If you’re hesitant to pay for a Google Ads brand campaign, you aren’t alone. After all, when a user searches for your brand name, your website may already show up first in the organic listings. Why should you pay for clicks using branded ads? Especially if your budget is tight, is it actually worthwhile to put any of it toward branded keywords? What’s the point? Although we understand the hesitance, there are actually several critical reasons why you should bid on your own brand name. Let’s dig a little deeper . . .
What Is a Google Ads Brand Campaign?
A Google Ads brand campaign is a search campaign that includes branded keywords.
As a reminder, according to Google, search campaigns are “text ads on search results that let you reach people while they’re searching on Google for the products and services you offer.” So, when you organize a brand campaign, you’re including your company name, product names, or even names of your team members (if you’re a doctor or attorney) in the keywords of those text ads. You might also include popular misspellings of your brand name.
One of the primary reasons that people use brand campaigns is that they’re effective because people searching for your company’s name are already familiar with you. Maybe a friend recommended you to them. Maybe they spotted your ad in the local newspaper. Maybe they drive past your shop all the time! Then, when they search for your name, they see one of your ads at the top of the search engine results page (SERP)! Because these users are already familiar with your company and clearly wish to learn more about it, the click-through rate for branded keywords is often high.
Why You Need a Google Ads Brand Campaign
1. You can’t control organic listings. You can control ads.
When your website appears in organic listings, Google crawls your website, and its algorithm chooses what to display. Although you can suggest a meta description and title tag, Google may ignore your ideas to try to match the intent of the searcher’s query. Sometimes this works out fine, but other times, it creates a messy and disorganized listing that isn’t as appealing to the searcher. A statement may be taken out of context. The most critical features of a service may be left out. The listing is out of your hands — you simply have to employ good SEO strategies and hope for the best!
But when you pay Google to display an ad in response to a specific search query, you get to control that ad. You can use vocabulary that conveys your brand’s message, mention specific benefits you offer, highlight popular products or services, announce a sale — whatever you like! So long as it fits within the character limit. You can also include additional assets in your campaign, which extend the ad listing, enhancing your ad’s prominence on the SERP and allowing you to provide helpful resources like site links, a call button, a map of locations, and more. Searchers are more likely to select ads with extensions because they take up more space and often give the user more helpful information.
2. Dominate the SERP.
Have you noticed how much SERPs have evolved over the years? They constantly appear in unique variations as Google tries to satisfy users’ queries. But even as SERPs morph and adapt, one thing remains constant: Google Ads. By choosing to create a brand campaign, you’re making certain that your website will appear at the top of the SERP. And if you combine your advertising efforts with SEO, you’re also boosting your visibility and increasing your presence on the SERP. Even if the organic listings change, your ads will remain constant and make it more likely that a potential client will click on your website versus another. Dominate the SERP!
3. Protect your brand from shrewd competitors.
Did you know that your competitors can bid on your brand name in Google Ads? In the world of online marketing, this is a relatively common practice. Some people call it brandjacking. For a surprisingly low price, your competitors can snag users aiming to visit your website. Some searchers will scroll past their ads, but others may inadvertently end up on your competitor’s website. Or, if your competitor’s ads are well-written and effective, they might be convinced that they’re the better choice! Fortunately, you can prevent this by bidding on your brand name keywords for a relatively inexpensive price.
4. Win traffic for your generic brand name.
Is your business name also a generic term or a common search query for other businesses? For example, if your brand name is Heather Heights Pharmacy, and you’re one of a few pharmacies in the Heather Heights neighborhood, searchers looking for you might find one of your competitors — or vice versa. In this case, running a brand campaign should be considered essential. Protect your brand name traffic from competitors bidding on the non-branded keywords that just so happen to make up your company’s name.
That said, if your brand name happens to be a generic word that doesn’t directly correspond with your products/services, you may wish to reconsider. For example, let’s say you own a pet grooming service called Dog Bones. Someone searching for “dog bones” is likely hoping to buy . . . well, some dog bones! If they stumble upon your grooming service instead, they may be confused and irritated. Although you could gain a high amount of traffic by bidding on the keyword “dog bones,” your bounce rate would likely increase as well. The traffic may be ineffective and not worth the investment. This is why it’s crucial to choose the right brand name.
5. Invest in your company for a low cost.
As we’ve mentioned a few times already, bidding on branded keywords is relatively inexpensive. These keywords are available at a significantly lower cost than non-branded keywords, making them a low-risk investment. Additionally, you get to control the verbiage used in these ads and choose their landing pages, allowing you to pick highly relevant pages that will hopefully lead to more conversions. Not to mention the fact that because of their low cost, branded ads are a good place to experiment with new ad copy.
_____
If someone searches for your brand name online, they’re likely pretty interested in your products or services. So, why not take advantage of that interest? A Google Ads brand campaign gives you more control than organic listings, allows you to dominate valuable SERPs, protect your brand from competitors, and invest in your company for a low cost. Why not give it a try?
If you’re interested in running a branded ad campaign, contact 417 Marketing for help. Our team of knowledgeable, creative, and passionate professionals specializes in SEO, web design and maintenance, and Google Ads, and we have successfully completed over 700 websites since our inception in 2010. Contact us and learn more about what we can do for your company.
