Many clients who want to invest in Adwords campaigns ask us whether it’s really worth investing in search campaigns focused on their own brand. It’s true that in most cases an ad matches the top search result, which may suggest it isn’t necessary. But our digital marketing experience tells us it is.
How are ads ranked in Adwords?
A search campaign works with keywords. They trigger the ads, and Adwords’ AdRank system assigns the right position based on the following factors:
- Relevance: the ad matches the user’s search intent. It provides useful, detailed information and includes an attractive call to action (CTA) that fits the ad’s context.
- Quality: information about the keyword you want to trigger the ad is collected and matched against the content you offer users on the landing page you’ve set. Adwords then assigns a quality score to each keyword in each ad group.
- Bid placed: this is where the bidding model selected for the ad comes into play. The final bid executed for that ad is the one used in the evaluation.
What an Adwords ad looks like
In AdWords you can stand out from your organic results by creating search ads with relevant, attractive copy that appear above organic results. You can also add sitelink extensions so users reach your offers landing page faster.
This drives more impulse purchases and lets users discover your current offers. By using your brand name as a keyword, your ads will always appear in a prominent position.
Let’s look at a real example:
Which factors should you watch to measure results?
To tell whether your Branding search campaign is delivering results, look at factors such as:
- Impressions: in Branding campaigns we want as many people as possible to see us, so we set up a CPM bidding system (cost per thousand impressions) with keywords related to the product we offer.
- Customer engagement: customer interaction with your ads is measured with a metric that defines the click-through rate (CTR). This metric shows how many clicks are generated per “X” impressions, expressed as a percentage.
- Reach and frequency: the Adwords dashboard has a reach and frequency section. Here you can see how many users your ad can reach and how many times the same ad is shown to the same customer over a given period.
All these areas are vital, and at TLG Commerce’s digital marketing department we offer advice so that your multi-brand or single-brand eCommerce understands how digital advertising should be done.
What are the benefits of investing in my own brand on Adwords?
Investing in a search campaign for your own brand lets you deliver specific messages, ads or promotions to a new audience through the ad’s title and description. Unlike organic search results, these changes can be made instantly and repeatedly. It’s a good idea to update these ads in line with current trends to show attractive offers to your target audience.
Another factor that can help you decide is the ad’s impact on your other ads. When you bid on your brand, you’ll certainly get a higher CTR than in other campaigns, which improves the account’s quality score history and positively affects all your other campaigns.
If you stop investing part of your budget in branding, other advertisers could step in. So why not defend the top spot, strengthen your branding and stay top of mind with customers?
That said, one critical point we always consider is the situation of the market we’re targeting:
- If you aim to break into a new region or country, where growth must come not only from conversions but also from brand awareness and visibility, we recommend clearly analyzing your buyer persona profile and your own eShop analytics data.
- Knowing the percentage of new sessions, how new versus returning customers engage, and your main acquisition sources helps you decide what share of investment to devote to brand promotion on Google Search.
Google Adwords shows you the competitors you’ve overlapped with. You can also access “Auction insights” and analyze the account to see whether investing is worthwhile.
Deciding where to invest and in which types of campaigns requires broad knowledge and a global view of your brand, your sector and your target audience.
Investing in AdWords delivers results with a short-to-medium-term return. Go ahead and launch a campaign: it’s not as complex as it seems, and you can count on our help and advice to maximize and boost your results.
