Google Ads B2B Targeting
This is not meant to be a comprehensive guide to Google Display Network - just a few quick tips you should be aware of during set up. Google Ads does a good job of helping you create a campaign. Of course you'll want to have compelling ad copy and images along with a killer landing page. You should do the following:
- Set up a retargeting audience
- Determine your audience targeting and testing strategy
- Learn how to exclude mobile apps from you display ads
Getting these done before you launch your Google Display Network campaign will save you a lot of headaches and money.
Google Display Network: Remarketing Audiences
Set up remarketing audiences. Before you run any campaigns on the google display network you'll need to set up remarketing audiences in Google Analytics. There are some set up tasks that need to be completed but the true power of a google display network campaign is in the remarketing to people that have clicked on your ad but may not have filled out an online form.
This should already be set up for your website for all visitors. If it hasn't already been set up, then do so now. You'll also want to set up a remarketing audience specific to the campaign you are going to run on Google Display Network.
Here are the instructions from Google on how to enable and set up remarketing events. Google is moving all analytics users from Universal Analytics (UA) to Google Analytics 4 (GA4) as of July 1, 2023. If you're setting up remarketing, these instructions are for GA4.
How to enable remarketing in GA4:
https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/9313634?hl=en
How to set up audiences in GA4:
https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/9267572#create-an-audience&zippy=%2Cin-this-article
Google Display Network: Audience Targeting
There are 3 different methods of audience targeting in GDN.
Affinity Audiences
This includes 80 different groups based on interests or hobbies. These include. Basketball Fans to Food and Dining and more
Custom Affinity Audiences
To narrow your targeting even further, create your own custom audience using keywords, website visitors and app users.
In-Market Audiences
With In-Market Audiences, you can identify customers who are actively looking at products or services similar to yours. These include Network and Security Services and many more. Members of these audiences are actively shopping for these services, or so Google says.
Google Display Network: Disable Mobile App Placements
Before you launch - install google ads editor and disable mobile apps from your placements
If you've ever run a GDN campaign and then looked to see where your ads showed you'll notice that many of the top impressions went to mobile apps. Google makes it extremely difficult to remove these within Google Ads. The solution is to exclude these placements from within Google Ads Editor. Google Ads Editor is stand-alone ad management system that makes it easier to manage your campaigns. Tasks like copying ads and settings between accounts are much easier to get done on Google Ads Editor.
The easiest way to exclude mobile app placement is to use the editor.
You can download Google Ads Editor here:
https://ads.google.com/home/tools/ads-editor/
For step-by-step instructions on how to exclude mobile apps from Google Display Network click here.
Google Ads B2B targeting Simplified
Starting March 2023, Google Ads will simplify content targeting by consolidating all content targeting activities into a single "Content" page, streamlining the process for users. However, layered audience targeting will no longer be available after this update.
In addition, Google Ads will now display ads on content that matches any of the topics, placements, or display and video keywords targeted by advertisers. This change will expand the potential audience reach for ads, as previously ads could only appear on content that met all targeting criteria. This change will affect B2B advertisers who used overlapping targeting methods to refine their audience targeting.
This is big change as layered audience targeting was one of the best ways to narrow the scope of your audience. The change will impact audience targeting for Google Search and Display campaigns.
Google Ads B2B Targeting Hierarchy
Google Ads Audience Attribution Hierarchy is a framework that describes how credit is given to different targeting methods that influence a user's decision to click on an ad and take a desired action, such as making a purchase or filling out a form. This hierarchy helps advertisers to understand the role played by each targeting method in generating conversions, and it can be used to optimize ad targeting and budget allocation.
There are 2 ways the attribution hierarchy is determined in Google Ads:
The first method applies when a user is on multiple audience lists within the same ad group. In such cases, the audience list with the highest bid adjustment will receive the attribution for impressions, clicks, costs, and conversions. This hierarchy applies to both manual and Smart bidding campaigns, even in cases where the bid adjustment is not directly used in the auction. For Smart bidding campaigns, the highest bid adjustment only affects reporting and attribution, and does not affect performance.
The second method applies when a user is on multiple lists with the same highest bid adjustment. In this case, the attribution for impressions, clicks, costs, and conversions will be distributed according to a defined hierarchy.
For a complete overview of B2B Google Ads, Click Here
Partner with Digital Direct to ramp up your sales and marketing.
Digital Direct specializes in developing B2B marketing campaigns that work. Contact us today to learn more.
