EPISODE 51 OF THE MARKETING SOLUTIONS PODCAST: FACEBOOK AD’S UNSEXY OLDER BROTHER
Sonya:
Today, I am joined by Nams, who is my paid advertising guru. He's amazing. We had him on the podcast a little while ago now, to talk about e-commerce Facebook ads. But he has been crushing it recently when it comes to Google ads. So I thought, you know what? We need to get him back on the show to have a chat about this. Nams, how are you?
Naman:
Yes, I'm pretty good. Pretty good. Thank you for having me once again.
Sonya:
My pleasure. So let's start with the basic, shall we? What are Google ads, and how does that... I guess that then ties into, how does that differ to everything else that shows up on Google?
Naman:
Yeah. So Google ads are really, it is an online advertising platform developed by Google, where advertisers bid to display brief advertisements, service offerings, product listings, even videos, to web users. Really they differ mostly to any of their offering from Google, basically because you can capture that search intent. By search intent, I mean anyone that is typing or looking for your service or product offering online, you can actually now get right in front of them. Which is why Google ads are just such a great tool and great advertising tactic to actually apply.
Sonya:
Excellent. And so basically it's, in really, really, really, really simple terms, it's those first few listings that come up when you type something into Google that have a little blurry ad word next to them.
Naman:
That's right. That is right. Yep, in layman's terms
Sonya:
For all those non marketers out there listening. So what kind of businesses do you find that Google ads work best for? Because I know when I first pitched this concept to clients, they go, "Oh, but I never click on those. I just don't trust them." What kind of businesses do they work on, and what kind of click-through rates do they typically get?
Naman:
I think it varies completely by industry to industry. Really Google ads, like I like to say, are for everyone. They can be applied to all industries that have a fair bit of search traffic for. By search traffic, I mean anyone that is typing or looking for your service online. So for example, we know that people that are looking for protein powders, people that are looking for mechanics, laborers, they usually encompass a lot of search traffic. But we also know that people that are looking for those niche markets, like let's say, baby wipes, or diapers, or eco-friendly hand sanitizers, they are actually not that prevalent on Google. In terms of click-through rates, that really depends on industry to industry. So from my experience, the best click-through rates that we have experienced is via our Google shopping ads, which are essentially the product listings that appear at the top of your page when you type something like buy protein powder, or buy a box of treats.
Sonya:
They're the ones that have the little photo. They've got like the little image. Cool.
Naman:
Yep. They've got the one that has a little image at the very top. And they usually have the best click-through rate. But it also depends on the industry that you also decided. For example, if you are in the banking industry, we know that finance is usually the highest cost-per-clicks. They have the highest cost-per-click, as well as the lowest click-through rate, because not many people will want to engage with a finance ad as much as they would want to engage with, let's say, clothing. And if you are a laborer, so if you're a mechanic or if you are providing that crucial service, we know that people that engage with those ads pretty frequently than your finance ads. And they usually have a click-through rate of over 10%. So it just depends on industry to industry.
Sonya:
And do you think that comes back to maybe a trust thing again? So there's obviously like a lot of distrust with the finance industry. So people see an ad pop up and they're looking more for those organic search results, whereas when they're looking for like clothing or a trade of some description, they're probably in a buying state where they're like, "I have a problem. I need this solved right now." And it's not such a big commitment. Whereas if you're looking for a bank to get your mortgage through, like that's a 20-30-year commitment you're making right there. So I think it does come down to the industry that you're in, what the level of commitment is, the level of trust overall in an industry. Like there's so many factors at play.
And then I think touching on just trades quickly, I don't know about you, Nams, but I found when I was working with a lot of trade-based businesses in Melbourne, that because, especially for builders, the cost-per-click and the amount of competition in those key Melbourne suburbs, where people were doing lots of big house renovations and things, was just through the roof. Why does this happen?
Naman:
So that pretty much depends on Google's auction bidding technology, where really what that means is if you've got a high level of competition in the area, then it's more than likely that your cost-per-clicks will go through the roof. For example, if I go to a local cafe and they're offering offer coffee, is like Clear Darlings. But then if I go to another cafe that's maybe like 10 minutes down the road, and their local coffee that is equally as good, is $2. So which one would I rather go to? Of course, I would go to the one that is the cheapest. This is how Google also works, is they basically display the ads on your front page, on your Google page. And it's basically done via an auction report, where if an advertiser is willing to pay close to, I don't know, like $30 cost-per-click, then Google, would show their ads higher than any other competitors.
But that being said, it's not usually the right tactic where you want to, just scaling up your cost-per-clicks, as high as $30. Of course, there is no profitability to that. So yeah, like in a way, it's a way for Google to make as much money from you, but also to show the ads the highest to the highest bidder.
