How to Increase Brand Awareness with Google Ads?

The robots are coming. In fact, they’ve been in marketing for some time already.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning are core aspects of online marketing now, and everyone in paid advertising is well aware of the power of automation.

Major changes in Google Ads over the past year have opened up a world of new possibilities for online advertising, making the platform more capable and innovative than ever before.

One of the most exciting changes is the introduction of a new smart bidding method called Target Impression Share.

This aims to display your ad on 100% of campaign auctions, which is a real game-changer for building brand awareness.

Let’s see how can make use of a target impression share bidding strategy this year.

What is Target Impression Share Bidding?

The goal is to maximize your search ad impressions. In other words, it aims to show your ads as much as possible.

This automated bids strategy can be used as a standard choice in a single campaign or as a portfolio strategy used in multiple campaigns. Note that it can only be used in Search Ads.

With a target impression share bid strategy up and running, you can let Google Ads take charge of your brand keyword bids, so you’ll have more time on your hands.

Done right, your most valuable keywords will be protected so that you capture the most search demand for your top keywords, effectively fending off the competition.

How Target Impression Share Bidding Works

Once you enabled this setting and set the parameters, virtually everything runs on autopilot, leaving you with a backseat monitoring role.

Here are the parameters to consider:

Ad Position

Where do you want your ads to be displayed? There are three options:

• on the absolute top of the page.
• on the top of the page.
• anywhere on the first page of Google’s Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).

Google Ads will optimize your keyword bids automatically depending on which option you select.

Impression Share Percentage

Once you set the ad position you want, the next step is to set the impression share percentage that you are targeting. This can be as high as 100% and is actually a target share of your advertising budget that will be spent on keywords.

As before, Google Ads will automatically make adjustments to your keyword bids with your set target in mind.

Bid Amount

This bidding strategy requires that you set a maximum bid limit on your cost-per-click (CPC). You should think carefully about this, as setting the Max CPC bid limit too low will restrict your bids, potentially preventing you from attaining your impression share goals.

3 Key Benefits of Target Impression Share Bidding

You should always take your business objectives and campaign goals into consideration when deciding upon a bidding strategy.

As aforementioned, the target impression share strategy is best when your goal is to increase brand awareness. Here are some great benefits of using it with that goal in mind:

• • It’s a purpose-built system — Target impression share bidding has been specifically designed to boost brand awareness.
  • It saves time — As Google Ads will take care of bid optimization, you’ll have more time for analysis.
  • It can reduce costs — Aside from hitting your impression share goals, this strategy can reduce your cost-per-click rate.

How to Optimize the Target Impression Share Bidding Strategy

As with any other strategy, things can quickly go awry if you aren’t paying attention. Without careful monitoring and optimization, your bids could surge so high that your campaign is no longer profitable.

While it may be great to reach wider audiences and hit your goal in that respect, the overarching purpose of paid advertising should always have a positive return on investment (ROI) in mind. Without that, it may make little sense to continue with your campaign.

• Start with a decent Max CPC bid — This will safeguard against wasted spend, ensuring you don’t overspend on clicks. Google advises you to start low, but don’t be too cautious — you must speculate to accumulate! Start with a limit 20%-50% above your current bid. You can adjust accordingly after getting some volume to work from.
• Increase for more volume — If you aren’t attracting the volume you want, push your max CPC up a little. Google Ads will adjust your bids in line with the new bid.
• Tweak and test — Continue with minor adjustments to gauge the impact of your CPC on the impression share. Ultimately, you should be trying to maintain a low CPC while hitting your impression share target.

The More You Know, The Faster You’ll Grow

The rise of automation is great news for marketers. In Google Ads, you can use automated bids to optimize your accounts, which saves your business time and money.

The target impression share bidding strategy is a prime example of putting automation to great use, as it can help your ads establish a strong position in SERPs, giving you more brand exposure at a lower cost.

It sounds easy, right?

It can be, but only if you are committed to learning how to use this strategy effectively. It’s not a one-and-done task, and you must remain proactive with testing to find the right settings for your campaign.

Only through consistent monitoring and refinement can you hope to get the most out of automated bidding strategies like this one. By integrating a reporting tool from PPCexpo, you will be able to develop a clear understanding of the core metrics to track in Google Ads, which will set you on the road to success.