How to Save Money on Google Ads

Want to save money? Who doesn’t?

Every digital marketer on the planet wants to boost their bottom line. However, Wasted Spend is inevitable, and the knowledge that you could have invested it in something better just rubs salt in the wounds.

Marketing guru John Wannamaker highlighted the problem a century ago, when he said, “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.”

But this is the digital age. Today, digital marketers have access to sophisticated marketing analytics technology that enables them to make smarter decisions.

Are you ready to start saving by reducing your Wasted Spend?

Main Reasons for Wasted Spend

Wasted Spend is calculated by multiplying non-conversion clicks by average cost-per-click, giving you a percentage of the advertising budget that is being wasted.

If that figure exceeds your budget threshold, it may be time to act.

Here are a few key reasons for advertisers incurring Wasted Spend with pay-per-click (PPC):

• Poor keyword choices for their campaign
• Clicks from outside their target audience
• Under-optimized ad relevancy

How You Can Resolve Wasted Spend Issues

Quite often, the root of the problem is a lack of time or expertise for in-depth keyword research. Many companies don’t invest the resources in keyword discovery, preferring the crapshoot of broad match keywords instead as they’re easy and require little thought.

While they can spread brand awareness, broad matches leave you open to some significant waste, as you’ll generate a lot of irrelevant clicks.

Avoid this Rookie Mistake

Don’t make the mistake of bidding on generic, broad keywords, just because they have a high price. The price is high because inexperienced marketers are driving the price up. Google keyword analysis can mislead people by assigning a high competition score to a keyword. High competition may not translate into high value.

In the end, these terms won’t bring you the targeted traffic you need. All those clicks mean nothing if they don’t lead to conversions.

Get Specific

At least 60% of your keywords should be long-tail, focusing on specific terms that target people further along the buyer’s journey. Also, give preference to exact match keywords, with only some phrase, modified and broad matches. This exercises tighter keyword control, ensuring a better ROI.

Use Negative Keywords

Imagine you’re selling new cars. The last thing you want is a lot of request for ‘used cars’. By including the word ‘used’ as a negative keyword, you can filter out irrelevant search queries. Try to maintain a close ratio of normal to negative keywords, so that only qualified leads see your ads.

Know Your Audience

Today, every market is saturated. To have any chance of standing out from the competition, you must understand your ideal customer.

Just by considering where they are, you can save on wasted spend by advertising only to a specific region. Before wasting money on a poorly-planned campaign, take the time to really get to know your audience. Who are they? What are their pain points?

Research indicates online shoppers are more receptive to personalized content. By leveraging information on their interests, you can include personalized recommendations in your ads, increasing engagement.

Ultimately, with smarter keyword research and the help of data analytics, companies can refine their advertising to offer tailored content that captivates their target audience. In the long run, this reduces wasted spend and optimizes advertising campaigns for higher conversions.