Sonya:
Yeah. At the end of the day, it is a business. And I think what you've just highlighted is that, is why it is so hard when clients come to me and ask, "Well, how much is it going to cost? How many clicks, or how many sales am I going to get from this?" It varies so much, from location to location, industry to industry. And then it really does come down to how many people are bidding for that keyword or that space at the top of Google at the time. So it can change very quickly as well. And especially like we're coming into a funny time of year at the moment across all advertising platforms, because we've got things like Black Friday coming up, where people go to town with the advertising. We've got the Christmas sales that are coming up. And then post that, we've got a number of different public holidays as well, early into next year. So we typically see that the cost of ads and that placement, is going to increase across that time.
When clients ask me, "How much is it going to cost, and what am I going to get?" It's like, "Well, how long is a piece of string?" But there is a tool out there that can give us a little bit of an indication around search volume and the level of competition, isn't there? Can you tell me about that, and how do we actually access that?
Naman:
Absolutely. So this tool is available on pretty much all your Google ads accounts. It is called the Keyword Insight Tool, where basically, if you are wanting to see how many builders are bidding for a particular search term, and then you can actually just type in, build a house near me, or some form of search term that your consumers would generally type, into this tool. And this tool will therefore then result in, and give you a rough indication of what the search volume is, as well as what a generic cost per click will look like. Google is improving this tool. I think they on day where they just released the latest update, which will also allow you to see how many conversions you can expect based on your website, and how it's optimized, and also based on your prior account history. So this is quite a powerful tool in which you can also plan your marketing for the next, however long that you need to plan it for. And you can also see exactly what are the costs that are associated with Google ads.
But that being said, this is only a rough estimate. And as you said, the auction insights change pretty much every three minutes or so. So it is highly likely that your search terms will have that bit of fluidity to it, where the cost-per-clicks will change. And you shouldn't keep... I cannot take that as a strong estimate.
Sonya:
And I think you've highlighted a really key point there, in that, it's based on how your website is already performing. So as marketers, we can set up these ads, but at the end of the day, sorry, excuse me, it's enhancing what's already working. So we're driving more traffic, highly-targeted traffic to your website. So if you're not already getting inquiries and sales and conversions on your website, then just sending more traffic to it is not going to do anything. And I think that's why so often when we come across struggles with clients or people that come to us that have just started out in business, or their website has never really done anything for them, or they don't have a proven offering, and they want to pour money into ads because they think that's going to fix things. And reality is that, no, it's not. You need to go back and have a look at your conversion rate on your website first, your messaging, the user experience. There's a whole heap of factors that come into play.
Naman:
Absolutely.
Sonya:
Just quickly, why would we have a look at Google ads versus going for the organic listings? What are your thoughts around that?
Naman:
Yes. So organic listings is really your longterm strategy. I mean the best analogy for me is buying a house versus renting a house. Now, renting a house is your short-term strategy where you will get a roof above your head immediately. And that is what Google ads is. It is that immediate effect where if you want conversions right now, Google ads will actually help you get conversions right now. While if you go in the market and buy a house, that is more of your longterm strategy. It would probably take a normal buyer maybe six months to actually buy a house. And that is what a Google organic, or SEO, or ranking as well, where it is more of your six to 12-month strategy instead of your immediate short-term strategy.
Sonya:
And I think it's a really good idea if you have the ability to invest in it as a business, doing SEO, and then while you're waiting for that to kick in, and build up your organic rankings, also having the Google ads running as well. So we are getting those conversions happening. It's a really good idea.
Naman:
There's that double factor going, that's for sure.
Sonya:
Yeah. 100%. So why do we love to use Google and Facebook advertising hand-in-hand?
Naman:
Yeah. So that's actually your best way to maximize the potential of two of the biggest online advertising platforms. Google, where you've got about, I think it has close to billions of searches daily that you can capture via your advertising, while socialist by itself has, I think Facebook has about a 1.8 billion users, which you can also get in front of with your ads. So applying these two tactics hand in hand work quite well, because Facebook is more about generating as much awareness as possible, as much engagement as possible, and also building that brand love, while Google the way that I see it is, if they're really just capture that search intent, capture that immediate conversion, or capture that, build that brand conversion funnel to actually anyone who is in the market for your service and product via a keyword set. And that is why Google actually is better at converting, while Facebook is better at generating your big brand awareness and also your brand engagement.
Sonya:
And I think at the same time as well, if someone has done a search and they've been driven to your website through a Google ad, there's some stat that's like, I don't know, don't quote me on it, but like 80% of people won't take action the first time they land on your website. So if they then leave and you haven't captured their details, what happens? If you've got Facebook retargeting ads set up in the background, then they're going to start seeing you everywhere. And then the aim then, is to drive them back to the website to complete the action that they've set out to do in the first place. So I think that's why they work so beautifully together, hand-in-hand. And when we take on clients, often they'll come to us going, "We just want Facebook ads." And so we'll start them on that.
