Google Ads continue to be a best-in-class online advertising source, and according to Google, for every dollar a business spends on Google Ads, they earn eight dollars in revenue through Google Search and Ads. G5 works with our advertising partners to run digital advertising campaigns for a wide range of client needs. Here are a few Google Ads basics, and ideas to level up your digital advertising. 

Google Ads for Beginners

This seems almost too obvious, but advertising on digital platforms used daily by your audience is essential — somewhere like Google, with over 5 billion search queries daily. We know that Google dominates online search, with an average net market share of 83% in 2020. 

Google Ads display your ads to customers searching keywords related to your properties or property amenities. To connect their ads with searcher intent, advertisers bid on search terms and keywords. 

Then, AdRank, a Google algorithm for Google Ads, determines the position of your ads on a Google search engine results page (SERP). AdRank is determined by a combination of keyword bidding and Quality Score, a measure based on the quality and relevance of your ad as determined by your click-thru rate. A higher Quality Score leads to better placement and lower acquisition costs. G5 utilizes every type of Google ad, where appropriate, and knows the ins-and-outs of making sure your campaign will turn marketing into move-ins. 

Our overall goal with digital advertising at G5 is to connect new prospects who are in-market and researching — it could be their next apartment, a senior living community for their loved one, or a storage unit — to our clients’ websites. Then, we trust that our G5 client websites are well designed and high-converting.

Three Things To Think About:

1. Audience

As with anything digital, being mindful of the user experience is important when structuring your digital advertisements. Here are three different ways to segment your audience, and connect with high-intent customers:

  • If a prospect has converted — by filling out a form, scheduling a tour, or calling — you can set up an action in your Google Ads to exclude them from seeing additional advertisements.
  • You may also consider excluding mutually exclusive negative keywords, or in simpler terms, keywords for campaigns you don’t want to happen at the same time. For example, Sam Storage is looking for a storage unit. You could exclude Sam, and a 30-day audience of customers like him, from a display campaign if a separate digital advertising campaign is already targeting Sam elsewhere. 
  • To differentiate your national and local audiences it’s a good idea to exclude nationwide keywords from a local campaign — as the searcher intent is different. For example, if you have properties across the west coast, you would use one set of keywords for a nationally-focused audience. In contrast, if you’re trying to appeal to renters seeking properties near the Deschutes River in Bend, Oregon, you target hyper-local keywords.

2. Keywords

  • High-Converting Paid search ads leverage high-converting keywords and geographic targeting to reach the desired audience. In other words, paid search is a laser-focused advertising strategy on the prospects actively searching for an apartment, storage unit, or senior living community nearby. Consider adding amenity-focused, hyper-local keywords which will help you connect with ready-to-rent prospects. When these terms are queried, your ads appear on a Google SERP, effectively prioritizing your ads ahead of competitors bidding on the same keywords. 
  • Branded Terms While this is an up-for-debate topic, we don’t recommend bidding on branded terms. As your Smart & Trusty Guide, we believe a strong SEO foundation connects searchers to your website when they search your company’s name, and ad spend can be allocated to target specific high-intent, and hyper-local keywords. Read our recent blog, if you’re curious to learn more about selecting the right keywords for your digital advertising. 

3. Remarketing

Prospects search online — for new apartments, storage units, a senior living community — and get distracted on other websites and apps. To remain top-of-mind there are many advertising and remarketing strategies your marketing partner can explore with you. At G5, we believe that remarketing is a great tactic. While the audience you’re remarketing to could be a smaller pool, it’s a group with a higher likelihood to convert. Consider if these two examples of remarketing might be a fit for your next campaign. 

    • Standard Remarketing Involves showing advertisements to past website visitors as they browse on websites and apps within the Display Network. For example, if Rosie Renter researched one-bedroom apartments at a specific property, then Rosie would be remarketed to and shown ads about one-bedroom apartments at that property.
    • List Remarketing You can upload a list of contact information that customers have given you. When those individuals are signed into Google, they’ll see ads targeted for their group. List remarketing is a great way to update current renters on recently added amenities — contactless technology additions, updated COVID-19 protocols and safety measures, or work from home amenities — to remind them of the continued value of your property.

Your Smart & Trusty Guide

Digital advertising is constantly evolving and complex. Working with a best-in-class marketing partner will help you navigate the best choices for your properties. Want to learn more? Schedule a demo.