by Google Shopping Ads is a service that lets consumers search for products and compares prices through Google search.
It is a perfect platform for E-commerce business owners to promote their stock online, boost traffic for their websites and to find potential customers.
Google Shopping Ads are based on 2 platforms.
It is where your product feed lives i.e. the details of your product.
(ii) Google AdWords
It is where your shopping campaign lives.
To get started, you will have to send your product data to Google with Google Merchant Center and create a campaign in Adwords.
Then, Google uses your campaign to create ads and shows it to your potential customers.
Google Shopping Ads are different from Text Ads because it consists of a product image, title, price, store name and other descriptions.
The only problem with Google Shopping is that there is no keyword targeting and you will have to depend on Google to find the most relevant keywords for your product.
Having no or very less control over the Google Shopping Ads can sometimes be really disappointing.
[bctt tweet=”Google shopping doesn’t really give you the opportunity to choose keywords for your ad.” username=”adstriangle”]
Advanced Tips for Google Shopping Ads
Below are some tips that can help you to optimize your Google Shopping campaign and improve ROAS.
1. Use Negative Keywords to Stop Wasting Ad Spend.
Google Shopping doesn’t allow keyword targeting.
So, search results are based on the information that you provide in the data feed.
To add some control in Google Shopping you should use negative keywords.
By using negative keywords you are basically telling Google for what keywords you don’t want your product ad to show up. This is essential because then you won’t be paying for irrelevant clicks.
Negative keywords help the retailers to refine or filter their targeting by showing your ad to those who are more likely to click on the ad.
Let me give you an example for better understanding. Let us say you are an online laptop retailer and you are selling “Silicon” laptops. Google will still show your ad to people who are searching for “Silicon” Desktop Computers.
But you don’t sell desktop computers so you will add “desktop computers” as a negative keyword.
[bctt tweet=”Negative Keywords will make sure that your ad reaches the target audience only.” username=”adstriangle”]
By blocking irrelevant queries, the negative keywords help the advertisers to decrease the cost per click which in turn enhances the ROI.
Negative Keywords also improve the Click-Through Rate of the ad thus having a long-term positive impact on the Quality Score.
Be careful while choosing negative keywords, the wrong choice of negative keyword might accidentally cut off your traffic.
2. Use Multiple Campaign Method to Filter Products
This is one of the best methods to optimize your Google Shopping Campaigns. It also allows you to separate your products into more specific categories.
[bctt tweet=”Multiple Campaign Method enables you to build a granular shopping campaign.” username=”adstriangle”]
The priority setting tells Google Shopping which campaign should be used first for a query.
If you are advertising the same product in multiple Shopping Campaigns then, campaign priority is useful.
Campaign priority determines which products you want to get displayed from in case you have multiple shopping campaigns running with similar products.
Here, the deciding factor will not be the bid but the campaign priority.
1. High-Priority Campaign:
This campaign is served with as many ads as possible. Ads that come under this campaign are preferred first. Google will use the bid from the High-Priority Campaign first.
If High-Priority Campaign runs out of budget then Google moves on to the next Priority Campaign.
2. Medium-Priority Campaign:
This campaign is served with ads only when the bid of High-Priority Campaign gets exhausted. Ads that comes under this campaign are preferred after the High-Priority campaigns.
3. Low-Priority Campaign:
When there are no more ads to serve in High-Priority campaigns and Medium-Priority campaigns then the ads are served in Low-Priority campaigns. The ads served here are preferred after High-Priority campaigns and Medium-Priority campaigns.
The above priority setting was on the basis of campaigns.
Next, we have priority setting on the basis of brand.
Now suppose you are a retailer and you want to separate your brand terms. Then priority setting on the basis of the brand is surely going to make a way for you.
1. High Priority-Non-Brand Terms:
This basically catches all the terms that come. The only negative keywords that are added here are the Brand Terms and the Best Terms.
