This is a guest post from Carolanne Hornung, Senior Account Manager at 3Q Digital.
Q4 is here. Advertisers are wondering, “How can I beat last year’s holiday sales?” In this article, we focus on how you can gain the upper hand using Google Ads, Customer Match, and Similar Audiences to meet your holiday goals.
What They Are and How They Work
Customer Match is a Google Ads tool that utilizes your customer email file. By uploading a file with your customer emails, you can target these users when they’re signed into their Google account.
After you upload your customer email file, Google will create Similar Audiences if your list meets the required criteria. Similar Audiences allow you to reach people who share characteristics with the users in your Customer Match file.
Customer Match is currently available for Search, Shopping, YouTube, Google Display Network, and Gmail campaigns. Similar Audiences for Customer Match is available for YouTube, Google Display Network, and Gmail only.
There are several strategies and use cases for Customer Match and Similar Audiences to boost brand awareness and increase revenue. Here are just a few things you can do to get started.
Create Customer Segments
To maximize the benefits of Customer Match, create customer segments based on user behaviors. Depending on how much information you collect from people when they provide their email address, the segmenting possibilities are endless. A few strongly recommended list segmentation examples include:
- Prospects vs. customers
- Customer purchase frequency
- Product or category affinities
Increase Bids for Past Purchasers
An effective way to target your past purchasers is through remarketing lists for search ads (RLSA). With these users being higher quality than those populating other remarketing lists, you can test utilizing higher bids when they search non-brand or competitor keywords. Since these users already trusted your brand and purchased, you can stay top of mind and drive more sales.
Target Broad/General Keywords
Explore targeting very broad or general non-brand keywords with your Customer Match list. This can be done by updating your targeting settings.
For example, a department store could test targeting general keywords such as “shoes.” This may be a risky move under normal situations, but using the “Target and bid” feature limits the reach to people already familiar with your brand. This lets you get in front of your customers again (when they may not be thinking of your brand) and potentially drive more revenue.
Develop New Ad Copy
Use Customer Match to implement unique ad copy that makes use of what you know about the people on your email list by updating your targeting settings, Gmail Sponsored Promotions, or YouTube. Test different ad copy for frequent purchasers versus customers who haven’t made a purchase in over a year. A steeper promotional discount could entice past customers to come back and make another purchase.
Cross-Sell and Upsell
You can use Customer Match to cross-sell or upsell to existing customers to drive incremental revenue. For example, if a department store has a customer file segmented with a list of people who frequently buy children’s clothing, you can target that list of users with ad copy relevant to holiday gifts specifically for children. This may encourage customers to make another purchase: children’s shoes, backpacks, toys, etc.
Expand Acquisition Efforts
Similar Audiences is a great tool to expand your acquisition efforts with Gmail Sponsored Promotions or YouTube. When you’re looking to acquire new customers, Similar Audiences is a great place to start, as it allows you to target users who share similar characteristics and traits with your most loyal customers. Google has a lot of back-end knowledge about users, and leveraging this feature can help advertisers get in front of a new audience and drive more sales.
In Summary
Customer Match and Similar Audiences present advertisers with many great targeting strategies. Get started on building and segmenting your customer lists (and creative/ad copy to test) now. Then, build your strategy and get ready to drive more revenue this holiday season!
