How to target and research competition when running Google Shopping ads

Google Shopping ads are a new marketing trend being adopted by major retailers like Shopee, Tiki, Sendo, etc., due to their positive results. However, it’s not just large businesses with big budgets that can run Google Shopping ads. Even small online shops can set up advertising campaigns with reasonable costs if they know how to optimize Google Shopping ads.

See more: 8 Ways to Optimize Google Shopping Ads

The following article will guide you on how to target your ads, analyze keywords, and assess the level of competition when running Google Shopping ads.

1. Ad Targeting

Defining your advertising goal will act as a “guideline” to help you take the right actions to achieve the original goal you set. So, how should you target Google Shopping ads?

• CPA (Cost Per Acquisition): How much are you willing to pay for one customer? For example, if the average value of an order is 100k and the profit is 35k, how much of your profit percentage would you allocate for advertising? Depending on each stage of your business and marketing strategy, the cost per acquisition in Google Shopping ads can change.

• Building a customer base or making sales: As mentioned above, the CPA you set will depend on your business stage and marketing strategy. If you are new to the market and want to attract customers, you might sacrifice a portion of your profit initially. Once you have a stable customer base, you can reduce the advertising costs.

See more products: Buy advertising accounts

2. Keyword Analysis and Best-Selling Products

If you were asked what you want to sell, the obvious answer would be everything on your website. However, you can’t just throw all your products into Google Shopping ads. So, which products should you advertise? A strategy for the following types of products will help you maximize revenue and improve ad effectiveness:

• “Bait” products: Some products are not the main products and don’t generate much profit, but they act as “bait” to attract customers to your store. Low-cost, frequently used products are excellent bait to create shopping habits and build trust before customers purchase a larger product.

• “Hook” products: Have you ever bought a razor? Typically, razor brands sell a set with the handle and a complete razor blade, which seems normal, but the main goal is to force users to buy their razor blades when they run out. Razor blades are the “hook” products you should run ads for in Google Shopping to boost sales.

• High-priced or high-profit products: There’s no reason not to invest in advertising for such products since they can help you generate substantial profit.

• Low-competition products with high demand: If you happen to have such products in your online store, take advantage of them and run Google Shopping ads.

How to make your products reach customers?

To achieve this, you need the skills and techniques to research keywords.

• Understanding consumer behavior: The length and content of search queries indicate the intent of the searcher. Typically, more detailed search queries show a higher intent to buy. For example, if a user searches for “Nike,” they may just be passing time or learning about the brand. However, if someone searches for “Nike sports shoes,” they may be intending to shop for Nike shoes, and if they search “Nike Zoom Pegasus black shoes,” they may be ready to buy right then.

• Using the right tools: In addition to the skills and understanding mentioned above, you also need tools to measure what your customers are searching for. There are three essential tools for keyword research for your advertising campaigns:

  • Keyword Planner: This is a free tool from Google available within AdWords under the Tools tab. Here, you can enter keyword ideas, and Google will provide a list of related keywords, estimated search volume for those keywords, and the average CPC you’ll need to pay.

  • SEMrush: In addition to AdWords and Analytics data, you should combine SEMrush for keyword research and competition analysis. The tool offers basic free features and some paid options. SEMrush.com provides detailed information about keywords and domains. SEMrush is useful for deep keyword research and finds data faster and in a better format than Google’s Keyword Planner.

  • Keywordtool.io: This tool will list related keywords based on the keyword you are targeting. These related keywords are pulled from Google’s autocomplete suggestions when users type into the search bar. Among the keywords suggested by Keywordtool, you can choose those that are most relevant to the products you sell, which helps your ads appear in more search queries.

3. Competitor Research

Never run ads without knowing who you’ll be competing against and who the toughest competitors are.

See more products: Buy advertising accounts

There are two ways you can use to research your competitors before launching a Google Shopping ad campaign:

• Manual search on Google: Type the keywords you’ve researched into the search bar to see which competitors show up in Google Shopping ads. Factors to consider when researching competitors include: products, images, prices, and suppliers. From this data, you can evaluate which competitors appear the most with different search keywords, indicating that they have optimized their Google Shopping ads well. If you don’t see any standout competitors, this could be a great opportunity for you.

• Using SEMrush: SEMrush helps you quickly identify top competitors in Google Shopping ads (this feature is paid on SEMrush). Each competitor will have a detailed report on the keywords their ads show up for, along with sample ads, so you can review their titles, images, and product prices.

These are the ways to identify your goals and research competitors before proceeding to set up a Google Shopping ad campaign. Stay tuned for the next parts of the detailed guide on how to run Google Shopping ads!

If you need the most reputable payment method and advertising account provider, you can message the fanpage buybm365.com-Ads to receive advice from HT Media. In addition, you can follow the articles. Latest articles related to our Digital Marketing.