Google is the biggest search engine in the world, with more than 70% of market share globally. That places it in an ideal position to also become a primary place for businesses to advertise their products and services.
The growing popularity of mobile devices has also made Google a natural home for advertising apps that are more compatible with smartphones. If you own or operate a business, understanding how to market your business on the Google Marketing Platform can help you reach new customers, increase brand visibility, and drive sales.
As the largest search engine in the world, Google is an essential marketing tool for any business that wants to grow its customer base by making its services more accessible to potential consumers.
See: Different Types of Amazon Ads – Everything You Need To Know
Whether you’re just getting started or want to take your Google Ads campaign to new heights, this guide will tell you everything you need to know about marketing your business on the Google Marketing Platform.
What is the Google Marketing Platform?
The Google Marketing Platform is the umbrella term for Google’s suite of digital marketing products that enable companies to increase visibility and drive sales through online advertising. Google has billions of users around the world, and each of them can be targeted by advertisers in a variety of ways.
The Google Marketing Platform includes:
- Google Search – Google’s core product, which also includes Search Ads.
- Google Display – A network of websites that hosts advertisements.
- Google Shopping – An online marketplace of products that connects merchants and buyers Google Mobile Ads – A platform that connects advertisers with app users.
The Google Marketing Platform is the largest and most prominent system of digital advertising in the world. It offers marketers a variety of ways to reach potential customers, including mobile apps. The Google Marketing Platform relies on AdWords as its primary source of revenue.
Google AdWords Basics
Google AdWords is an advertising service offered by Google that allows businesses to place advertisements in Google’s search results and within the Google Display Network. When a user performs a search on Google, or navigates to a Google Display Network website, AdWords places an advertisement based on the user’s search query or the website’s content.
AdWords ads can appear above or beside the organic search results, or within the Google Display Network. AdWords offers simple and robust campaign management capabilities. You can create, edit, and pause your campaigns as needed and manage each aspect of your AdWords account using a single login.
AdWords offers two primary types of campaigns: Search and Display. Search campaigns are designed to drive traffic to your website via Google’s search engine. Display campaigns are designed to drive traffic to your website or a specific landing page on the Display Network.
Google Ads: An Introduction
Google Ads, also known as Google AdWords and formerly known as Google Search Marketing, is Google’s advertising platform that enables businesses to advertise their products and services. Google Ads offers a wide variety of advertising options, including display ads, search ads, shopping ads, and video ads.
If your business is online, you can use Google Ads to promote your products or services to potential customers on Google and across the web. In fact, Google Ads can be used to advertise to people who are searching for information, browsing online shopping sites, watching YouTube videos, and reading the news.
Google Ads is a pay-per-click (PPC) advertising service that enables you to place ads on Google, the Google Display Network, and YouTube. Google Ads provides thousands of targeting options to help you find the right customers for your business. You can create and manage your Google Ads campaigns from a single account.
Create a Google Ads Account
If you’re new to Google Ads or want to improve your existing campaigns, start by creating an account that’s connected to your Google account. You can create an account through the Google Ads homepage, or by clicking the “Get started” button within the Google Ads interface. Google Ads provides a free level of service called Standard.
Businesses can upgrade to a higher level of service if they have more challenging goals or need more robust features. After you’ve created your account, use the “Campaign” menu to select the type of campaign you want to run. The “Campaign” menu is located in the upper left-hand corner of the interface.
Define Your Marketing Goals
Before you begin setting up your campaigns, you should define your marketing goals. What do you hope to accomplish with your Google Ads campaigns? What are your primary sales and marketing objectives?
Once you’ve identified the general direction for your marketing efforts, you can start to create campaigns that align with your goals. Begin by defining your marketing goals. What do you hope to accomplish with your Google Ads campaigns? What are your primary sales and marketing objectives?
You can also consider the following questions: What type of products or services will you be marketing? Where do your customers exist online? How will you reach your target audience? What are your competitors doing?
