Google Ads: a YES or NO for your brand?
When someone mentions paid digital advertising, we instinctively think: Google Ads!
Why? As the world’s most popular and widely used search engine, Google has elevated itself beyond a brand to a verb: the term “Google” is actually defined in the Merriam Webster Dictionary. Google has the monopoly when it comes to PPC (pay-per-click) ads which is also referred to as SEM (search engine marketing), and no – we’re not mad about it… It actually makes digital marketing far simpler than if it were any other way!
If you’re still sitting on the fence and wondering whether paid search ads, and more specifically Google Ads, *really* have an impact, here are a few stats from 2019 – 2021 according to a large-scale survey by clutch.co and Hubspot that prove just HOW powerful Google Ads can be for your brand:
- 90% of consumers say ads influence their purchase decisions
- 75% of users say paid search ads make it easier to find information
- 63% of people have clicked on a Google ad
- 43% of users purchased something after seeing an online ad
- 33% of people click on search ads because of how relevant the ad is to their search
- 90% of desktop searches happen on Google
- 76% of the search engine market belongs to Google
- 73% of the paid search market share belongs to Google
- 35% of users purchase a product within 5 days of searching for it on Google
Let’s start with this: What is Google Ads?
Google Ads falls under the ‘paid search’ category (which in itself is different from social media ads) and focuses on the targeting of keywords and the use of text-based and display (image-based) advertisements.
Advertisers then essentially bid on keywords – specific words and phrases included in search queries entered by Google users – in the hopes that their ads will be displayed alongside search results for these queries.
Each time a user clicks on an ad, the advertiser is charged a certain amount of money, hence the name PPC (pay per click) advertising.
Let’s move on to: Top benefits of Google Ads
1. Audience size
Google is considered the de facto leader in… well, just everything ‘online’ really. One of the main advantages of using Google as an advertising platform is its immense reach. Google handles more than 40,000 search queries every second, a total of more than 1.2 trillion web searches every single year.
As Google becomes more sophisticated, and a larger % of the population is getting access to the internet on a daily basis, this search volume is likely to increase, along with the potential for advertisers to reach new customers.
2. Top-funnel-filling
Google ads can easily fill up the top of your marketing funnel… which is then bound to fill up the bottom – if you stick to a proven marketing strategy!
In other words, it spreads brand awareness to the correct audiences. Bidding on broad keyword search terms like “business course” will show your ad to prospects at the earlier stages of the funnel process and therefore allow you to utilise their data and retarget to them.
3. Intentional marketing
Jip, Google is all about intentional marketing (vs subconscious marketing which works better with social media ads)…and this is exactly what gives us the upper hand. People “intentionally” Google what they need or think they need.
You’ve probably heard the following phrase from a few marketing gurus around: ‘you’re not selling your product, you’re offering a solution to a customer’s problem/need’. But, how do you find the people with the ‘problems’ that your product will be the ‘solution’ of? It can be tough – but Google brings them straight to your online storefront or website for a specific product!
4. Customer understanding
Understanding your audience makes it much easier to deal with customers and find out what they want. However, this can be difficult and time-consuming with traditional methods.
Google Ads, on the other hand, yields information about customer habits and requirements that business owners of previous generations could have only dreamed about. Some of the valuable data Google Ads lets you learn about your customers including the keywords they use to find your website, their location, the devices they use, and the times and days they search.
You can use this information to improve your products and services, as well as to refine your marketing efforts so that you don’t throw money down the drain when advertising to people who are not interested in what you have to offer.
5. Analytics tools
Google is known for delivering historical and current data with extensive reports that can be customised… and that’s exactly what it’s like with Google Ads’ analytics.
It’s easy to analyse the progress of your campaigns because the dashboard gives you all of the information related to each campaign, such as the ads clicked, the keywords that website visitors entered, the cost per click and conversions. These features make Google Ads an extremely transparent and intuitive system.
6. Google properties & partners
If you can’t beat them, join them! And that’s what quite a few other popular platforms have done, such as YouTube. So, if you’re running Google Ads, your ads will show on these partner platforms whenever relevant (and if you choose).
Ads will also show up on other Google products such as Gmail. With 53% of email users signed up for Gmail, this is definitely a platform you’d want to tap into.
7. Budget control
Unlike traditional print marketing, digital marketing allows you to not only view measurable statistics and analytics, but you’re also in full control of your budget and it can be tailored on the daily, so in the case where something happens you can increase your budget, decrease, or pause any campaigns.
Google Ads users can also rest assured that you’re not spending money on people who are NOT interested in your brand or product. You will only pay for clicks of relevant people (hence intentional marketing). Once you optimize Google Ads campaigns, you can get a high return on investment, which may not be possible with other marketing strategies.
8. Remarketing capabilities
We touched on this in point 2, but it also deserves it’s own category as this is how you’ll get those conversions (leads or sales)! Once a user has clicked on your ad, the remarketing opportunities are endless, and you can remarket via Google Ads as well as other digital marketing activities.
Considering Google Ads for Your Business?
The most recent accessible data from September 2021 states that the average CPC (cost per click) in South Africa for Google Ads is about $0.05 to $0.60 (That’s between 80c and R10, depending on the exchange rate). However, the cpc depends on factors such as niche, type of traffic and geographical location of the traffic. Yet, it seems like a small price to pay for prospective clients vs traditional marketing avenues such as print media (where you’re never really even sure of seeing results).
We know for a fact that Google Ads is one of the most powerful advertising tools ever created, but it does take some level of skill to fully leverage the power of this search engine marketing tactic. It can be an expensive journey, not really due to the CPC, but more so due to the time investment – being constantly aware and monitoring the results from your ad campaigns is the only way to stay in the slipstream of innovation and out in front of your competition!
Thinking of outsourcing your Google Ads for your business to the pros? You’ll definitely reap the rewards.
