According to Statista, in July 2022, Google held 83,84% of the Ad Market Share, making it the Leader in Search Engine Advertising.
Moreover, Google is the preferred Search Engine worldwide, with 70k Google Searches happening every second.
Considering these mind-blowing statistics, it would be crazy to avoid Google as one of your advertising platforms, right?
If you’re a rising eComm business trying to get your brand out there, or you’re an established business wanting to try new strategies for acquisition and prevention – you’re in the right place.
This Google Ads Guide provides fresh strategies, relevant examples, and insiders’ tips. We aim to help you take your Google Ads game to the next level and take full advantage of the final two Quarters of 2022.
How do Google Ads Work?
Google Ads represents an online advertising platform developed by Google, where you bid to display ads for your business.
These can be brief advertisements, product listings, or videos displayed to online users.
With Google Ads, you can display ads in the results section of Google and on partner websites, mobile apps, or YouTube videos.
Google Ads Campaigns, previously known as AdWords campaigns, are a pay-per-click (PPC) type of advertising. You have to bid over a particular keyword on Google and compete with other advertisers bidding over the same keyword.
You can pick between three bidding options:
- Cost-per-click (CPC)
You bid the number of dollars you pay when a user sees your ad in their google searches and clicks on it.
- Cost-per-mille (CPM)
The cost per mile represents the sum of money you will pay/ 1k Ad impressions.
- Cost-per-engagement (CPE)
CPE represents the money you spend when a user takes a particular action (watch a video, subscribe to a list, or any other interactions you need).
As another option, you can opt for manual CPC bidding and provide a daily budget for your Ad. This means you control the number of dollars you spend on Google Ads over a certain period.
Manual CPC allows you to test out different campaigns and get a clearer picture of how expensive it is to advertise your business on Google and get satisfactory results.
Besides your bids, the Ad’s placement in the Search results section is also determined by your Quality Score.
The Quality Score is the score Google gives to your Ad after assessing:
- the quality of your ads
- the keywords you used,
- your previous performance
- the CTR of your Ads
- the landing page
The score can vary between 1 to 10, where 10 is the highest score.
Bids + Quality Scores = your Ad Rank.
Your Ad Rank determines your position on Google Search results and the probability that your prospects will see click on the Ad when they see it. After a user clicks on your Ad, you will pay the sum in your bid.
Why are Google Ads so Important for your eCommerce?
More than 80% of businesses trust Google Ads for their Ad campaigns globally, and 8.5 billion Google searches occur daily.
This means your target audience is there – and your competition is definitely on Google. Ignoring Google PPC Ads is like closing the door in front of hundreds of people interested in your products…then allowing the competition to come and give out free samples.
How to set up a Google Ads Campaign
If you have never rolled out Google Ads for eCommerce, we’ll walk you through the six steps to creating a Google Ad Campaign.
While it may seem cumbersome, remember that it’s an intuitive process. What’s even better, all the information you need exists in Google Ad’s knowledge base, so you can always go back and double-check the process.
- Sign in* to your Google Ads account.
*If it’s the first time you’re creating a Google Ads campaign, you must sign up for an account first.
- On the left-side menu, click Campaigns.
*screenshot from Google Ads’ YouTube channel
- Click the + button and pick a New campaign.
- Choose your advertising objective for the campaign.
Remember that Google optimizes the Ads according to your specific goals, so choose the Goal most aligned with your needs and objectives or the results you want to see.
For example, choose the Brand Awareness goal if you’re just at the beginning and want to bring more awareness about your brand through your Ads. And be mindful of the results. You won’t see Sales (at least not because of the Ad) but an increase in awareness.
Don’t worry – you can add or remove a goal anytime.
- Input location (if applicable) and business information.
In this section, you will input your business name and website.
This data is essential in predicting your audience and is also used in creating your Ad.
The location is essential because it allows you to select the geographic areas where your ad will appear in the search results.
The geographic area option will benefit you if you run an offline (or hybrid) eComm business.
You can still narrow your audiences even if you’re not concerned about geographic constraints. This way, you will only display Ads in locations where you can find your best customers.
- Choose your campaign type and click Continue.
There are 9 Google Ad types, each with its advantages and disadvantages.
