How to Use Google Ads for Promoting your Dropshipping Store

The very first thing you need to know about Google Ads is that it is a platform for paid advertising and is considered to be a PPC channel. Now, you may wonder what a PPC means? Well, let’s dive into some thorough definitions. PPC or Pay-per-Click ads are paid advertisements that appear when someone is searching for a particular keyword on Google. The advertisements are always appearing alongside the organic search results on the search engine results page (SERP). Nowadays, entrepreneurs and other business stakeholders are using PPC in order to increase their presence on the market and raise their brand awareness.

Simply put, Google is the most popular search engine in the world and grabbing more than 86% of the market share. Moreover, the ads on Google can reach more than 90% of the users worldwide. When we compare this information with the organic results obtained from this search engine, we get a 50% higher probability of conversion, all from the ads campaign. In addition, when a buying intent is introduced to the keywords that are part of these campaigns the number of the ads that will receive clicks reaches 60%. So, it is safe to say that your dropshipping store will be seen by millions of shoppers that are looking to purchase products you cover in your offer, and the direct culprit for it would be the keywords.

Every business that is eager to enter the Google ranking competition must have ads that will contain keywords set for targeting a particular audience. Entrepreneurs have to bid on these keywords by investing money and providing every piece of detail Google requests in order for these ads to be displayed once all the certain points are met. Every search query consists of a background ‘competition’ which ultimately ends in displaying the winning ad for a certain keyword. The outcome of this ‘competition’ is determined by several factors: targeting, the strategy of bidding, and quality score. To put it simply – whether your ads will appear on the Google SERP page is directly related to these factors.

Reaching your target audience with Google Ads is probably the easiest but at the same time the most complex task for any business, dropshipping included. However, with the help of certain parameters provided by this tool, you can quickly get a hold of this process and turn it into a more enjoyable process that will ultimately benefit your business.

The several parameters that you need to take into account are the following:

With this parameter, you can set the desired location whether it is a city, a state, or a country. In fact, you use Google Maps, which is an integral part of Google Services in order to specifically set a potential target audience.

The demographics parameter lets you set the age, gender, and other status-related attributes in order to narrow down your target audience and focus on the group you have selected.

Along with the demographics parameter, you can also use the language parameter so that you set the language preferences to align with the ones of your target audience.

Using keywords is very important for targeting because it forms a clearer picture of your desired customers and helps reach them easier.

In contrast with the previous parameter, this parameter allows you to exclude a certain target group that is not of your interest.

This parameter allows you to target an audience based on the device they use. Bear in mind that half of all of the Google ad revenue stems from mobile devices.

Overall, in order to get significant traffic and attract new customers to visit your dropshipping store, you might want to focus on certain parameters and make the winning combination. In addition, thorough dropshipping keyword research can get your business thriving by generating new leads and landing sales.

Google offers five types of ads: Search Ads, Display Network Ads, Video Ads (YouTube), Shopping Ads, and Universal App Ads. Each ad type provides a different outcome for the user and has its own purpose. Let’s explain these types of ads more thoroughly.

The Google Search Ads appear on the search engine result pages right beside the organic search results. These ads are mainly used as a tool for exposure and are focused on customers who have already been searching for the products that are part of your offer. Therefore, paying for these ads will increase your chance of being seen on the first page of Google, and will get you an advantage over other potential competitors.

It is very smart to invest part of your budget for the branded terms although you might already be appearing in the search results due to the organic SEO ranking. In essence, this is very important because your overall presence will lead customers to open your offer and even make a purchase. Lastly, be sure to perform branded keyword research as that will show you what your potential customers are searching for and might help you set a better targeting, but also improve your online appearance. And, of course, do not forget to make use of the competitor’s branded terms, because customers that are searching for their products might also show certain interest for yours, as well.

As their name suggests, these ads are predominantly shown across the display network and in accordance with your targeting setup. They are primarily used for growing brand awareness and are aimed at attracting new people, even if they are not searching for your products. In fact, this is done through their form which contains an image. If you are a dropshipper that is just starting in the business world, you need to consider investing part of your budget for these ads as they will help you raise your brand awareness and reach out to people with your offer. As a matter of fact, the display ads allow you to creatively present your product offer and catch the eye of potential buyers, especially if you are focused on dropshipping branded products.

