Confessions of a Digital Ad Man:  Understanding Google AdWords

At CWS, I do the digital ad placement, which our traditional media placement specialists (those who buy TV, Radio, Print and Billboards) are happy to leave in my court. They think it’s complicated and a completely different way to market. (Yet, they love the results it produces. Job security!)

I have to confess...I think I’ve got the easier job. Yes, there are hundreds of online advertising options, and you have to know what you’re doing, but with over 3.5 BILLION searches daily on Google, I concentrate a great deal of my efforts there. Digital’s ability to hyper target and provide real time reports takes the guess work out of the equation. To me, traditional has too many intangibles, vague reporting, too broad of a target, and cannot convert anywhere near as easy to a sale as digital can.

If you’re new to the wonderful world of digital ad placement, let’s start with the biggie: Google AdWords. We’ll go at the 101 level and discover the options and benefits of a digital ad campaign using Google Adwords.

What is Google AdWords?

Google AdWords is an online advertising program that allows you to reach new customers and grow your business. Within Google AdWords, you have the ability to choose how your ad appears and measure the impact your advertisement is having on your target audience.

The major opportunities of Google AdWords is the ability to pause, manage, or edit your campaign in a matter of seconds. With Google AdWords, you can reach a new audience by targeting specific keywords or browse websites with themes related to your product/service. Unlike traditional advertising, you have the ability to pause, manage, or edit your campaign in a matter of seconds!

3 Major types of Google AdWords Ads:

Search Ads:

Google gives you the ability to serve millions of people searching for a specific set of words or phrases with your advertisement. If the keywords you are targeting are close or exact to the words or phrases the user is searching, your ad will appear above or next to their search results.

A clear advantage of search advertising is that you are only charged if a user clicks on your ad. This gives your business the ability to brand your products (for free!) even when users are not clicking your ads.

Display Ads:

Grow your brand awareness and attract new customers with eye-catching ads. With the Google Display Network you can advertise on a number of formats on almost any site related to your industry.

The Google Display Network has the ability to reach over 80% of users. A few HUGE companies uses Google Display Network are:

• FoxNews.com
• Orbitz.com
• HuffingtonPost.com

Video Ads:

One of the lesser known avenues of Google AdWords is the ability to advertise your company on YouTube.

YouTube has a monthly viewership roughly equivalent to 10 Super Bowl audiences!

With Google AdWords video ads you can target specific demographics, themes, and even videos where you would like your ad to appear. In depth analytics also show how much of the video users are watching.

Can You Expect Results?

You can almost bank on it. We are running a campaign for a local client right now that has produced 181 new clients directly related to the adwords campaign we set up and managed. The client has NEVER been able to do this. (Thank you digital marketing!) What’s great about this is the math: 181 new clients X $350 spent per client = $63,350 in brand new revenue. Did they spend that much to get $63,350....Uh not even close!

What is the Best Solution?

There is no right answer to this question without first properly testing. It also depends on what your overall goal for this campaign would be: Brand recognition? Clicks to your website? Sales?

Depending on these goals, when you speak to a digital placement expert, they will recommend which avenue may be your best option for overall success. If you are stuck and not sure where to turn, we have a few limited spots available for our digital placement assessment. Sign up while they are still available!