If you have an eCommerce business, Google Shopping Ads are a useful way to promote your online and local inventory, boost traffic to your store, and get better leads.
These types of campaigns were specifically designed to support retailers in finding customers and selling more products more easily than the other types of ads can, by cutting down the sales funnel to the bare minimum in order to increase conversions.
Our Google Ads Specialists are going to explain how Google Shopping Ads work, the types of ads available, and how you can use these campaigns to get to your potential customers.
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A Quick Word about Google Shopping Ad Campaigns
To run such campaigns in Google Ads, retailers first need to send their product data to the Google Merchant Center and then create the campaign.
Google will use this data to create a type of display ads and show them to potential customers to present to them what you are selling. Because you’re selling a product, the visual component of the ad matters greatly to potential customers, which is why Google won’t create the classic text ads.
Google Shopping Ads display product images, product title, your store name, the price of the product, and more information depending on what you need this advertising to contain.
And running these types of ads campaigns comes with some rather compelling benefits:
- Better leads – when you set up a Merchant Center account and give Google your product data, this information will be automatically featured in the ads, giving consumers all the info they need to make an informed decision. This means that should they click on your ad and land on your landing page, they are less likely to leave without converting, as they know the most important details regarding the product;
- Better visibility – multiple shopping ads can target the same user when triggered by a specific search query. If you have a wider ad group, it’s also possible for the same search query to lead to both a text ad and a display ad to show at the same time, increasing the odds of the user paying attention;
- More effective campaigns – Google Shopping Ads use your product attributes to decide when the product is relevant for a search query, and not keywords, which means you’re more prominently featuring the product in the ad and taking it to the users most likely to genuinely be interested in it. However, you can still use negative keywords to prevent your ads from reaching users you don’t want, such as those in a particular location.
Types of Google Shopping Ads and How They Work
Shopping ads use the data from your Merchant Center Account to decide if and when your ads should appear in the search results, or on the Display Network.
The data you submit to Google Merchant Center is called the product feed, and has all the relevant information about the product potential customer might need in order to make an informed decision. Google will then use your product data to match a user’s search query to your ads, ensuring it’s the most relevant product.
You can manage these campaigns right in your Google Ads account, where you can set up different ad groups for a wider Google Ads campaign, and monitor all your metrics.
Regarding metrics, since multiple Shopping ads from the same advertiser can be shown during the same auction, the impression share is a little different. Google assigns the impression opportunity to the highest ranked ad from you, while the others don’t go into the overall impression share.
Currently, there are 4 types of Google Shopping Ads you can run. Here’s a quick breakdown:
1. Product shopping ads
Product Shopping ads allow you to include product images, product titles, business name, and the price right in your ad, without needing to create unique ads for each product you have to sell
All the information in the ad comes from the product data you submit to Google Merchant Center, and the ads service will test the best display options to ensure you get the best results.
2. Showcase shopping ads
They are similar to the Product Shopping ads, only, in this case, you can create product groups to show potential customers more of the products you sell and help them learn more about what your store is offering.
3. Local inventory ads
These are the ads that allow you to show your product information to nearby shoppers searching for something on Google.
These are ads designed for local products, and when they click on such an ad, Google directs them to a Google-hosted page for your store, known as the local storefront. Then, shoppers can consult the storefront to see your inventory, schedules, location, and more.
4. Smart Shopping campaigns
Smart Shopping Campaigns are a subtype of Google Ads campaigns that combine the Standard Google Shopping ads with the display remarketing campaigns. It uses automated bidding and ad placement to promote your product all across Google.
It’s a hassle-free way of running highly targeted campaigns that leverages your remarketing list, meaning your existing customers or leads who are often more likely to positively respond when seeing such types of ads.
Within this subtype, you also have the previous 3 Google Shopping ad types to choose from, based on what you want to promote.
Final Thoughts
Google Shopping Ads are an effective way of cutting down on a lengthy sales funnel many eCommerce stores often have. A well-designed ad campaign will not only reach the right potential customers, but they can reach them at the right time when they’re ready to convert.
Australian Internet Advertising is happy to help you set it up. Contact us online or call at 1300 304 640.
