Should you really invest in Google Ads?

Did you know that 91% is the average click-through rate (CTR) for the Google Search Network? 

The reasons are crystal clear. 

Statistics show that customers are four times more likely to click on Google Ads compared to other advertisements.  

Why?

Because they trust Google and because when they're searching for something, they have something we like to call 'high intent'. 

When you want to know the best cafes in town and you're ready to make a booking…you Google it.

When you need to get a gift for parents/friend/partner/brother/auntie... you Google it.

Need to know how to get there…you Google it. 

Can't remember that actor's name in the newest blockbuster movie…you Google it. 

Need to buy something…you Google it! 

Google is the biggest search engine, with a whopping 5.6 billion searches each day and approximately 2 trillion global searches every year! It controls more than 92% of the global search engine market share, which includes 92% of the mobile search engine market and 72% of the desktop market.

So, if you want to sell your product or service online or at least get in front of your target market – well, Google is the answer. To be specific – Google Shopping Ads!

What are Google Shopping Ads?

Well, most likely, you have seen Google Shopping Ads before! 

When you search for any product or service on Google, you see a listing with high-quality images at the top. Below is an example of how Google Shopping ads appear when someone looks for special experiences. As you see below, each ad includes an image along with other details such as what type of experience it is, the experience provider, price and customer ratings/reviews.

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Well, you won't disagree with the fact that many of us search for a product or service on Google before actually buying it. So, by investing in Google Shopping Ads, you are technically being right where your potential customers are by getting your offer in front of them just when they need it! 

It gets a bit challenging to set up everything initially; however, once done, Google uses its algorithms to automate the process and pull the data from your online store to match them with the relevant search queries. 

If you have been investing endlessly into social media or Google advertising but not seeing any results, Google Shopping Ads can immensely help.

Even if you are getting started with advertising and looking to boost sales, investing into Google Shopping Ads will enable you to reach a wider audience, helping you scale to a 6- and 7-figure business. 

Are you ready to get serious about your online brand growth and revenue generation, whether it's selling tickets to events, tourism or experience bookings, venue sales, or other eCommerce opportunities? We would love to help you! Our expert team has worked with incredible brands and businesses, helping them grow their online revenue, build their brands, and generate high-quality leads. Hit the 'Work With Us' button to fill out our form and book a call.

Using Google Shopping Ads to grow and scale to 7 Figures and Beyond

Google Shopping now accounts for 65% of all Google Ads clicks and 89% of non-branded Google search ad clicks of retailers (Source: Storegrowers). 

We have now seen the numbers; Google is the leading search engine getting over 99, 000 searches in just one second. Moreover, many people begin searching for products on Google before purchasing them. So, advertising on Google and using it as a dominant marketing tool to scale your business just makes sense. 

You are putting your business right in front of your customers just when they are ready to purchase it.  

Let's dive deeper into some compelling reasons why you must use Google Shopping Ads if you are serious about scaling to 7 figure business.

Reason 1 – Visibility

A typical Google search results page consists of Shopping Ads, Search Ads, and Organic search results. See figure 1; the Shopping Ads are always shown at the top, pushing Search Ads and Organic results further down the page. 

When you invest in Shopping Ads, you get that premium spot right at the top, giving you a competitive edge. This prime spot also attracts the most clicks due to its visual format, which means more sales for your business. 

Considering that the global eCommerce market is expected to total $5.55 trillion in 2022 and continue to grow further over the next few years, online sellers are investing more in Shopping Ads than Search Ads and tripling their revenue in just the first 90 days of running the ads.  

ARE YOU READY TO INCREASE YOUR ONLINE REVENUE? WE'D LOVE TO CHAT.

Reason 2 – Visual impression

With Google Shopping Ad, your products are visually listed in the search results. Your product is right there for your potential customers to see! 

Visual impressions are appealing and attract more clicks than text ads.

Here is an example:

If someone runs a quick Google Search looking for a 'pink patterned dress,' this is what they see:

As you can see, Google Shopping Ads appear at the top, followed by organic results. 

If you were looking to buy a dress and you see exactly the kind of dress on the top of the page, would you rather click on a text ad at the bottom or one of the Shopping Ads at the top? 

This example clearly demonstrates why Shopping Ads are gaining popularity and generating better results. 

Reason 3 – Higher conversion rate 

Ads, for the longest time, have been a bit of an annoyance (every YouTube video these days starts with them!) and instead of consuming the information your ad is presenting, most people try and skip through. 

However, Google Shopping Ads only appear when someone is ready to purchase and actively looking for a solution that you are selling. They do not appear out of nowhere. They pop up when there is an opportunity for you to make sales. As a result, you are able to target hot leads and convert them successfully. 

This is exactly what makes Google Shopping Ads so purposeful!