Select Your Target Audience
After you’ve defined your marketing goals, you can begin to select your target audience. Who are your potential customers? What are their characteristics? Where do they live? What do they do for a living?
How old are they? Where do they conduct their online searches? When you define your target audience, you’ll be able to create more effective Google Ads campaigns. You can customize your campaigns to target specific groups of people based on their lifestyles, interests, and demographic profiles.
Choose the Right Ad Type for your Campaign
Once you’ve defined your marketing goals and selected your target audience, you can select the right ad type for your campaign. Google Ads offers three primary ad types:
– Search ads – Display ads – Shopping ads Search ads are designed to drive traffic to your website. Display ads are designed to drive traffic to your website or a specific landing page on the Display Network.
Shopping ads are designed to drive traffic to your online store. Before you select an ad type, you should determine where you want to drive traffic. Do you want to send visitors to your website, another website, or your online store? Once you’ve identified your goals, you can select the ad type that aligns with your campaign.
Decide Where You’ll Advertise
After you’ve selected the ad type you want to use for your campaign, you can begin to decide where you’ll advertise. This is another important aspect of the overall strategy, and it can help you reach your audience more effectively.
You can advertise on Google Search, Google Display, and the Google Shopping Network. Each of these networks has a distinct audience and offers a variety of options for your campaign. You might want to experiment with multiple networks to see which ones deliver the best results for your advertising efforts.
Determine Your Bid Amount and Budget
Once you’ve selected the ad type and determined where you’ll advertise, you can determine your bid amount and budget. How much are you willing to spend on your advertising efforts? How much do you want to spend each day? How much do you want to spend each month?
Your bid amount determines how often your ads appear on Google. The higher your bid, the more often your ads will appear. You can set your daily budget in the Budgets tab, and your monthly budget in the Advanced tab.
Google Ads uses an automated bidding system to help you obtain the best possible position for your ads. When you create a new campaign, you can select a bidding method to help Google determine how much to bid for each click on your ads.
Things to Know Before Marketing Your Business on Google
When you’re ready to start marketing your business on Google, there are a few things you should know beforehand.
- First, you’ll need to create a business profile by connecting your Google Ads campaigns to your Google My Business account.
- Next, you should familiarize yourself with Google’s user experience policies to make sure that your ads adhere to their rules. This will help you avoid having your ads banned or suspended.
- Finally, you should be prepared to experiment with your campaigns. Even if you’re a seasoned marketer, you’ll likely need to experiment with your campaigns to determine what works best. This can take time, but it’s an essential part of effective digital marketing.
Determine your marketing goals
First, you’ll need to understand what your marketing goals are. Do you want to increase brand awareness? Drive more traffic to your website? Generate leads for your sales team? Ensure that your ads are as effective as possible by selecting the best ad type for your ad campaign.
Google Ads offers several different advertising options, including text-based ads, video ads, and interactive rich media ads. Which ads work best for your business depends on the type of products or services you offer, the types of customers you want to attract, and the type of campaign you’re running.
Select your ad type
Once you’ve determined what your marketing goals are, you can begin to select the type of ad you want to run.
- Text-based ads: These are the most common type of AdWords ads. They use the same copy that you’d use to create a Google search engine optimized (SEO) landing page for your website. You can include up to 25 headlines, 25 descriptions, and 3 “Source” fields. You can also include up to 5 images.
- Image ads : These ads show one image and one headline. They also allow you to include up to 10 headlines, 10 descriptions, and 5 “Source” fields. Image ads are best for products or services that respond well to visual marketing, such as fashion or home improvement products.
- Video ads: These ads show one video and one headline. You can also include up to 10 headlines, 10 descriptions, and 5 “Source” fields. Video ads are best for products or services that respond well to visual marketing, such as fashion or home improvement products.
- Interactive rich media ads: These ads allow you to incorporate images, videos, sounds, and other interactive elements into your ad.
Write your ad copy
The most important element of your Google ads is the copy. It’s the first thing that your potential customers see when they view your ad. It’s also what persuades them to click your ad and visit your website.
