8 tips to optimize display campaigns on Google Display Network

With various types of Google ads available to reach your target audience, you must leverage the power of Google display ads to advertise across multiple websites. The Google Display Network has more than 2 million websites and apps where your ads can appear. You can showcase your product or services to the most likely users to take the intended action with display ads. According to Google, GDN can reach over 90% of all internet users in the world. So, optimizing display ads to build brand awareness, retarget users, etc., would help you accomplish your target goals.

Google display ads allow your brand to appear on the relevant landing pages, apps, online marketing platforms, and other Google Display Networks. The display campaign provides you with the opportunity to earn more qualified leads, increase brand awareness, etc. With a proper PPC audit, you can figure out what KPIs need to be optimized to improve the campaign performance. The GDN ads should be eye-catching to create an urgency for the visitor to take the intended action. You can achieve your target goals with a defined advertising budget. Some tips are mentioned below to optimize display campaigns on the Google Display Network.

What is Google Display Network?

Google Display Network is a vast network that consists of more than 2 million websites, making it the world’s most extensive collection. Using Google display ads, businesses of all sizes can achieve their target goals. They can display ads across browsing websites, during YouTube videos, while checking emails, etc. Google display ads allow you to create text ads and non-text ads. These ads include quality images, videos, animation, etc. While image ads can be run on the relevant websites, you can run video ads on youtube, etc. With proper youtube ads optimization techniques, you can maximize PPC advertising and increase your business ROI. Google display ads can be beneficial for businesses of any size. Organizations already running display campaigns can use this to increase customers’ trust. For businesses just starting with Google display ads, it can be beneficial to popularize the brand name.

Google ads is split into two networks, the search network and the display network. When advertising on the search network, you place text ads in the search engine results. In text ads, you focus on choosing the relevant keyword or search term that users search for most in the search query. On the other hand, you place display ads on many websites across the internet to reach your target audience.

Tips to optimize display campaigns on Google Display Network

• Display ads targeting – ​​With all the efforts to advertise on the Google Display Network, ad targeting is of utmost importance so that the relevant audience can reach your landing page. Targeting helps your GDN ads be more relevant and increases the visitor’s chances to get converted into a customer. With so many ad targeting options, you can target the relevant audience. You can work on some of the points mentioned to increase sales for your business.
  • Topic targeting – Topic targeting allows you to choose from a list of pages on which you want your Google banner ads to appear. You need to make sure that your ads appear on the relevant pages so that your ad budget is not wasted on the irrelevant audience. For example, you may be selling ‘red flowers’ and appearing for ‘buy flowers’ may drain your advertising budget on irrelevant clicks.
  • Placement targeting – Placement targeting helps you to choose which landing pages you want GDN ads to appear on. It allows you to have the best control over display advertising networks and choose places that you want your ads to appear. Since these are paid ads, you would not wish your ads to appear across any Google Display Network as the chances of getting relevant customers from any random display network are very low.

You need to perform a proper PPC audit and then choose the display network you want your GDN ads to appear on. You can select an industry-specific Google Display Network and keep the ad relevant, thus increasing the visitor’s chances to take the intended action.

• • Interest category – With its artificial intelligence and machine learning technology, Google can figure out what the users search most and then display the relevant ads. With interest-category, Google targets the audience with the help of relevant data and then works on interest targeting to show ads. The audience targeting can be done based on two types:

1. 1. 1. In-market audiences – These are the users actively searching or comparing various products or services across the Google Display Network. To make the most of this in-market audiences option, you should prepare a PPC report to analyze what users search the most and then work on PPC strategies to target the relevant audience.
      2. Affinity audiences – Affinity audience helps you to target the audience based on user interests. In the era where social media marketing allows audiences to get in touch with businesses all across the globe, this targeting option would help you save time and increase sales. You can filter users based on interest and then work on personalized advertising to increase the user’s trust.

• • Demographic targeting – Demographics can be used as the parameter that is used to segment the target audience into more specific groups. Working on traits like age, gender, income, location, etc., you can choose the type of GDN banner ads to display to the relevant audience. Demographic targeting helps you to increase impressions and the relevant audience to reach your landing page. Suppose you wish only users aged above 18 to reach the landing page. This targeting option would help you to accomplish it. It would even help you combine various parameters and then choose the ad type to display to the relevant audience. The narrower focus also makes it easier for Google’s algorithm to figure out exactly who and where to target.

• Bidding strategy – ​​One of the most critical points to focus on when running Google display ads, GDN banner ads, etc., is to keep an eye on the advertising budget. It would help you to know how much money is being spent on the PPC ads. You need to be clear about how bidding works on the Google Display Network and then work on bid adjustment so that your advertising budget does not get wasted.

In PPC ads, the price of the display ads keeps changing depending on your advertising goals. Your goal may be to increase traffic on the landing page, build brand awareness, etc. You can work on optimizing cost-per-click(CPC), cost-per-acquisition(CPA), etc. There are myths on PPC advertising which may not be correct every time. For instance, if you have just started advertising on the Google Display Network, paying an extra amount to achieve your targeting goals is meaningful.

When setting GDN ads, you need to define the ad budget that you wish to spend. With options for display ads to work on manual and automated bidding, you need to choose what works the best for your ad campaign. With an automated budget, the ad budget would be safe, but it cannot guarantee the chances of increasing the conversion rate. However, with manual bidding, you know how the ad auction system works and then work on bid adjustment, thus increasing your business’s clicks, impressions, conversion rate, and online sales.