Types of Google Ads Campaigns
According to the support team at Google, you can incorporate nine types of Google campaigns into your marketing strategy.
- Search
Search Ads allow you to display your business in Google’s search results sections. These ads will be shown to people searching online for terms related to your product assortment and service suite.
- Display
These Ads are shown on websites/ mobile Apps. Website visitors will see them when accessing a website.
- Video
Video ads allow you to reach and engage with your audience on YouTube. Since YouTube is one of the most popular websites on the www, Video ads get lots of traffic. They are some of the most profitable ads for eCommerce.
- Shopping
Shopping campaigns allow you to provide users with detailed info about your products/ services before they even click an ad.
- Discovery
Discovery Ads allow you to share your brand’s story on other online feeds besides Google. These feeds include the YouTube Home & Watch Next feeds, Discover*, and the Gmail Promotions and Social tabs.
- App
These Ads are created specifically for mobile applications. If your eCommerce has an App, you can use this type of Google Ad to promote the App on Google Search, Google Play, YouTube, and GMail.
- Local
Local Ads help you promote your offline store. These Ads display your business on Google search results, maps, and YouTube.
- Smart
Smart Ads are simple to set and can show your eComm business on multiple channels: Search Results, YouTube, GMail, Google Maps, and other partner websites.
These ads bring results based on your Ad campaign goal and only charge you after someone clicks on your Ad.
- Performance Max
Performance Max Ads are goal-based Ads that allow performance advertisers to show their Ads on all Google Ads inventory from a single campaign.
Performance Max Ads are created to supplement search Ads and can be displayed on Google’s channels: YouTube, Display, Search, Discover, Gmail, and Maps, and they only require conversion goals and several creatives solely.
Google’s algorithms will take care of the rest.
What are the best types of Google Ads for eCommerce?
Yes, all types of Google Ads have a lot of potential and can bring relevant results to your business. Yet, the data from two years of a pandemic life, when eCommerce skyrocketed, can help us recommend the must-haves ads for eCommerce.
Number one: Shopping Ad Campaigns.
The latest studies show that Google Shopping Ads lead to 26% higher CR and a 23% lower CPC than plain text ads.
And it’s not surprising if you think about the logic of it. If a user googles shopping lists or products, he already has a buying intent.
With a shopping Ad, you’re advertising to people already interested in purchasing your products, so converting them shouldn’t take as much.
Number two: Remarketing Ad Campaigns.
If Shopping Ads allow you to target users with high intent purchase, Google remarketing Ads will enable you to target those previous website visitors specifically.
Regarding eCommerce Google Ads, remarketing does an excellent job both in the acquisition and retention stages.
Let’s say you’re in the Home & Deco Industry and want to advertise your kitchen chairs collection.
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You can include relevant keywords in your ads strategy (such as “chairs”) and create a remarketing audience based on this keyword. Thus, you can target people who have already visited your website and looked at the chairs you’re providing.
These users are already interested in buying chairs to spruce up their kitchens, so you can draw them back to your store. You can also offer an extra perk like a discount or a free return policy to trigger the buying decision.
Remarketing Ads also work for retention and getting more value from your existing customers.
For example, if you follow the ADBT metrics, you should know when your customers need to re-stock your products and send them perfectly timed Ads.
Plus, if your marketing strategy contains up-selling or cross-selling campaigns, you can use remarketing ads to push complementary products to your existing customers.
Number three: Smart Shopping Ad Campaigns.
Smart Google Shopping Ad campaigns combine Product Shopping and Display remarketing campaigns.
If you’re unsure of your Google Ads skills, smart shopping Ad campaigns can give you a sense of ease. These types of Ads heavily rely on Machine Learning to pick and display the best elements for your Ads and deliver better results.
With Smart Campaigns, Google tests the visuals and copy you provide and determine the combination of texts and pictures most likely to convert.
Number four: Video Ad Campaigns.
Over 2.6 billion people worldwide use YouTube monthly (according to Statista), and YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine. The numbers tell you that excluding Video Ads from your marketing strategy would be foolish, as it presents many opportunities to engage with new shoppers.
Video advertising dominates the industry today, providing excellent opportunities for your creative teams to showcase your eComm brand uniquely and compellingly.