AdWords allows you to create two separate ads for each campaign. The first ad is the “top line” ad, which appears above the organic search engine results. The second ad is the “display” ad, which appears below the organic search engine results.
Add tracking pixels
Tracking pixels are small pieces of code that you add to your website to track data, such as which ads are generating the most clicks. You can use them to track which ads are converting the most, how many people are clicking on your ads, and other data that can help you optimize your advertising campaign.
There are two types of tracking pixels: tracking URLs and destination URLs.
- Tracking URLs – These are the most important types of tracking pixels, as they track your ads. You add them to your Google ads, and they track which ads are generating the most clicks. They also allow you to create an “Ad Group” that’s then listed in your Google Ads Campaign. This allows you to track which ads are performing the best for that ad group.
- Destination URLs – These track your conversions and let you know which ads are generating the most conversions. You can add these to your website or landing page where people will be sent after clicking your ad.
Guide to Marketing Your Business on the Google Marketing Platform
Google has several different types of advertising platforms, including search ads, display ads, and shopping ads. Let’s look at each platform in detail, and then you can choose which one best suits your business needs.
Google Search Ads are the most common type of ads on the Google platform, and they appear when users search for keywords related to your business. They use an auction-style bidding system, so you have to set a daily budget and a bid for each keyword you want to appear for.
Google Display Ads appear on a wide range of websites, including Google and YouTube, as well as on partner websites. This type of ad is typically used for branding or to drive website traffic. Display ads are more expensive and less targeted than search ads, but they can still drive significant sales.
Google Shopping Ads are designed to appear in search results like normal product listings. However, they also include a “Sponsored” tag to indicate that they were paid advertisements. Shopping ads are particularly useful for retailers and brands that sell physical or digital products.
Google Podcast Ads are audio-only ads designed to engage potential customers while they’re commuting or doing tasks that don’t require full attention. You can select from a variety of host-read ads, or create your own audio ads.
Google Voice Ads are recorded ads that are accessible through Google’s Voice phone app. They are shorter than other ad types, but they give you more flexibility in targeting voice searches.
Google Video Ads are up to 10-minute-long, full-screen advertisements. They can include a product demonstration, video testimonials, or a professionally produced commercial.
Use Brand Awareness Ads to Grow Customer Awareness of your Business
Ads that are designed to increase brand awareness are generally placed at the top of the Google search engine results. They often appear as a yellow box that includes a company logo and a short description of the business.
Because these ads don’t lead directly to a website, they’re often used to generate awareness of the company itself. They’re also useful for new companies that don’t yet have a large customer base.
In addition to increasing brand awareness, top-position ads can also help drive traffic to your website, which can improve your website’s organic search engine ranking. If you want to reach as many potential customers as possible, top-position ads are a great way to do so.
Use Paid Ads to Drive Sales and Grow Your Bottom Line
If your primary goal is to drive sales, you’ll want to consider placing paid ads that lead to your website. These ads are placed at the top or bottom of search engine results, so they have a higher chance of being seen by potential customers.
There are two types of paid ads:
- search ads and
- display ads.
Search ads are ads that appear at the top of the search engine results. They include an image, headline, and a short snippet of text from your website.
Search ads are typically more expensive than display ads, but they’re also more effective.
Display ads are placed above or below the search engine results. They don’t include a link to your website, so they’re less likely to generate immediate sales. However, they can still drive sales over time if they’re designed to appeal to potential customers.
Voice Ads are Recorded Ads that are Accessible through Google’s Voice Phone App
Voice ads are recorded audio advertisements that play when users call your phone number from their phone app. They’re a great way to advertise your business if you’re targeting people who are on the go, such as commuters or people who are doing chores around the house.
Once you record your audio advertisement, you can select which times of day it plays and what days of the week it can be heard. You can also set up a recording to be played if someone accidentally presses “9” for “Do Not Answer.”
Video Ads are Up to 10-minute-long, full-screen advertisements
Video ads are full-screen advertisements that are recorded by a professional crew.