2. Medium Priority-Brand Terms:
This catches all the terms that were marked as negative keywords in High Priority Non-Brand Terms. Here the Best Terms are added as negative keywords.
3. Low Priority-Best Terms:
The negative keywords for both non-brand and brand terms will appear here. This is basically used for the most specific search.
3. Prepare a Well Maintained & Up to Date Feed
Product Data covers a maximum portion of an ad including the data, image, and price of the product.
Since Google shopping doesn’t allow keyword targeting; your product feed is the only source of targeting.
[bctt tweet=”In Google Shopping Campaigns, your ads are searched on the basis of your product titles.” username=”adstriangle”]
So by unique titles and descriptions, you can increase the chances of your ad showing up.
Apart from having a well-maintained product feed, you also need to update it on daily basis.
To make sure that all the data in your product feed is correct, accurate and up to date, you need to provide a data feed to Google on daily basis. Being updated with the product feed ensures you to stay on the top.
Moreover, provide consistent and clean data so that you are favored by Google and this will help you to improve your position.
When the product feed contains more relevant and rich information, you become eligible for a larger range of search queries.
A good data feed plays a vital role in determining the success of your Google shopping Campaign. So keep these important things in mind.
- Since shopping campaigns don’t have keywords, so make your product titles and descriptions keyword-rich.
- Ensure that the prices are 100% accurate.
- Use high-quality images as images are the first thing that catches the attention of a buyer.
4. Edit the Product Title for CTR
As mentioned above, the product title is one of the determining factors for the success of the ad. If the product title is not accurate enough, it will then be difficult for Google to show your ad.
[bctt tweet=”The product title should be accurate and descriptive.” username=”adstriangle”]
The title of your product is the most important element of your feed, so given below are some tips on how you should write/edit your product title so that you can maximize your CTR
- Include top keywords: Include those keywords for which you want to show up.
- Use the name of your product: Include the most commonly used name of your product.
- Put important information first: Always include the most important information first in the title.
- The model number and other descriptions: If applicable put model number and other descriptions to make the title more precise.
- Convince the user that they’ve made the right choice: The product title should be such that it convinces the user of making the right choice.
- Don’t forget Google’s 70 character limit.
5. Experiment with Price
While the image of the product draws the primary attention of a buyer, mostly it is the price that determines whether the buyer will purchase the product or not.
If you are selling the exact product as the other retailers, it is the price that is going to make a difference.
[bctt tweet=”Price is the determining factor that initiates sales.” username=”adstriangle”]
If you are selling products where the target customers are price sensitive, having higher prices may prove wrong there.
You can always experiment with the price. If you are selling a unique product that has its own advantages then keeping the high price for it might get you more profit.
There are some customers who are quality obsessed. Price doesn’t matter to them, so keeping the high price for these high-end customers can help you to get the right clicks.
If you are running promotions, show up your sale price because then only Google will show before and after prices in Google Shopping Campaigns. This is effective enough to compel the customers to purchase the product.
6. Create Multiple Sets of Campaign or Ad Groups
After the priority campaign setup in Tip No.2, there is another approach to get more granular. That is by creating multiple sets of shopping campaign.
Creating multiple sets of shopping not only helps you to get more specific but it also helps you to manage different accounts independently.
[bctt tweet=”Creating multiple sets of shopping campaign helps you to become more specific.” username=”adstriangle”]
Suppose you sell books and DVDs.
1: Add a value to the product feed in the field product type. If the product type is in use, you can use custom label fields.
2: Select “create the ad group based on product type” when you’re creating your campaigns.
3: Add “Books” to one campaign and exclude everything else. Similarly, add “DVDs” to another campaign and exclude everything else.
This method has diminishing returns and it should be only used up to a point where the returns are either increasing or constant.
You should use this method if you have 2 sets of products that demand their own keyword.
You should create new Ad Groups to:
- Manage negative keywords independently from the rest of the campaign.
