It can be quite daunting for SMEs to invest in Google Ads in any industry, but especially in markets where there is sizable competition and large corporations.
By being smarter with the money you invest in Google Ads and making it work for you in an accurate, efficient way you can actually streamline your approach in a few simple steps, driving results and improving your account metrics without needing to go toe-to-toe with big business.
Focus On Your Key Strengths
The disadvantage big corporations have over SMEs is that they tend to move slowly when it comes to making changes to their approach to Google Ads and by comparison:
- Take longer to test new creatives as they have rigid approval and marketing processes
- Lack the ability to respond fast to data changes, as they tend to take a longer view of data
- Have more campaigns, making it harder to spot trends and make changes that enhance results
The advantage for the SME is that being smaller, their campaigns can be scaled up from relatively limited testing of select keywords and products, to ascertain what works and what doesn’t before they increase budgets.
It’s also easier in smaller campaigns to notice data trends and make optimisations at speed, often changing creatives more regularly without the need for stringent processes and approvals.
More Detailed UK Targeting
Corporate ad campaigns often cast wide nets, aiming for huge reach. SMEs can win by being more specific with their audience targeting especially on paid social campaigns by:
• Focusing their geo-targeting on key service areas, areas of affluence or previous customer interaction based on data
• Utilise more organised and focused remarketing lists and lookalike audiences as opposed to using broader targeting.
• Utilise localised search keywords and intent based searches instead of broader queries
By having a hyper focus on more narrower targeted audiences, you can ensure every penny of your ads budget is used wisely on the right locations, audiences and keywords.
This approach simply does not align with a higher spending, larger scale set of campaigns that a bigger corporate establishment would be creating.
Optimise PPC Campaigns For Localised Reach
Search engines such as Google are slowly leaning towards rewarding local businesses in search engine results pages, especially for searches that are heavily localised.
Users can lean into Google’s localised by approach by ensuring:
• Localised ad copy and keywords are encouraged in campaigns
• Optimise their Google Business Profile: Keep it updated, add photos, and respond to reviews quickly.
• Use local extensions: Show your address, phone number, and directions in your ads.
This builds trust with users in a way that bigger, more faceless business simply can’t replicate.
Make Your Google Ads Budgets Work Smarter
While bigger UK brands may throw money at broad campaigns, smaller businesses can out think and out maneuver these campaigns by:
• Setting tight bid adjustments for devices, locations, and times of day that convert best.
• Using exact and phrase match keywords to avoid wasted spend.
• Pausing poor performing keywords and ads to boost a winning formula.
Quality over quantity wins every time in ad auctions.
Summary
In summary, you can outperform larger corporations if you strategically plan your advertising budgets to work for you, not against you.
By taking advantage of smaller campaigns with a more localised approach, clearer targeting and tighter controls you can reduce wasted spend, and increase conversion rate, testing and learning in ways that are simply not possible for larger businesses to keep up with.
Want To Know More?
Looking to learn more about how you can scale up your Google Ads to rival your bigger brand competitors. Speak to our PPC team today and arrange a free PPC proposal.