Google offers the most exciting and diverse platforms for PPC advertising at the moment. One of the often neglected ones by many marketers is the Gmail ad or the Gmail Sponsored Promotions it used to be called.
Here are a few great ways you can implement Gmail advertising and get going with your PPC:
- Start by taking lessons from what has already worked best in your email campaigns, if you are doing such. Gmail ads are similar to a very simple and short email. Combine your best subject line with an engaging and visually compelling content.
2. Take advantage of the different formats of Gmail ads available. Once a visitor clicks on an ad they open an expanded section that contains an image and a CTA.
It can feature single product:
You can have a video or an image next to the ad. The button in this format is actually an illusion, as the whole filed of the expanded Gmail ad is clickable and will take the visitor to your landing page. However, having button with a clear CTA prepares the expectations of your customer and is more likely to result in a click.
The multi product variation is fantastic for e-commerce sellers, as they can feature up to
six products with separate pictures and clickable buttons leading to six different landing pages.
The catalogue format is great is you would like to drive visitors to a big inventory and feature several key products (up to three). One big CTA like Go to Guide would be on the top next to your image and separate buttons for each of the products are available.
3. Track performance. Gmail ads have some specific metrics available besides the standard clicks, impressions and conversions like email saves and forwards.
What is saves? If I see an ad which is relevant to me and I would like to keep it in my mailbox, I can star it and automatically I will receive the ad as a starred email in my promotions folder, in case I want to read it later.
This is great as most people will be viewing your Gmail ads on mobile and might not have time to read everything through. Which brings me to my last tip.
4. Make sure everything is really mobile friendly. Google will make sure your ad appears well on mobile. You must optimise your landing pages and website. There is nothing more frustrating than getting an interesting offer and not being able to view the landing page. While building the ad you have option to use different URL for mobile, so take advantage of it if your website is not behaving that well on mobile devices yet.
5. Target by email. here are several options when it comes to choosing who to target. You can upload a customer list for you to reengage with people who already have been given you their emails. Google can create a Customer Match audience which is targeting other people in the same affinity groups as the majority of your email list uploads. (kind of like Facebook Lookalike audience, but voices do not agree on the functionality of Customer Match )
Other ways of targeting can be demographic, by interests, affinity groups, in market segments and also keywords. So happy targeting and see you next week!