- Have a separate view of the search queries.
- Manage bids separately.
7. Get Your Bidding Strategy Right
[bctt tweet=”To get ahead of your competitors, you should have a serious bidding strategy.” username=”adstriangle”]
Bids work differently in shopping campaigns than search campaigns. In Search, you have to add keywords to target more queries but in shopping campaigns, your products are targeted by default.
So to have more control over bids the products are divided into Product Groups.
In search campaigns, keywords inherit the bid of their ad group unless and until they have their own bid. Now, when you change the bid for an ad group, you are simultaneously changing the bids for those keywords in that ad group that don’t have their own keywords.
In shopping campaigns, the bids exist at the lowest product group level and there are no inherited bids.
Here are some tips for a good bidding strategy:-
1. Bid at Brand or Product Level:
You can easily divide your products into categories for bidding. Let us say that you want to bid higher on one brand and bid lower on the other. In this case, you can break your campaigns into brand groups and set a bid for each brand.
2. Bid at the SKU Level:
Bidding by SKU gives you chance to set even more specific bids. You can break each of your product’s SKU into its own bid. By doing this we can track the performance of each product and bid accordingly.
3. Set up ROAS Bidding:
ROAS bidding is a simple and easy way to optimize your ROI percentage.
8. Strategically Select Your Product Image
How many times do you really purchase a product just by reading its description?
Very less!
Indeed the product image is a very important factor in determining the purchase. Most consumers like to see what they are buying, so by providing quality images, you can increase your purchases.
Make sure that your product has a relevant and targeted image.
[bctt tweet=”Instead of using stock images, use the image of your product.” username=”adstriangle”]
This will help you to have different product image than your competitors and will make a way for you to stand out in the competition.
One more way to enhance your ad performance via images is that you should often test your images. By testing the images you will have a clear idea about the top performing image and the low performing image.
Using your own product images will help you to build goodwill among your customers as they will get the exact product which was shown in the ad.
9. Don’t Forget about Mobile Shoppers
Analyze user activity by the device and adjust bids accordingly.
Online shopping has increased with the invention of smartphones. Mobile phones are one of the best means to shop online since they are easy to use and handy.
[bctt tweet=”Mobile phones are playing an important role in the online shopping process.” username=”adstriangle”]
To make sure that you maximize your sales, you should make your website mobile friendly.
Mobile phones are becoming so vital that Google is making Mobile based algorithm changes.
Follow these tips and make more sales from your mobile users:
- The website has to be mobile friendly.
- The shopping process should be simple to perform in small screen.
- A/B testing your mobile landing pages so that it becomes easy for your visitor to contact you.
- Use mobile tracking to follow your users.
10. Evaluate Your Campaign Structure
Evaluating the division of your shopping campaigns and ad groups on a regular basis is important.
There are multiple ways to organize your shopping campaigns. You can evaluate the campaigns on the basis of brands, products, and types.
You can even compare and evaluate your strategies with that of your competitors.
By evaluating your shopping campaign you can get to know whether your shopping campaign is moving forward to achieve the desired goal or not.
Here are some goods tips to follow to evaluate your campaign:
- Group similar items together so it becomes easy for you to manage your campaign.
- Prepare a separate campaign for seasonal product and then promote it.
- Subdivide the product group if most of the traffic is generated from there.
[bctt tweet=”Evaluating gives you an insight of your shopping campaign.” username=”adstriangle”]
It tells about your high and low points. It tells about the changes you should bring about in your campaign to maximize sales.
Conclusion
Hopefully, I’ve given you an insight on how you can use Google Shopping Campaign optimally. Google Shopping is very profitable if you know how to take advantage of every opportunity.
With the help of Google Shopping, you can get most of your potential customers. It is an excellent platform to get connected with interested customers. So if you are looking to expand your customer base then I don’t know of a better channel other than Google Shopping.