Do you know that the online shopping market size in Australia alone is $52.7 billion, representing 12.6% growth in 2022? 

The Online Shopping industry in Australia is ranked 7th by market size and the 28th largest in Australia, growing faster than the economy. 

By not investing in Shopping Ads, you are leaving money on the table. This is your opportunity to grow and scale to 7 figures and beyond. 2022 is your year!!

No more wasting money on ads. No more time wasted on marketing that just isn't working, or isn't working fast enough. It's time to take action! Partner with us by letting our expert team plug into your business and watch your online sales soar.

How big brands are scaling their business using Google Shopping Ads

Groupon

About the brand:

Groupon is a worldwide e-commerce marketplace that connects subscribers with local merchants to provide special offers for activities and experiences, travel, goods, and services in 15 countries.  

Desired goals:

The company’s goals were to increase sales revenue from Shopping ads and at the same time, maintain the return on ad spend.

Approach:

To achieve its desired goals, Groupon ran Shopping ads through Google Comparison Shopping Premium Partner, Connexity, to scale their marketing spend on shopping ads. Connexity ran Groupon’s shopping ads campaigns along with their in-house campaigns simultaneously while aiming to increase Groupon’s sales revenue and improve their return on ad spend.

Results:

Groupon was able to get very impressive results. Shopping ads sales revenue increased by approximately 300% in just four months following launch. They had no changes in cost of sale or cost per click in direct campaigns, while they delivered on cost of sales target. 

Culture Kings

About the brand:

Culture Kings, an Australia-based brand, is a world-famous brand for Streetwear, Music and Sport. It sells an extensive range of 100+ leading street, sports and fashion brands from all around the globe.

In 2008, Culture Kings started operating from a single store in 2008, and today it has 7 destination stores and a global online store.

Desired goals:

The company's goals were to increase brand awareness, specifically among new customers, accelerate sales, and increase conversions. It was also looking to improve its ROI on ads. 

Approach:

To achieve its desired goals, Culture Kings used Smart Shopping campaigns to optimise ad delivery and increase website traffic.

Results:

By investing in Shopping Ads, Culture Kings was able to successfully drive a 28% increase in revenue and that too within the first 3 weeks of their ad campaign launch. The company was able to reach new customers as every 1 in 3 customers were first-time buyers, and the campaign achieved a 30% higher Return On Ad Spend (ROAS) than expected.

Joybird

About the brand:

Joybird is an online furniture retailer specialising in providing high-quality and reliable furniture designed to last a lifetime. 

Desired goals:

The company was already seeing great ad results with their shopping campaigns but wanted to take its advertising to the next level. 

Approach:

Joybird partnered with an ad specialist, allowing them to run more result-driven ad campaigns and grow their revenue more profitably. 

Results:

By investing in Shopping Ads, Joybird increased its revenue by 95%, resulting in a 40% of Return On Ad Spend (ROAS). 

MyDeal.com.au

About the brand:

MyDeal.com.au is an eCommerce retailer connecting consumers to an extensive range of products at competitive prices. 

Desired goals:

Considering the highly competitive nature of the eCommerce industry, MyDeal's ultimate goal was to stay competitive and profitable against other industry leaders. Additionally, the company was looking to achieve their conversion goals more effectively and generate a higher Return On Ad Spend (ROAS).

Approach:

MyDeal.com.au decided to test Shopping Ad campaigns by setting a secured budget and determining the testing time frame. Then, it ran its campaigns without any changes for two consecutive weeks. They also tested using a 3-tier approach by putting their initial focus on medium-value categories so that they could gain the confidence of their customers and then eventually moved to high-value categories. Finally, they migrated their entire inventory.

Results:

The results were mind-blowing! The results were clearly prominent within the first week of the launch of the campaign. The company reported a 25% increase in Return On Ad Spend (ROAS) with an 82% increase in the total number of generated conversions. Their overall conversion value increased by 65%, with the Toys and Games category recording the highest rise of 160%.

Best practices to generate maximum results

If you have been investing in Shopping Ads but are not able to generate results, here are some best practices to help you improvise and maximise results.

Bid higher amounts

Shopping Ads are based on bidding, which means the more a business pays, the greater exposure it will receive. If your shopping ads aren't generating the desired number of clicks, then try raising the bids for your listing. 

Give your ad a makeover by changing images, optimising product descriptions and keywords

Google sources the images of your products from your Product Feed. First, look at the images you currently have in place. The quality and overall feel of your images significantly impact the number of clicks you will receive on your ad. 

If you aren't sure, use the keywords and do a quick search to see other product images that appear in the search results. See how they are standing out. Then, adjust your images to ensure they look competitive and appealing. 

Secondly, check the product description and the associated keywords. Using the right words to describe your product can make a big difference. Ensure that you have described your products accurately and this will improve your conversions. 