• Quality keywords – With a proper keyword bidding strategy, you can improve the quality score, engage the audience, etc. You need to define the relevant keyword for every ad group. You need to choose pertinent high-traffic keywords so that even if you have to bid a little higher on these, they’ll get a better ROI for your business. These high-traffic keywords are worth paying extra as they help improve click-through rate, average cost-per-click, cost per conversion, etc.

In the Google keyword planner tool, you can choose the relevant keywords that match your business. You have to choose the keywords with high search volume. Keywords are a critical point to focus on as they help in top ranking on the SERPs with a proper marketing strategy. The more relevant the keywords, the higher are the chances for the visitor to reach your landing page and have a high probability of conversion.

• Optimizing images and ad copy – No matter how well targeted your ads are, the ads should be visually appealing and well-written to compel the visitor to click on the GDN banner ad on the display advertising network. In the display campaign, you should focus on optimizing images and keeping them simple and visually appealing. You should try to use eye-catching, relevant images so that the user is compelled to click on your GDN ads. In the display campaign, you should optimize images and adjust them to appear across various devices. With the introduction of mobile-first indexing, the GDN ads should be optimized for mobile devices also so that you can reach the target audience 24/7 across the globe.

In the Google display ads, you should focus on writing engaging ad copy so that the target audience makes a click on the PPC ad. The GDN banner ads occupy a specific space in the app’s layout. The GDN banner ads can appear at any place on the display network, the top or bottom of the screen. The ad copy can be written keeping the following points in mind.

1. 1. Headlines – These are the first thing that users see and should be compelling so that the user clicks on the GDN ad (keeping in mind the headline length). To write engaging headlines on the display network, you can use statistics, introduce statements from industry experts, show discounts and offers, etc. It would help you grab the user’s attention and increase customers’ trust in the product or services you are offering.
   2. Ad content – The ad content will keep the user interested so that they navigate through different sections on the landing page and take the intended action. In the display campaign, you should focus on writing great content. You can focus on optimizing texts, adding relevant call-to-action tabs, including brand logo(so that the visitor recognizes your business quickly), etc. You should focus on keeping the content short and simple that improves the conversion rate.

• Ad placement – You need to decide where to place your ads, like the social media platforms, websites, devices, apps, etc., across which they appear. The placement of ads is another essential factor that you need to keep in mind when advertising on the Google Display Network. The ad space on the partner network should be maximized fully and you should focus on deciding what types of display ads you can run on this. You can also add negative keywords and use account-level placement exclusions for specific websites.

You should place the Google banner ads either on the top towards the right or left. If the landing page has more news articles, blogs, etc., you can even display the ads at the bottom. The Google display ads should be enticing and relevant so that once the visitor clicks on the ad, they end up taking the intended action, thus increasing sales and revenue for the business.

• Ad format – Google display ads have various types of ad formats like text ads, image ads, video ads, etc. You need to conduct an in-depth market study to figure out what works the best for your ad being displayed on the website. The ad format also needs to be chosen, keeping demographic targeting in mind. The ad groups need to be customized according to user interests, age group, etc. For instance, say you can run text ads and image ads across any network, video ads can be run across platforms like Youtube, etc.

You need to be very specific with the images and videos that you are advertising. The content of the image, the size of the image, etc., should be clearly matched so that it is visually appealing to the visitor. With video ads, you need to keep it short and simple to quickly convey the relevant information to the visitor.

• A/b testing – A/b test (also known as split test or bucket test) compares two versions of something to gauge which works out better. A/B testing is an experiment in which two variants of the same ad are created. Let’s take an example to see how it works for PPC ads – it tests the same ad or landing page against each other to determine which version performs better. A/B testing on the display advertising network can be used to test any element of the Google display ads like website copy, product description, social post, landing page, and much more. To a/b test, you can create a campaign experiment on the display network with Google or use any third-party programs to run tests.

• Run Remarketing campaigns – ​​Remarketing allows you to deposit a cookie on the desktop or mobile devices of visitors who visit your landing pages. It gives you a chance to reach out to visitors who have previously visited your landing page with the GDN banner. When customers see the page where you displayed the GDN ad, they are tagged with a special cookie. Using the details from this cookie, you get a chance to get in touch with the visitor again. You can work on content marketing, email marketing, etc., and send personalized messages.

The more ad remarketing links you can set up, the more details you have about the visitor that reaches the landing page. The more you can figure out the information on the visitor, the more strategic you can be when targeting your audience using the Google Display Network.

With the marketing trends constantly changing, Google is constantly expanding remarketing options so that advertisers have an increased number of chances to reach the target audience. Using Google customer match allows you to increase the affinity of the visitor towards your brand.

Round off

Google display advertising is one the best way to get in touch with potential customers. It provides you with the option to get in touch with millions of users across various display networks and show ads to the target audience at the right place and right time. With plenty of display advertising networks available, choosing the right advertising platform for your business may become a bit confusing. Getting in touch with a digital marketing agency can help you skyrocket your business goals as they have expertise in conversion rate optimization, link building, social media marketing, content marketing, search ads, display ads, etc. and perform a timely PPC audit to drive your marketing efforts to increase sales and drive brand success.

References

• 7 Tips to master the Google display network
• A guide to boosting Google display network performance