The Display ads might come as a very handy tool for discovering and targeting a similar audience. In other words, you can use the retargeting campaigns as a solid base for finding an audience that might like your products and target it with clear and concisely crafted display ads, that will surely attract customers to click them. Overall, you are in a position where you are building a quality target audience that ultimately will lead to more conversions in the future.

Google Shopping Ads are a thorough representation of your products along with an image and detailed information and are intended for consumers that are already considering buying something from your product offer. In essence, these ads use the Google Merchant Center data to create an offer that contains all the information you have provided. That way you are building a base of qualified leads.

Shopping ads are the perfect option if you are offering some seasonal or short-term discounts and you want these discounts and saving offers to reach the targeted audience. Due to the extensive description and thorough overview displayed with these ads, customers can easily determine whether the products you are offering are a match for their needs. Thus, the clicks you will get from this campaign will be from customers who will probably come to your store to make a purchase.

Additionally, you can add negative keywords to your Shopping Ads in order to chase away the possible unwanted traffic that will not result in a purchase.

If you want your product to be marketed in front of a relevant audience, Video Ads on YouTube are a great option. YouTube is currently the biggest video platform in the world with more than 2 billion registered users, so using it as a platform for your potential customers is more than necessary. Moreover, with video ads, you can easily send the intended message to your targeted audience in a more creative manner. These ads support demographic targeting so you can easily narrow down your audience in order to get the best out of the ads. Of course, creating a separate ad for every keyword can be a matter of upfront financial planning as it might cost a bit more than using all the other types of ads.

These ads are mainly used by dropshipping stores that have a mobile app despite their website and are used to increase the number of people in the sales funnel. In essence, the Universal App campaigns direct the customers to the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store and are designed to target different portions of the marketing funnel from your dropshipping store application.

For starters, you really need to make sure that you are on the right track with your keywords, by doing a thorough research and then strategically planning your next steps in investing in these ads. In general, the best results from these campaigns come if you are targeting the bottom of the sales funnel or the customers with the highest intent of purchasing. That is why it is very important to target keywords that are more specific instead of generic ones. Using too generic keywords such as “clothes”, “sneakers”, “hats”, and “scarves”, will not even bring you conversions as they do not have the intent of the buyers as a crucial element for making a purchase. On the other hand, targeting keywords such as “Dolce & Gabbana casual sneakers” will target a specific audience segment that is already aware of the existence of these particular sneakers and has an intent for purchasing them. In fact, this is the reason why dynamic remarketing campaigns are the ones that perform the best.

These remarketing campaigns are actually using the Dynamic Product Listing ads feature of Google which is basically extracting all the information used in the Google Shopping ads and applying it in the Display Network instead. Due to the fact that these ads require the same detailed information as the Google Shopping ads, in order for you to be able to run an effective campaign, it is necessary to have a Google Merchant account that will already be loaded with the information about your products and product offers from your dropshipping website. In the end, the main point of these ads is to be shown to an audience that has already visited your dropshipping store and is interested in your products. However, what’s different is that the dynamic remarketing campaign will show ads of the particular product people viewed on your website.

Other types of campaigns that perform well are the Google Display campaigns that are using the GDN as their vessel. In fact, the display ads fall into the group of interrupting marketing, which basically means that the person that sees this ad is not looking for it and is currently looking into something different. Although you can target similar audiences with these ads, in the beginning, it is better if you use these ads with remarketing campaigns. This way you can be sure that the audience you are going after, is a real audience that has already visited your website and is only one step away from making a purchase. Additionally, you can add a certain promotion in order to intrigue them to click on your ad. What you should be careful here is not to ‘stalk’ your audience for a long amount of time, as this will only push your potential customers away. If you are a niche dropshipping store that sells luxury clothing, you should follow your audience for a week or two weeks but no longer than that. Constant bombardment with ads can make people feel overwhelmed and they will avoid your offer.

Promotion strategies seek a careful approach and there are numerous tools nowadays that can help you with preparing the most suitable marketing strategy for your business. Dropshipping businesses can largely depend on this type of marketing and should invest a fair amount of the revenue in order to stay relevant on the market and always appear on the internet. If the execution of this process goes smoothly, the results will be almost immediate, in the form of increased website traffic, generating new leads, and witnessing new conversions. Whatever type of ad campaign you decide to choose, it is important to remember that, without thorough research and preparation, you cannot reach the desired results. In fact, you will be only spending money and getting nothing in return. We hope that with this extensive guide we managed to get you thinking ahead and provided some sensible information about how to promote your online store that can be used while planning your next campaign on Google.