With the relaxed keyword match types, the use of audiences in Google Ads has sophisticated tenfold.
Utilizing audience targeting is no longer an option for campaigns; it should be part of the overall campaign strategy.
Learn four advanced audience targeting tactics for refining the PPC targeting to leverage budget and maximize return on ad spend (ROAS).
Smarter Use Of Remarketing Lists For Search Ads (RLSAs)
Remarketing lists for search ads (RLSAs) allow us to customize the search ad campaigns based on the user behavior of previous website visitors and tailor the bids/targeting options around these users when they’re searching on Google.
Example: Target people who spend over the average purchase revenue when searching for competitor brands.
This tactic will allow us to target and display ads to users who have generated a high conversion value historically whenever they are searching for one of the competitors on Google search, which could help us avoid losing customers to paid competitors.
For example, an online grocery retailer could identify shoppers who spend over their average order value each week.
In this scenario, the advertiser could set up a separate campaign to target and bid on competitor terms, but use RLSAs so that ads are only served whenever users within the list are searching.
This is an excellent way of ensuring the budget is only spent on retaining profitable customers.
Combining Social Audiences With RLSAs
With more than 2.9 billion monthly active users, Facebook has no rival when it comes to the enormity of its audience.
While Facebook targeting can be beneficial to reaching the masses, another primary benefit Facebook offers lies in the potential granularity with which one can target Facebook’s users.
Unlike Google Ads, Facebook has information on what users actually “Like” or follow and in-depth data from users’ profiles.
The benefits of using social ads alongside search campaigns can be huge.
Facebook is one of the best platforms for expanding the reach and identifying new users who aren’t actively looking for our products or services right now.
We can run a campaign on Facebook and target new audience segments by tagging the ads. We will later be able to target ads at these users when they search Google using top-of-the-funnel keywords, increasing the likelihood of those Facebook clicks turning into new customers.
We would first need to create a new campaign on Facebook designed to target new potential customers we aren’t already targeting with the search ads (exclude existing website visitors and mailing list members).
By tagging the resulting Facebook campaign with UTM tags, any clicks from this audience will be recorded in Google Analytics under the campaign name set.
We’ll then be able to create an audience list in Google Analytics which consists of traffic from this particular Facebook campaign:
Like any audience list we create, the list must contain at least 1,000 members before being eligible for use on Google search.
Then we have to create a search campaign on Google Ads with the audience list we’ve populated with enough traffic from Facebook, which includes only top-of-the-funnel keywords such as informational queries related to the product/service we offer.
Finally, apply the remarketing list to the ad groups created in the search campaign, choosing the target and bid setting. The search ads only show to users who are from the list of new potential customers uncovered on Facebook.
Using Custom Affinity Audiences
Google launched custom affinity audiences to give advertisers more granular control over audience targeting options on the display network.
This tackles the issue with regular Google Ads affinity audiences in that there isn’t a predefined affinity audience suitable for every business.
We can get real-time demographic insights as we build the audience. This can help drive further granularity to ensure we’re targeting the right people.
While custom affinity audience targeting allows for more control over the GDN, it’s best used for brand building.
We can take an even more granular approach to GDN targeting by layering custom affinity audiences with other forms of targeting to increase campaign efficiency.
Combining In-Market Segments With Remarketing
In-market audiences allow us to set up the campaigns to reach people further down the funnel and are more ready to make a purchase.
In-market audiences can help drive incremental conversions, helping to connect with consumers as the last step before they make a purchase decision.
The real impact on conversions comes when using in-market segments in conjunction with website remarketing lists.
We can layer the in-market segments on the remarketing lists to increase reach while maintaining relevancy to bolster overall conversions.
Google Ads Audience Targeting Final Thought
Paid search keyword costs continue to rise every year. If the marketing budget doesn’t increase to keep up with the shift, we’ll need to get creative to drive new demand growth.
Many advertisers are shifting huge chunks of the budget to other platforms such as Facebook, Snapchat, and TikTok, mainly due to superior audience targeting options (not searcher intent) and reduced CPCs.
