Different Campaign Types for Google

Google ads are the most popular PPC network for marketers. One of the main reasons is the suite of ad types readily available for businesses. Google provides businesses endless opportunities to connect with a prospective audience and grow their brand. Whether you want to develop text-based search ads that come up in the search results or run shopping ads by posting product listings, you can do all of this within Google Ads.

Jumping into Google Ads as a small business with little or no experience can be daunting. There are many tools that you will need to be familiar with to get the best ROI from your campaigns. That’s why Google created Google Smart Campaigns. Before you get too excited, there are some things you should know about this feature.

If you aren’t familiar with this advertising tool, don’t worry. We’re here to break down what these ads are and why you might not necessarily want to utilize them.

Let’s dive in.

What are Google Smart Campaigns?

Google Smart Campaigns is an advertising option found in Google Ads. These campaigns are a style of PPC ads that have more automated functions. It’s an easy-to-use, simplified solution that many small businesses default to when they don’t know their way around Google Ads.

With Google Smart Campaigns, the process is simple. It only takes around 15 minutes to get your ads up and running. After five small actions, your ads will be ready to go and be seen by others. All Google asks for is the following:

• A CTA
• Business information
• Website link
• Headlines and description
• Budget

It’s that easy. However, some may say it’s too good to be true.

Why we don’t recommend Google Smart Campaigns

Google knows what they’re doing. They know there’s a market for small businesses and individuals who want to get their feet wet with paid advertising but don’t know where to start. That’s why they developed Google Smart Campaigns.

We get it. You want to jump right into paid advertising. You see the success other businesses have with this marketing tactic and want to experience the benefits for yourself. However, if you jump into Google Ads with no strategy or firm understanding, you’re less likely to see the results you want with PPC.

Here are a few of the cons of Google Smart Campaigns:

A simplified solution means fewer customization options

This style of campaign simplifies PPC ads. Which is great for beginners. However, it does remove customization capabilities. Customizing your advertising strategy as a beginner isn't always as easy as it seems. However, these customizations are what make ads more strategic and successful.

One of the major drawbacks is the limitations to keywords. You won’t be able to specify keywords or add any negative keywords. You can only specify your keyword themes. From there, Google handles the rest. This means you can't personally optimize your ads or make meaningful changes based on the data and analytics.

There are also limitations with keyword analytics. You won’t be able to see any specific search terms individuals used to get to your site, and you won’t be able to view any in-depth reporting on your campaign. This means your marketing team won’t understand the ROI or know if the ads are beneficial to your marketing strategy.

Less control of your budget

Google claims that for every $1 you spend on paid ads, a company on average receives $2 in revenue. This may be true for some PPC ads with a well-thought-out strategy and if you have a marketing professional optimizing and monitoring your ads.

However, with Google Smart Campaigns, you set a budget for your ads, and Google takes control from there. They automate everything for you, which means they also decide how much you bid on certain keywords. If you let these advertisements run in the background for too long, you risk spending too much money on the wrong things. Since they also limit the data and analytics, you won't have any idea how successful these ads were and if you should continue to allocate more budget.

It’s a broad approach to PPC

Smart campaigns don’t allow you to be as strategic as you should be with your targeting. That means your ads might not be seen by the right individuals. Google Smart Campaigns uses a keyword match type known as board match. Broad match means that your ads show for any search related to the keywords or synonyms.

Google Ads also uses broad matches, but it’s much more granular and helps pinpoint your audience more accurately. They utilize phrase match and exact match as well.

This means your budget could be spent on keywords that aren't profitable and are unnecessary.

How Webgrowth can help

Google Smart Campaigns aren’t your only option. If you don’t know your way around Google Ads and want to get the most out of your advertising budget, we recommend leaning on a professional partner that can help you see results. The team at Webgrowth is highly skilled and knowledgeable in Google Ads. We can help you develop a PPC strategy that helps you achieve your goals and see an actual return on investment.

If you’re ready to take your marketing to the next level or want to learn how we can help you develop a result-driven strategy, contact us today.