Google ads continues to improve its toolset to bring the most value to a businesses marketing campaign. One such improvement is the new Local Ads Campaign. This campaign type allows businesses to market locally with a focus on increasing in-store sales. In this article, we discuss how to use Local Ads and why it should be a major part of your marketing strategy.
What Are Local Ads Campaigns
Local Ads are focused on bringing visitors to your brick-and-mortar location to help you reach your in-store sales goals. These campaigns allow you to showcase information about your store including businesses hours, offerings like pick up or delivery, and even an option to order online.
Using the Google advertising network, you can show ads on a variety of channels such as YouTube, Maps, Display, Search and Google My Business. Just provide images, videos, text, locations and enter a campaign budget. Google then uses its algorithm to build an optimized advertisement that maximizes your reach.
How to use Local Campaign Ads
Since the focus of Local Ads is on in-store visits, you must determine what your goal is when a visitor enters your store. It’s likely that you’re trying to make a sale, but what are you selling and how likely is your visitor to purchase it?
This is where staying in contact with your customer base is important. Visitors who are familiar with your shop are more likely to purchase upon entering than those who are not. Use as many methods as possible of getting your potential customer familiar with what you offer. For example, a shoe store may use Local Ads to showcase their inventory to attract people to come visit. They can also be used to bring awareness to users who need new shoes but might not know of your store’s location.
Further, Local ads can help bring in visitors unfamiliar with the area. For example, say you own restaurant and you’re looking to increase your competitiveness in the area. Travelers are more likely to patron the restaurant they’re already familiar with. Local ads helps you compete with those restaurants by showing your ad when a traveler searches for “restaurants near me” for example. Also, if they search for a well-known restaurant that’s like yours, Local ads will place your ad above the competitors listing and describe it as a similar option.
How To Setup Local Ads
Setting up your local ads is a simple process. In your Google Ads account, go to New Campaign. From there, select Local store visits and promotions then selection the Local campaign type. Once you have that completed, add some text with information about your business. This should include information on what you sell, product features and a call to action.
Next, find some photo’s of your business that offer a detailed look of your store and your inventory. If you own a restaurant, consider adding images of your food. Finally, add any videos you might have showcasing your product and enter a campaign budget.
All you need to do now is keep an eye on your ad’s performance. Be sure to keep updated information like your current business hours as well. It’s also a good idea to change up the ad copy to keep things fresh for your customers occasionally. With those details in place, you’ll be on your way to increasing your in-store performance.