In today’s digital advertising landscape, achieving a strong return on investment (ROI) from your Google Ads campaigns isn’t just about spending more – it’s about spending smarter. While Google Ads is our everyday tool, sometimes we want to go beyond for campaign results. In this piece, I’ll share practical tips to maximise your PPC efforts by focusing on core fundamentals rather than over-the-top strategies 🙂
These strategies will help you:
- Stay ahead of your competition
- Reduce wasted ad spend
- Drive sustainable growth and profitability
- Accurately measure campaign performance
1. Utilising Remarketing Lists for Display Ads
It’s easy to get caught up chasing new traffic—but in doing so, we often overlook one of our most valuable audiences: existing customers. People who’ve already made a purchase are more likely to convert again, making them perfect targets for your Google Display Ads.
When setting up your campaigns, make sure to include remarketing audience lists. Even though display ads are typically seen as top-of-funnel tools, user behavior is evolving. Today, brand familiarity plays a huge role in conversion decisions.
In fact, a recent study found that 26% of users click on ads simply because they recognize the brand. With attention spans shrinking and competition rising, reminding people of your brand through remarketing can significantly improve your PPC results.
👉 Learn more about PPC ads and how to maximize your results in our full strategy guide.
Think about your customer experience:
While browsing the internet, some banners can be disturbing. However, if the brand is familiar, it’s more likely to get our attention. That’s why it’s important to show our display ads to remarketing audiences who have already interacted with your brand. In Google Ads, you can easily upload your CRM data as customer lists and target them in your display ads. Consider segmenting these lists based on purchase frequency, average order value, and product category interest for even better results.
Tip: You can also target your retargeting list for search ads who visited your website but have not purchased it yet. Because SERP is less distracting rather than any page that we intentionally browse.
2. Effective Measurement Metrics for Search Ads
Effective measurement leads to stronger ROIs in your Google PPC campaigns. You’re probably familiar with the “limited by budget” warning on your campaigns, but is it truly a budget issue? Understanding competitive metrics can help you figure out whether your search campaign is underperforming due to rank or budget constraints.
By monitoring metrics like Search Lost Top Impression Share (Rank) and Search Lost Top Impression Share (Budget), you can uncover the real cause of performance gaps. If your ads are losing top impression share due to rank, increasing your budget won’t solve the problem. Instead, focus on improving your ad strength by updating your ad copies to boost your rank and prevent a lower ROI.
Regularly reviewing auction insights reports, along with these competitive metrics, gives you a comprehensive view of your campaign’s performance in the PPC marketplace.
I highly recommend analyzing these competitive metrics and auction insights reports when evaluating your search ads campaigns to improve your overall PPC results. I highly recommend analyzing these competitive metrics and auction insights reports when evaluating your search ads campaigns to improve your overall PPC results. Discover more about our Google Ads services here.
Tip: In your Performance Max (PMAX) campaigns, you can monitor competitive metrics as well.
3. Incorporate YouTube Shorts Ads in Your PPC Campaigns
I’m a big fan of the new YouTube Shorts Ads for lowering my CPVs (Cost Per View) in video marketing campaigns. When incorporating video ads into your PPC strategy, don’t overlook the potential of YouTube Shorts. From my experience with a client, we’ve seen impressive reductions in CPVs after adding Shorts Ads to our video strategy.
For instance, in one of our video campaigns where weeks 4, 5, and 6 had equal budgets, we noticed a 60% reduction in CPV after introducing Shorts Ads in week 4. By targeting a more engaged and mobile-first audience with these short-form videos, we were able to drive more cost-efficient views, significantly improving campaign performance.
Integrating YouTube Shorts Ads into your PPC strategy can be a game-changer, especially for reducing costs and increasing engagement. If you haven’t already, it’s definitely worth considering for your video marketing efforts.
The key to success with Shorts ads lies in proper creative execution. Keep your videos between 6-15 seconds, use vertical format (9:16), and front-load your key messages. Remember that 85% of Shorts are watched without sound, so adding captions is crucial. YouTube Shorts Ads may be new, but they’re definitely worth trying!
