A successful Google shopping campaign setup can turn out to be a game changer for anyone’s business. It can get you more traffic, increase your ROI, and improve conversion rates.
But hey, if you do not apply the perfect tactics it can turn out to be very challenging. It will cost you your time and money. So today, from my years of experience and expertise, I’ll be sharing the 10 Best Tactics to Optimize Your Google Shopping Campaigns.
If you apply these strategies properly, I assure you that you’ll benefit. Also, you will get an idea of the benefits of the campaigns, some shopping campaign tips, and FAQs along the way. Let’s Go!
Table of Contents
What is a Google Shopping Campaign?
To put it very simply, a Google Shopping Campaign is a type of online advertising campaign designed for your e-commerce businesses. What happens because of it?
Well, as a retailer, you get to promote your products directly within Google’s search results.
And the users and customers will find it easier to get and purchase your products because of it. Under these campaigns, you get to set up product images, prices, and the retailer’s name from the Google merchant center.
One important thing! You must manage a product feed containing essential details like
- Titles,
- descriptions,
- prices,
- availability.
So, what is the easiest way to generate a feed?
I’d always recommend you use a Google Shopping Feed Plugin to generate one. It won’t just save you time and hassle, but it will also make sure that everything goes smoothly and perfectly.
Again, these campaigns appear in two kinds of search results. Such as-
- standard search results
- dedicated “Shopping tab’’ on Google
It will give you the ability to target specific audiences and geographic locations. Businesses can ensure their products reach the most relevant potential customers.
This is something that I personally find really appealing.
So, to sum up, these shopping campaigns offer e-commerce retailers like us various opportunities to promote our products in the Google standard search and shopping tab results.
Read Also: How Google Ads Are Best For Affiliate Marketing?
How to Optimize Google Shopping Campaigns?
As I said earlier, optimizing shopping campaigns can be challenging, but if you follow the proper strategies, you will definitely be able to pull it off. So, here are some tactics to properly optimize your Google shopping campaign:
1. Optimizing the product feed
Setting up a Shopping Campaign on Google Ads is out of the question until you’ve done a proper product feed optimization. Why?
Google will get all the necessary data from this feed.
This step is incredibly crucial for you. Because if there’s any discrepancy or mismatch between your data feed and your website, Google won’t display your product ads.
So, setting up a perfect shopping feed for Google is a must for you.
There are a couple of other things you need to keep in mind as well.
Having well-organized and up-to-date info about your products can make a big difference in how often your stuff shows up in Google searches. Therefore, you should always use the best feed plugin possible.
The clearer and more organized your product data is, the better chance you have of reaching the right people.
That’s why make sure all your product details are complete and optimized in the product feed.
2. Optimize the Product Titles and Descriptions
Make sure your product titles conclude these must things-
- They are short,
- They are clear,
- It includes words people might use when searching.
Include important details like the brand and model.
This helps your products show up in the right searches. It will create an impression of the customers and catch the eye of potential customers.
Next up, we have the product description. It can definitely make a huge impact as well.
Sometimes google shows products based on their descriptions or based on customer intents. That is where user-generated content or descriptions come into play.
So, the product description must match perfectly with the product.
Try to keep it simple, include the main features and always keep in mind what the customers might search for.
That should do it.
3. Setting up Product Images and Videos
This is an important part. Because many customers do not focus on the title or description. Rather, their eyes go straight to the images or videos of your products.
So, use really good pictures that show your products well.
Follow the rules for image size and format from Google.
You can also try using videos to make your products look even better.
Good visuals won’t only grab attention but will also make the online shopping experience more enjoyable.
4. Proper Campaign Budgeting
This is where many of us suffer.
It’s important to set a budget that makes sense for your advertising goals. Campaign budgeting must be realistic and meet your main goals perfectly.
Here’s some advice. Check how your ads are doing regularly and adjust your budget based on things like product demand and the time of year.
Spread your budget smartly across different product categories to get the best results.
You can set up multiple campaigns if you don’t want to risk everything in one go. Also, always try to keep these things in your mind-
- CPC
- ROI
- Attribution Modeling
- Average Daily Budget
- Monthly Spending Limit
If you find it hard, then you can take the help of Google Performance Planner.
5. Highlight the Best-Selling Products
Many people don’t use this tactic but I’ll always recommend you highlight the most popular products in your store.
Show off your most popular products in your ads. They are the ones people mostly like.
So, try to give them a little extra attention by spending more money or showing them more often.
Remember, if a customer decides to buy a product and is satisfied, they will most likely visit your store. Who knows he or she might turn out to be a long-time loyal customer for you.
Again, keep an eye on how well they’re doing. And adjust your strategy to make the most of their popularity.
Read Also: Programmatic Advertising: What Is It, How Does It Work?
6. Showing Product Reviews and Ratings
Ask customers to leave reviews for your products. And that’s not it.
Put those reviews on your product pages. But why?
