How to use geo targeting to make your ad campaigns relevant
D id you know you can choose the geographical location where your Google AdWords pay-per-click (PPC) ads are displayed? In AdWords, when you set up a campaign, you can select the location you want your ads to be displayed.
If you are a business that just serves a local area, it’s pretty obvious why you would want to drill down to the metro or city level. But what if your business serves the entire U.S. or even global markets? Why would you want to use this feature? If you have limited advertising dollars, like most of us, you don’t want to waste money.
In most of the companies I have been involved in, the majority of business comes from specific areas. For example, in one company I worked for 80% of customers were from only six different states. This was a company that served the entire U.S., advertised nationally and had over $100M in revenue. This means that over $80M in annual revenue was coming from customers in a handful of states.
In another company that I headed up marketing for, 4 states represented over 80% of the customer base. Interestingly enough, this was a global company that served all English speaking countries.
How you can apply geo targeting to your SEM strategy
One reason you might want to geo target your AdWords marketing is to serve up customized ads and landing pages. For example, if you get a lot of business from Boston, you could create a campaign just for people who live in this area. You could mention Boston in the ad copy and on the landing page to make it relevant. This kind of customization would really increase your click-thru and conversion rates.
This strategy would also apply if you offer products or services that appeal to a specific geographical area. For example, if you sell surf boards online you would most likely want to target areas where there are beaches, warm weather, and decent surfing.
Successful marketing campaigns require diligence. Be creative and focused; don’t take a shotgun marketing approach. Find out who your customers are, target them, and make your advertising relevant to them.
How do you determine what location your prospects and customers are coming from?
Query your company database
- Leads
- Customers
Analyze your Google Analytics statistics
- Click “Visitors” > “Map Overlay”
- You can then drill deeper by clicking on the “Country”, “Region” (State) and “City” to see precisely where your website visitors are originating from.
It’s tempting, when you are doing keyword research (see keyword research links below), to go for the keywords that have the highest search volume. However, if you are in a competitive industry, this can prove to be time consuming and even costly. Contrary to popular belief, organic search rankings are not free. There is a significant investment in time required. Sometimes actual hard costs are involved; if you want to engage in a good link building campaign, hire SEO experts, etc.