Tip: You can use Video Efficient Reach and Video View campaign types for creating YouTube Shorts ads to target different funnel stages in your digital marketing strategy.
4. How to Leverage Customer Data with Machine Learning for Precise Google Ads Targeting?
When working with a large customer dataset, incorporating machine learning can significantly improve your PPC strategy by enabling more precise targeting in Google Ads campaigns. While this may not be one of the core fundamentals, it’s a valuable approach for scaling your results efficiently.
One of the most effective ways to use machine learning is for customer segmentation. Clustering techniques can help uncover distinct audience segments based on their behaviors and interactions. For best results, aim for at least 800–1,000 customer records, three months of behavioral data, and five or more interaction points. Start simple with RFM (Recency, Frequency, Monetary) segmentation before exploring more advanced models.
The outcome? Better-targeted ads, higher engagement, and reduced costs.
Tip: In B2B PPC campaigns, the x-means clustering algorithm is particularly useful. It automatically identifies the ideal number of segments using company data like industry, size, employee count, and interaction rates—giving your targeting a smarter, data-driven edge.
5. Broad Match Keywords in Google Ads: Are They Draining Your PPC Budget?
Broad match keywords can be a double-edged sword in your Google Ads campaigns. While Google actively encourages their use, blindly following this recommendation can lead to wasted spend and a lower ROI—especially in PPC campaigns that lack proper oversight.
Broad match keywords work well in niche or highly specific cases, but in general, they often trigger irrelevant queries that don’t align with your conversion goals.
Here’s how to avoid wasted investment with broad match:
- Use broad match with smart bidding strategy instead of manual bid strategy.
- Apply broad match mainly for your brand campaigns rather than your non-brand campaigns.
- Don’t accept the broad match type for your campaigns just because Google recommends it.
- If you’re using broad match, you should have a longer list of negative keywords rather than any other campaigns. Monitor your search term report diligently.
Also, if your marketing strategy spans multiple channels, such as Google Ads and social platforms, aligning your messaging and keyword intent across both can help boost overall ROI. You can explore how to integrate paid search and social through this social media marketing strategy to ensure message consistency and smarter spend across platforms.
Tip: In the search term report, if you add potential keywords to your campaign, they automatically default to broad match (a subtle trick from Google). Make sure to monitor your keywords and check their match types in your ad groups regularly.
6. Targeting Setting
While setting up your campaigns, after selecting the region or country, the default targeting option is set to ‘presence or interest’. This means your ad could be shown to someone merely interested in that region or country, potentially wasting your budget on unqualified traffic. To avoid this wide targeting, choose the ‘presence’ option to ensure your ads reach the intended audience.
Consider implementing location-specific adjustments based on performance data, and monitor cross-border traffic regularly. Export location reports monthly to identify new opportunities for geographic expansion or optimization. Also, pay attention to device-specific performance differences and adjust your targeting accordingly.
Key Takeaways and Best Practices:
- Maintain a healthy account structure by regularly auditing campaigns, ad groups, and keywords.
- Avoid landing pages that don’t convert by ensuring proper alignment with ad messaging and user intent.
- Leverage remarketing lists effectively across both search and display campaigns.
- Test new features like YouTube short ads strategically to potentially reduce costs.
- Keep a close eye on competitive metrics to make data-driven budget and bidding decisions.
- Use broad match keywords cautiously and always pair them with comprehensive negative keyword lists.
- Consider machine learning for customer segmentation when working with large customer datasets.
- Regularly review and question Google’s automated recommendations rather than accepting them blindly.
Remember, while Google’s platform offers powerful advertising tools, it’s designed to encourage spending. Success in PPC requires a balanced approach between utilizing automation and maintaining manual oversight to ensure your budget is invested wisely for maximum ROI. For more PPC insights and digital marketing strategies, Connect with me here and let’s improve your ad performance together.