And once they're getting the return, we'll then go, "All right, let's put some money into Google ads as well." And that's kind of when things really, really skyrocket, which is exciting to see, because I think for a lot of people, Facebook ads seem so sexy. They're like the topic of the moment. Google ads have been around for longer than Facebook has been. So it's kind of like this old, like dinosaur, that's not super sexy, and people aren't talking about it a lot. But it is a really, really handy tool.
So I was just talking to you about this before we started recording. But what we're finding at the moment when we go and get our clients to set up their own ad account, because we like to make sure that our clients do own all of their own ad accounts and it's not held by the agency. What they actually do now, which I think is quite cheeky, is that they will walk you through setting up an ad. And then only once you've done that, will they ask for your payment details. And what that is doing is setting up what is called Google Express ads. And we don't work with Google Express, but it's kind of like the super, super easy, limited targeting option version of Google ads. So why don't we use Express ads? And do you reckon they work? Like if you're a small business with a tiny budget and you're managing it yourself, do you recommend they stick with Express? Or what do you recommend?
Naman:
So basically the way that I see it is Express ads are your extremely basic Google ads, where the best way to actually use an Express ad is to generate as many phone calls or direction requests to your business, instead of actually getting that full funnel strategy into a campaign and having conversions leads. Even sales come through. That is where your more expert ads fall under, which is what we use. While express ads are your basic, like very, very basic Google ad, where you can't even have as many ad groups. So you can't even have that much floating targeting. Express ads are all about capturing your Google My Business details, and then following an ad around through them based on a small radius targeting, or set up targeting, and also getting phone calls and direct requests.
Sonya:
Yes. I mean, if you are a small local business and you've got, say a hundred bucks to spend each month, it's probably not a bad option.
Naman:
It's probably not a bad option. Yeah. But also at the same time, if you have a hundred bucks of spend, then I would probably spend it on Facebook ads instead of going down the path of Google Express ads.
Sonya:
Yeah. And look, I'm with you on that. Because last time I had a look... My voice today. The last time I looked at express ads, I'm not even sure that you can add negative keywords in there. So when I say that these are the terms that you don't want to shop for. So I'll give you an example. Last year, pre-COVID when I was in Melbourne, and I was looking for eyelash extensions, I typed in eyelash extensions into Google, and an ad from a builder for home extensions popped up. So they had not added negative keywords in, they're probably using Express ads, or they don't know what they're doing. So that's just Google's picked up on the word extensions, and it's completely not what I'm after. So that's just one example there.
What are some other common mistakes that you see people make with Google ads?
Naman:
So going back to the Express ads again, basically Express ads also has one big limitation, where it actually gives you the keyword sick as a pre-requisite, while if you are doing ads properly, then you would actually build your own keyword set, and you would build some keyword modifiers, which are essentially the keyword that you want your app to show up for. And Express ads don't allow you to do that. It is your just everyday Express way to actually just to get the ad up and running, which is where I see like the biggest common mistake is the keyword set itself. I see that many keyword sets are completely, I guess, broad term, where for example, if a person is bidding for a keyword related to home building, they would just a keyword called home in their keyword set. But home can actually relate to so many different things. It can relate to house painting. It can relate to like home furniture, home rugs.
There's just so many different things that people are doing with their keyword sets. And nine times out of 10, most of these keyword sets are just completely inaccurate, where they are only broadening their horizon to just capture as much audience as possible. But you want a keyword set that is completely narrowed down and focusing on your right target market. So that is one big mistake I see. The other things where I see is basically a Google ad campaign that doesn't have the right focus, the right targeting, or the right budget. You can't have a $100 per month budget on something that has a very big focus. So by a very big focus, I mean, you kind of expect to target the entire Australia within a $100 budget for something as popular as a protein powder. That's just not going to cut enough. That's just not going to cut it. So that is where I see most of the problems lie, where a good Google ad campaign, it doesn't have the right focus, the right budget, or the right targeting to actually encounter as many leads as you can get.
Sonya:
Yeah. So I think something big that's come out of this interview is, if you only have a tiny budget, go and spend it on Facebook with a really local targeted area. If you're a marketer listening to this or a business owner really wanting to learn more about Google ads, where do you recommend people start, Nams? There any great courses you've taken? I know Google has Google GarageBand, I think they call it, which is such a funny name, that is a free course that can take you through some of the basics. But is there anyone you follow or anything that you recommend as a resource for people?
Naman:
Yeah, absolutely. So Google has this other thing called a Google skill shop where people can go and learn more about Google ads. I think it has some pretty collaborative and interactive courses which you can partake on. And it also gives you the ability to formalize your learnings, by giving you a certificate at the very end. So it's pretty useful and collaborative tool. The other things where I would... Like the key influences in this market, are Neil Patel. So definitely go and look at neilpatel.com. Also look at SEMrush, which is basically your every day search engine, marketing tool, and ideas, and how to actually do search engine marketing. So I would definitely go and look at those three resources.
Sonya:
Fantastic. Well, thank you so much for taking the time to come on again, Nams. Some really useful information there. I appreciate it.
Naman:
Cheers for that.