Doing your own Google Ads marketing – how hard can it be?
By Stephanie Oley

By learning a little about Google Ads from both a marketing and search point of view, you can achieve noticeable results for your business.

Which marketing activities should you fulfil in-house, and what should you outsource? That’s a daily question for most marketers, and running Google Ads is a case in point.

Let’s start by looking at the various ways businesses can be found online. There’s search engine optimisation (SEO), which involves using keywords strategically to attract audiences searching for specific terms. There’s social media marketing, especially for businesses with unique products or strong followings. Mailing lists and referral strategies also help drive traffic to your website.

However, all of the above require a long-term approach while you wait for the website to build its authority.

By contrast, Google Ads allows businesses to fast-track that waiting time and convert customers more quickly. It also meets the needs of users themselves, serving up the answers to their queries within seconds. And it works.

According to Google’s data, the top three paid ads in Google’s results receive 41 per cent of all search clicks. Further, the average business earns $8 for every $1 they spend on Google Ads. (Note that Google’s data does not specify the different regions or strategies behind this level of investment return).

By learning a little about Google Ads from a marketing and also a search point of view, you can achieve noticeable results for your business.

The case for managing your own campaigns

Clarity is one simple reason that many marketers run their own campaigns. Planning Google Ads yourself allows you to maintain direct control over your budget, strategy and creative elements. You can monitor and adjust campaigns immediately, without relying on third parties that may have a minimum turnaround of several days.

However, the challenge lies in setting up and optimising your campaigns, targeting the right audience and then interpreting the results correctly using Google Analytics.

The cost per click (CPC) of your selected keywords has an enormous impact on your return on investment, so you’ll need to select them carefully. That’s because when hundreds of businesses are competing for the same keyword, such as ‘law firm Sydney’ or ‘IT courses near me’, the cost is bid upwards. With that said, most Australian small businesses spend an average of $2 to $4 per click, or anywhere between $1,000 and $10,000 per month on their Google Ads.

Is there a way around cost per click, you may ask? Not unless you have the type of budget available to global insurance comparison site, Compare the Market.

Thanks to its decade-long Compare the Meerkat campaign, users know to search for ‘compare meerkat’ instead of ‘compare the market’ – a significantly lower keyword cost. The campaign, featuring a comical family of fictional Russian meerkats, has transformed brand awareness and market share for the business, even if exact campaign details are not available.

Getting the most out of your budget

Useful tools and resources to identify high-performing keywords include Google’s inbuilt Keyword Planner, along with paid services such as Ahrefs, Semrush and Ubersuggest.

Make sure to choose the most specific search terms possible to describe either your top offering or the customer pain-points it meets, or both.

For example, an online retailer might add the colours and sizes available for their product, not just generic terms such as ‘running shoes’ or ‘two-person tent’. A business consultancy might target keywords such as ‘cybersecurity advisory’ or ‘financial risk management service’, rather than attempting to promote broader service packages.

You’ll also want to ensure that your search strategies actually deliver a good user experience, not just white noise. For example, you can assign keywords to different ads that direct users to specific resources, such as landing pages offering valuable white papers or case studies. They can also be placed on sign-ups for free webinars or direct inquiries for consultations.

Once your initial campaign is live, you will need to use Google Analytics so you can continue reviewing and refining your search terms, ensuring ads promise to answer the most relevant queries.

Navigating Google’s many updates

A common gripe among marketers is that Google’s systems are regularly updated. Strategies and pricing changes, tools are added and retired, and pricing structures fluctuate. Even the steps to carrying out certain tasks can feel different, thanks to the system’s inbuilt machine-learning approach that regularly streamlines different steps.

However, familiarity with the Google ecosystem will help set you up for long-term success. You can learn more about Google Ads in as little as a day, where your facilitator and peers will help to demystify the dashboards and help your business get found on Google.