With Google Ads, you can use a complete range of video Ad formats to engage users in various ways – across YouTube and other partner sites. Some of these formats include skippable and non-skippable ads and in-feed video ads.
Video is easier to digest than text. This is why you can use this format for your general and remarketing campaigns to engage users in a way you couldn’t with plain text ads.
Number five: Display Ad Campaigns.
Display is another crucial ad type you should include in your strategy.
These Ads are shown on third-party websites that are Google Partners (currently, there are over 2 million websites and apps inside this group).
However, these Ads require more work from the creative teams since you’re displaying them to people who aren’t necessarily interested in your products (as opposed to Shopping and Search Ads).
To be effective, you need to rely on bold, disruptive visuals and write persuasive copy that clearly highlights the benefits of your product.
Google Ads Strategy
It wouldn’t be a Google Ads guide without a series of strategies you can try for your eCommerce Google Ads, wouldn’t it?
- Use Context to Create Memorable Ads
Contextually relevant ads are 1.6x more memorable and 10x more engaging than basic ads (GumGum study).
Contextual ads relate to current trends or events and are great at driving awareness of your product/ service.
You can use Google Trends to identify heavily searched keywords and use them in your Ad campaigns.
Another option is displaying Ads using the keywords of the website you’re targeting, like in this example from NYTimes:
Since we’re used to consuming and creating content for the entirety of the time we spend online, contextual Ads aren’t as intrusive as other types of Ads.
Of course, you shouldn’t rely solely on contextual advertising, especially if you have low Customer Lifetime Value. These Ads bring awareness and can showcase your products in front of new customers.
Yet, if your retention game isn’t that strong, the acquisition can soon feel forced – and you might run out of ideas.
However, trying them is fun; they can get your product in front of shoppers searching for topics relevant to your business.
- Target Users with Topic/ Interest Ads
Suppose your products fit into a specific interest category (or your target audience has certain hobbies/ interests). In that case, you can reach this segment with Interest Ads.
In this example, the advertiser assumed that people interested in the camping lifestyle would also be interested in living a simple life, therefore using a Display Ad to promote the eBook.
Topic/ Interest Ads can range from health and fitness to home deco to travel and beauty products, giving you numerous keywords to try and test.
Moreover, interest-based targeting also displays your Ads to users who Google searched the keywords you used in your Ads.
- Target Your Competition
If you want to target new shoppers, who might not know you yet but know your competition, you can bid on keywords branded by your competitors.
However, you should be careful here and don’t go after big players – their budgets are more significant, and they can outbid you.
Yet, if your CLV is strong and you know how to play the retention game, it’s worth trying to capitalize on your competitors’ traffic.
Wrap-Up
Regarding eCommerce campaigns, Google Ads are a safe bet for you and your eCommerce store.
Your eCommerce business can benefit from this advertising channel between all available targeting options and the many types of campaigns you can use.
A solid strategy, intriguing visuals, and well-written copy can bring you qualified leads and awareness and attract a steady flux of new customers monthly.
However, seeing how the eCommerce landscape is currently challenging (to say the least) and the costs are higher than usual, you should consider using Google Ads for retention; instead of focusing on acquisition alone.
Retention is the game’s name, and Google Ads provide excellent opportunities to test retention campaigns for your eCommerce store.
It’s cheaper and easier to convince customers to repeat their purchases than to gain strangers’ trust.
Now it’s action time!
Give Google Ads a chance, play with your creatives and audiences and drive more sales for your eCommerce business. Good luck!
Frequently Asked Questions about Google Ads for eCommerce
Yes. As of July 2022, Google holds 83,84% of the Ad Market Share. Google is also the preferred Search Engine worldwide, with 70k Google Searches happening every second. You should definitely consider advertising on Google to reach more customers and drive more sales.
You can use Google Ads (previously known as AdWords) to build your brands and drive more sales for your eComm store. You need to know the keywords used by your audience when they search for your product and test different types of campaigns until you reach the golden ration.
Google Ads provide an excellent channel for advertising, since your target audience will search for your products (or similar products) on Google before deciding to buy. Moreover, Google Ads allows you to showcase your products on partner websites and reach even more potential customers.
Shopping Ad campaigns and Video Ad campaigns will work for an eCommerce website. However, it’s important to test all types of Google Ads and see which one works best for you.
