p>\n<p>Instead of organizing campaigns by region, we organized them by product categories. We also separated brand and non-brand campaigns.<\/p>\n<p>With this reorganization, we could clearly see how campaigns in each sector were performing and created specific strategies for each one.<\/p>\n<p>We also measured and compared important metrics, such as cost per lead in the farming sector versus the construction sector. The cost per lead was higher in the construction sector, and that was OK.<\/p>\n<p>The client understood the importance of launching (or relaunching) a new product category. It required investment and an unwavering focus on long-term goals (versus short-term wins). This wasn\u2019t the time to take our foot off the gas.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-focusing-on-high-value-keywords\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Focusing_on_high-value_keywords\"><\/span>Focusing on high-value keywords<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>In addition to restructuring the account, we also set about reducing the number of keywords in each ad group.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>We eliminated thousands of keywords, narrowing them down to a handful of only the most high-value, top-converting ones. In this case, less was more.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>With all of these account changes, we built a strong foundation from which we could not only launch and promote this new product category but also scale all product lines into the future.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><!-- START INLINE FORM --><\/p>\n<p><!-- END INLINE FORM --><\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-cyan-bluish-gray-color has-css-opacity has-cyan-bluish-gray-background-color has-background\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-shifting-to-an-audience-focused-strategy\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Shifting_to_an_audience-focused_strategy\"><\/span>Shifting to an audience-focused strategy<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Our next step was to shift from product-focused, keyword-only campaigns to an audience-focused strategy.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>A disclaimer:<\/strong> I don\u2019t mean to imply that focusing on products and targeting them via relevant keywords is wrong. Sometimes, that strategy works just fine. However, in this case, I was confident we could do more for this client by shifting our approach.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-remarketing\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Remarketing\"><\/span>Remarketing<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>How do you implement an audience-focused strategy? We started with remarketing.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The client\u2019s prior agency had some remarketing campaigns in place, but the targeting was narrow. They used product-specific URLs in combination with dynamic remarketing.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>As a result, the audiences were small and impressions were too low. It simply didn\u2019t work.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>As we started to better understand how buyers interacted with the client during their customer journey, we tested remarketing to people who had visited the website at different times. We tested people who had visited the website within:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The last seven days.<\/li>\n<li>The last 14 days.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>The last 90 days.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>The last 365 days.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Note<\/strong>: You need to ensure these periods of time don\u2019t overlap in order to draw comparisons. So, for example, if you want to determine if people who visited the site in the last 14 days converted better than those who visited the site in the last 90 days, you need to exclude the 14-day people from the 90-day group.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-customer-lists\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Customer_lists\"><\/span>Customer lists<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>In addition to remarketing, we also introduced customer lists. This client had a goldmine of first-party data for all past farming and construction equipment purchases by product category. <\/p>\n<p>This doesn\u2019t happen all (or even most) of the time, so having this level of first-party data was a real bonus.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>With this data, we could market to prior and existing customers in a budget-friendly and targeted way, going above and beyond what we could do with a standalone keyword campaign.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Dig deeper: How to combine Google Ads with other channels to retarget, nurture and convert<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-obsess-over-your-customers-not-your-products\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Obsess_over_your_customers_not_your_products\"><\/span>Obsess over your customers, not your products<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>By revising the account structure, focusing on remarketing and leveraging customer lists, we improved reach, conversions and revenue while staying within the client\u2019s existing advertising budget.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re also helping the client future-proof their business by giving them new insights into performance and buyer behavior and enabling us to push and pull different levers to scale up the business when desired.<\/p>\n<p>All of this is easier said than done. As hinted at above, you may not have enough volume for remarketing or access to first-party data. In that case, you may have no choice but to rely on keyword-only campaigns. There\u2019s no shame in that.<\/p>\n<p>But if you do have the option of shifting from keyword-only campaigns to an audience-focused strategy. It\u2019s something to consider and test.\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"about-author\">\n    About the author<\/p>\n<div class=\"information\">\n<div class=\"author-module\">\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-lg-3 text-center\">\n<div class=\"avatar\">\n                        <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-fluid rounded-circle avatar-border\" alt=\"Pauline Jakober\" width=\"140\" height=\"140\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2023\/12\/Pauline-Jakober.jpeg.webp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-fluid rounded-circle avatar-border\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2023\/12\/Pauline-Jakober.jpeg.webp\" alt=\"Pauline Jakober\" width=\"140\" height=\"140\">\n                                            <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 col-lg-9\">\n<div class=\"about\">\n<div class=\"name\">\n                            <strong>Pauline Jakober<\/strong>\n                        <\/div>\n<div class=\"row g-2 pt-2\">\n<div class=\"col-auto twitter\">\n                                    <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/follow?original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Fsearchengineland.com%2F&amp;region=follow_link&amp;screen_name=GrpTwentySeven&amp;tw_p=followbutton&amp;variant=2.0\" aria-label=\"opens in a new tab\"><i class=\"fab fa-x-twitter\"><\/i><\/a>\n                            <\/div>\n<div class=\"col-auto\">\n                                    <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/paulinejakober\" aria-label=\"opens in a new tab\"><i class=\"fab fa-linkedin\"><\/i><\/a>\n                                <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>                        Pauline Jakober is Founder and CEO of <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/grouptwentyseven.com\">Group Twenty Seven<\/a>, a boutique online advertising agency that provides Google Ads and LinkedIn Ads management, consulting and audits to B2B clients.                 <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMN63nwsw68G3Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Technology<\/a><\/span> category.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/rethink-google-ads-strategy-446252\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Reimagine your Google Ads with a focus on audience targeting. Learn how a strategic overhaul can optimize your ad performance and budget. Product-focused, keyword-only campaigns are a common type of campaign used in Google Ads. If you sell vintage T-shirts for women, you might set up standalone keyword campaigns based on the keyword \u201cvintage T-shirts&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":634341,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/09\/Is-it-time-to-rethink-your-current-Google-Ads-strategy.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[142591,107942],"class_list":["post-634340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology","tag-google-ads","tag-ppc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/634340","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=634340"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/634340\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/634341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=634340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=634340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=634340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}