Check for low-performing, ineffective or negative keywords and make sure you exclude them in your ad settings. This will help you generate better shopping ad results.

Do competitor research and adjust your offer

If you are charging a shipping fee while your competitors are placing 'Free Shipping' promos under their listing, you are unlikely to get any clicks. 

Do a quick competitor research, and look at their copy, prices, and promotional offers to ensure that your offer is competitive. If not, make adjustments. 

Upgrade your Smart Shopping Ad to Performance Max campaigns

Performance Max Campaign (or also known as a Pmax Campaign) is a new goal-based campaign that enables performance advertisers to access to all of the Google Ad inventory from a single campaign. It combines Google’s automation technologies across audiences, budget optimisation, bidding, and more to target the set goals.

As the name suggests, it is a campaign that is solely focused on maximising performance by helping you find more converting clients across multiple Google channels such as Display, Search, Gmail, YouTube, Maps, and Discover. 

Smart Shopping is being faded out…

Unlike most of the Google Ad Campaigns, Performance Max campaigns doesn’t use keywords. It complements your existing Search campaigns and recognises your keyword targeting. So, your keywords are still a very integral part as well as text, images, videos, and your shopping feed. 

Performance Max campaign is basically an upgrade of ‘Smart Shopping’ so it has been said by Google Reps that instead of starting a Performance Max campaign from scratch, you should upgrade your Smart Shopping campaign into a Pmax campaign because then all your history, insights and data will be transferred into the Pmax campaign, making it easier for the algorithm to get started on maximising your shopping ads. The more historical data you have, the better would be the results.

Testing, testing, one, two, three…

Another important thing to remember is to test. Just like any campaign, you don’t know what is going to work until you try it! It will be a bit of trial and error in the beginning to get a hold on what works and what doesn’t. 

Business niches, audiences, previous shopping campaigns and historical data is going to vary for every single business because, every business is different. It will take a bit of learning to know what works and what doesn’t, and you can’t figure that out without testing! 

It’s super important to remember that this will take time. Google’s algorithms don’t work overnight. They need time to develop and maximise. If you have all the right ingredients, the cake will bake…just stop opening the oven so often (A.K.A stopping and changing things regularly isn’t going to be helpful…)

Content is King

Just like everything when it comes to business, for an automated system to work to its full advantage (which is what Pmax is…automated…) there needs to be a lot of background work for it to be working and generating revenue. 

Your content needs to convert. This includes images, text descriptions, videos, any discovery assets…they are detrimental in whether the shopping ad campaign will be as successful as it can be. All these things work hand in hand with a Pmax campaigns and will drive it forward into maximising your shopping ad performance. 

Spoon Feed the Algorithm

Google’s algorithm is incredible but, just like everything it sometimes needs some help. A huge factor in this is segmenting. You should be segmenting your product/service types, ad copy and everything else! For example, if you sell experiences, you should be segmenting your services into:

- Getaways

- Spa & wellness

- Flying experiences

- Water sports

Etc, etc. and make everything as relevant as possible for each segmented listing so the algorithm can push it out to the correct audience accordingly. 

Be Patient

It is important to remember that Pmax is like ‘a barge’. It is slow but when it gains momentum it will continue to move forward. The algorithm needs to learn or relearn your different assets and the audience signals, so your ads get put in front of the right eyes - this will take time. Because Pmax uses a combination of different campaigns, Google then must sieve through all that data to ensure your ads are being directed in the right direction. 

Again, this will take time. 

As tempting as it might be, changing things up when you don’t see instant results is only going to slow down the process of getting the results you seek. 

Overall, Pmax can be a huge advantage to your Shopping Ad campaigns but it must be done in an organised fashion. It isn’t a set and forget type of automated system. As mentioned, it takes a huge amount of background work to get that automated system up and running. It is recommended to add 20% to your budget to test out Pmax. When done correctly and efficiently, the possibility to see a huge increase in revenue is real. 

So, are Google Shopping Ads worth the hype and can you use them to scale your business? 

The short answer is absolutely yes! With the stats of how much reach, potential, and ROI they give, Google Shopping Ads are an incredible way for any business selling online to scale to 7 figures and beyond. 

If you put in the initial work of setting up your Google Shopping Ad Campaign, Google will then do the rest for you providing you feed it the right creative representing the right offer for the right audience. Over time, you can easily analyse your new ad campaign's impact on your sales and make necessary adjustments, if needed. 

If you want to scale your business to multi 6 or 7 figures and can see the potential in running Google Ads but would prefer to hand it over to an expert strategic partner and team, we'd love to chat.

Social Season is a premium creative and digital marketing agency helping event promoters, venues, tourism operators, and experience creators with eCommerce advertising and digital marketing solutions that sell tickets, fill venues, and book out calendars, months in advance.

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