Good reviews build trust and make people more likely to buy. It’s like getting a thumbs-up from other shoppers.
If they’re good, show them in your ads too. I always try to show positive product reviews while using multi-channel marketing strategies. Trust me, it really helps to get new customers.
I hope you’ll do the same, and believe me, you won’t be disappointed.
7. Using Seasonal Strategies
Here’s another thing you can do to get a lot of potential customers:.
People often look to buy their needed products on Halloween, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, etc. So, you can use these special occasions to highlight your product.
Here’s something that I do. I try to give special discounts, BOGO offers, free shipments (if possible), or limited-time offers to multiple customers.
Especially when different products from my e-commerce store are in high demand. This always does the work.
So create a seasonality adjustment ASAP.
But there’s something you should keep in mind. If you are using seasonal products, then you must keep in mind the timetable.
So some products go with every season. But if you are using products like summer suits, winter jackets, or special Halloween products, then make sure they match the timetable.
Read Also: A Guide to Tapping into New Traffic with Search Themes in Performance Max
8. Use of Negative Keywords Strategy
Let me ask you a question. Imagine that you are selling high-quality cat foods in your e-commerce store. Now, do you want your ads to show up for a general keyword like ‘cat food?’
No, I believe you want something more specific. So, what do you do?
Here’s where the usage of negative keywords comes in handy. We need to use the unwanted or undesired keywords in the negative keywords section.
It is essential to use negative keywords to have successful shopping campaign optimization. But then again, how do you do it?
- Go to your Google Ads account.
- Choose the ad group in your campaigns where you want to add negative keywords.
- Click on the Keywords tab.
- You’ll find yourself in the Negative keywords section.
- Click the + button to start adding those negative keywords.
By doing this, you make sure your ads are seen by the right people and not wasted on searches that won’t bring you customers.
It’s like telling Google, “Don’t show my ads when people search for these words.”
9. Geo Location
Make your ads more effective by optimizing them for specific locations. When you optimize by geolocation, it means tailoring your ads to specific areas.
Why does it matter?
Well, it makes your ads more interesting to people at specific locations. It will help you to save money and serve at locations you specifically want to.
10. Analyzing the Performance
This one is an absolute must.
Consistently monitor and analyze the performance of your advertising efforts. Always keep an eye on how your campaign is doing.
Analyze things like keyword performance, conversion rate, ROI, CTR, CPC, etc. Take your time and review them properly. See if the existing strategies are working properly.
Experiment with A/B testing to try out different approaches. For both titles and images.
Always try to stay updated about industry trends, algorithm updates, and changes in consumer behavior. It will ensure your campaign stays dynamic and effective.
Read Also: How is Artificial Intelligence Used in Healthcare?
Benefits of Using Google Shopping Campaign
There are some key benefits of using a Google shopping campaign. Have a quick look at it.
1. Increase Traffic
By running a shopping campaign you get to increase the traffic of your website. This is one of the major benefits.
Not only will people buy from your website but some of them will come, stay and have a look.
You can use this as a promotion strategy as well. Customers will get to know about your products and your e-commerce website if you do a proper campaign.
2. Strong Visual Appeal
Including images in your ads allows potential customers to see the product before clicking. It provides a more engaging experience.
This can lead to higher click-through rates and better-qualified traffic.
3. Improving CTR and ROAS
Your return on ad spend and click-through rate can be highly increased. It can maximize the impact of advertising budgets and improve overall campaign efficiency.
4. Increase Sales
Nothing seems more satisfying than this to me. When you publish ads, potential customers get a good visual appeal and idea about your product at first glance.
So they tend to buy more. This undoubtedly increases your sales. You can also use shopping campaign automation tools to increase your sales.
5. Scope of Improving
When you run a campaign you can get different data that can help you in the future.
So you can find an idea of which keywords aren’t performing well, which products aren’t being accepted by the customers etc.
So, you can improve these things a lot more if you want to.
Read Also: How Social Media Can Leverage SMM Panels to Make Significant Connections With Target Audience
Bottom Line
Well, that’s pretty much it. Hope you understand the 10 best tactics to optimize your Google shopping campaigns.
If you can use these tactics, you will certainly benefit from your e-commerce store. You will be seeing an increase in CTR, traffic, and sales. If you have any problems or suggestions, please feel free to get in touch with Make Vision Clear. We believe in the transformative power of clear and strategic vision in branding and marketing.
Till then, enjoy your e-commerce journey.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the average ROI for Google Shopping ads?
The average ROI for Google Shopping ads is $8. So, if you spend $1, you might get an $8 return. But hey, the shopping campaign optimization needs to be done properly.
How to prevent ads from showing up for certain search terms?
Use the negative keyword strategy to avoid ads from showing up for certain search terms.
How long can it take for Google Shopping ads to optimize?
It can take around a few weeks to a few months to optimize and generate sales.
What’s the good CTR for Google shopping ads?
The good CTR for Google shopping ads is around 0.5% to 2%.