Do Google Ads Work for Small Businesses?

Small business owners and their marketing personnel often believe that only the big companies can use Google ads campaigns effectively. But that simply isn’t true. Businesses of all sizes can take advantage of Google’s advertising platform. In fact, Google ads may be the most economical advertising platforms for small businesses. But why are Google ads an excellent choice for small companies, and how can they work to help your small business grow and increase your reach online?

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Why should small businesses launch a Google ads campaign?

1. Affordability

With fixed-rate advertising strategies, they can cost more than a small business can afford. Also, fixed-rate marketing techniques don’t reward small businesses for stellar ad performance. Once you pay for it, that’s it. The money is gone, and it may or may not work.

Google ads, on the other hand, are much different. You only pay based on how many clicks you get. Plus, your costs-per-click can decrease the more relevant your ad is, and the better it performs with leads. On top of that, Google will reward your ad with better placement if it is optimised and well-designed. With something like a billboard or a commercial radio advertisement, the cost is fixed, and if it doesn’t work for your business, that’s too bad. With Google ads, you have the ability to tweak and optimise them for higher performance continuously.

2. Lead Nurturing

Small businesses often don’t have the team or the budget to build, launch, and tweak a long sales funnel. With Google ads, your products or offerings will display to people who already have buyer intent.

With a Google ads campaign, you can design the campaign to show your ads either on the search results page (SERP), or the Google Display Network (GDN). Figuring out where to put your ads will mostly depend on your business goals. But for small businesses especially, putting your ads on the SERPs can be beneficial because your ads will show up in front of your target audience members with an immediate need. Displaying ads on the SERPs can help you grow your conversions quickly if sales numbers are what you’re after.

However, if your goals are centered around building brand awareness for your small company, then using the GDN might be a better use of your marketing budget. Your ads will show up as banner ads on the GDN, which includes around 2 million websites. Up to 90% of the world’s online consumers are using and browsing websites on the GDN. Using Google ads is an excellent way to get your company’s name out there.

3. Reach

For small business owners and startup founders, getting seen, and growing their base of target customers is a significant concern. Google ads, however, can help you promote your business and get your product or service in front of qualified leads who are ready to buy. An optimised Google ads campaign can not only increase your sales numbers, but help promote your brand for targeted keywords.

Many small businesses don’t just sell products online either. If you want to increase your in-store foot traffic, Google ads are a great way to get new customers into your brick-and-mortar shop. If you wish to promote a newly minted product or service or advertise for a specific, special event, you can do all of that with Google Adwords.

Consumers’ online shopping habits have changed drastically since mobile search eclipsed desktop search a few years ago. Now, consumers like to research a product or service and then visit the physical store location where the offering is sold. If you are looking to gain a competitive edge over your business rivals, Google ads can help you reach this goal.

4. Precision

When a viewer clicks on your pay-per-click ad, they will go to a page on your company website. You get to choose which landing page the viewers go to, and you have the power to select a customised landing page that is optimised to convert the visitor into a buyer.

Your ad copy must be optimised to find and entice qualified leads, and your landing page copy must be crafted in a way that is compelling enough to turn the lead into a sale. When you send visitors to a landing page that shows them a product or service they already want, you have the chance to turn that visitor into a fan for life.

Other advertising platforms do not give you the ability to be this precise with the buyer journey. Having control over what the viewer sees and where they go will enable you to tweak and optimise the ads and landing page for maximum convertibility and ROI.

5. Fast Results

Social media advertising and other pay-per-click online marketing techniques can take several weeks to see the results. Sometimes, those results aren’t that great. Then, you have to go back and tweak or pivot your strategies, and then wait even longer to see the results.

Google ads campaigns, however, are fast. You can quickly see the data on an aggregate and also on a granular basis, and change tactics accordingly. On top of that, Google ads will give you the results you’re looking for much more quickly than the other online marketing platforms. If you have your landing pages and ad copy ready to go, then set up a Google Ads campaign and seeing sales can happen in as little as a few days.

For small businesses, Google ads campaigns are an excellent way to increase sales numbers and grow their brand awareness while staying within a modest budget.