.png)
The first stop in almost every non-technical founders’ digital marketing journey especially for performance marketing, search ads are one of the primary advertising mediums which uses a combination of push and pull marketing for showing the best sponsored results. But the dilemma for SaaS founders, technical ones and non-technical ones alike, is how to create search ads properly for their SaaS. While it's easy to search on google or bing for a product they want, tables being turned, founders are often left in a fix about what to do. We always tend to simplify the process which we follow when it comes to Search Ad Campaigns on Google or Bing or Amazon. While the platforms are different, the principles remain the same and we explore a step-by-step guide on how to get success with your first search advertising campaign with a foolproof preparation plan that we follow for our clients to give them their money’s worth when it comes to PPC advertising.
What exactly are Search Ads?
Search Advertising, also known as paid search advertising or pay per click advertising is a primary performance marketing technique which makes use of a pull and push marketing where the ads are shown to the user based on the query they are searching for or keyword they have queries the search engine around. Sponsored search results appear on top of organic search results and brands that place ads in the search results pay a small fee every time a user clicks on the ad. Search advertising is considered to be one of the most effective advertising methods because it reveals the search intent of each user based on their query which ideally provides a great opportunity for advertisers to bid on specific keywords and target specific audience segments based on their demographics, interests and affinities across different stages of the customer journey.
How exactly do Search Ads work?
While there are Google Ads, Bing Ads and Amazon Ads, for the purpose of this blog we consider the explanations from Google’s perspective since the principles remain the same and Google is the most popular search engine having about 90%+ market share in search.
Google uses a bid auction system and ranks ads which are accordingly then shown to people on their search results. Advertisers get a choice to bid on the keyword they want and are shown the estimate of low as well as high ends of how much they might end up paying if they win bids for competitive keywords. Advertisers can set a maximum budget for an action, a campaign or even a daily budget. After an ad is created, Google then assesses the ad quality and quality of your landing page to assign you a rank. Based on your rank, you will be automatically eligible for bids around the keywords of your interest. For ranking purposes, Google takes into consideration the quality of the ad, click-through rate, and overall user experience of the ad's landing page (google even checks for restricted item content in landing page before approving the ads). Then, the advertiser with the highest ad rank pays the amount needed to beat the nearest competitor and be shown to users.
What factors affect Search Ad rank?
Search Ad rank is a method for search engines to identify which ads to show or be given a chance to bid for user attention. Commonly known as PageRank in Google Search Ads, these factors tend to affect ad campaigns. While complete clarity is still not possible with Google's algorithms, some of the known parameters for calculating ad rank are known as:
- Landing page experience - your landing page needs to provide a good experience for the user. It needs to be clear, relevant to the search intent, and have original content that's optimised with related keywords and not be deceptive or 'clickbait'.
- Ad format - Google takes into consideration the format of your ad so it's important to use various extensions like ratings, prices, directions, and phone numbers whenever applicable. From structured snippets to site links, make sure to use all extensions.
- Ad relevance - Google ensures that your ad is relevant to the search query. Don't advertise mangoes when the search engine user was looking for a milkshake machine otherwise based on repeated ignorance from users, google recalculates your ad rank and decides to not show it at all if CTR is not decent.
- Expected click-through rate - Google estimates how likely it is that your ad will be clicked. This is very crucial because a good CTR ensures google shows the ads to more people and more chances of conversions. However if there is repeated low CTR then Google starts stunting the visibility of the ad campaign as well.
How important is keyword research for Search Ads?
Keyword research is a very integral part of search ads because that is the key to planning your advertising strategy. Keyword research provides users with information about the average monthly searches for the terms which are of essence, keyword planner in google also provides with other related keywords along with index of competition as in how many others are also vying for being shown on that keyword. You need to find out which words people are searching for in order to create more effective ads based on what they might respond to. You also want to identify terms that are less competitive but still drive traffic to your site. These are called low-competition keywords and tend to give really good results which are meaningful for organic search as well as paid.
How to write Ad copy for Search Ads?
Another important aspect of search advertising is the ad copy for the ads. While you need to be shown to the right audience, what you show the audience is also crucial to determine whether they click on the ad or not. Your ad copies need to be compelling, relatable and interesting enough to grab users’ attention as well as engaging and informative enough to urge users to check out the description of the ad. Since headers and description fields have specific character constraints, it helps if you have a creative copywriter to help you out. But some of the best strategies for having a strong Ad Copy is to include keywords in your header copies as well as description apart from mentioning the location you are targeting if local ads are being run.
Are there any cost-saving targeting strategies to spend less on Search Ads?
Budgeting is a highly crucial aspect of search ads since your budget isn’t unlimited. Therefore it’s important to contain costs by defining who will see your ads, and when. This can be accomplished through tactics like geo-targeting (showing search ads only in specific locations) and dayparting (only showing ads during business hours) so as to show your ads to the right audience in the right time instead of firing a shot in the dark and expecting it to land. Retargeting also works where you show ads to potential users who have visited the site but have not taken an action or checked out.
Do I need to Optimise Search Ad Campaigns daily?
Regularly optimising search ad campaigns is what we suggest to our clients to ensure the campaigns give the maximum returns. Search advertising needs constant tweaking of strategy and tactics around keywords, page optimisation. To help you paint a picture, imagine targeting 20 keywords out of which 19 are not working but 1 is working with a CTR of 10% so during optimisation, it is suggested that you remove the 19 irrelevant keywords and instead add more keywords along the lines of the 1 keyword which had a good CTR. Similarly, Google also sends messages around landing page discrepancies where an ad is paused or disapproved on the basis of landing page consisting of restricted items of sale. Constantly A/B test your ad copy, creative, and targeting to maximise your ROAS (Return on Ad Spends).
