Finding true love is seemingly impossible these days. It’s elusive, and it always seems to evade you at the last moment.
What am I talking about, here? Well, overall, I’m talking about missed connections. In these situations, two people meet but don’t exchange critical details, such as their contact information. Although you might think these kinds of occurrences are limited to Craigslist, this isn’t the case …
When it comes to your digital marketing strategy, more likely than not, you’ve flirted with AdWords. Sure, you’ve gleaned as much information as the first encounter affords—how it looks, a rudimentary understanding of its value—but you’ve likely neglected some of it’s more awesome features that you’d only learn about on a second or third date.
The Only Problem, Though?
Developing a relationship takes time and patience—both of which you might not have.
If you’re busy trying to hire and retain the right employees, systemize your workflows and grow your brand’s presence, when will you have the time to go on a normal date, let alone start a relationship with AdWords? In all honesty, you might not.
I’ll confidently say that I’ve dated people casually in the past. I will also tell you that every single one of those relationships crashed and burned. I didn’t have time to maintain them, so they didn’t flourish, and (eventually) they just failed—leaving me sad with an entire quart of Ben and Jerry’s on my couch. (Don’t act like you haven’t been there, you’re no better than I …)
However, as I’ve grown in life and love, I’ve gotten smarter. I’ve realized that I don’t need to make things more difficult than they have to be—an epiphany I’ve applied to all facets of my life.
Well, almost all of them … I’m not asserting that you can outsource human-to-human dating—although I might be on to something there … What I am suggesting, however, is that when it comes to improving your digital presence, you should outsource your relationship with AdWords to professionals.
But, is hiring a professional to manage your AdWords worth it? Is this the funniest missed connection you’ve ever read?
*Hint: the answer to both questions is “Yes!”*
That said, not everyone has the time to outsource their work to a professional. If you’re busy reinvesting in your company so it can scale, you simply might not have the cash to invest in a digital marketing expert right now.
If this sounds like you, we’re here to help. We wouldn’t tell you to write off love altogether, and we won’t tell you to give up on AdWords, either—even if you have to go it alone.
Below, you’ll find three amazing AdWords features that you shouldn’t be without—although you likely would have overlooked on your own.
If you’re ready to expand your relationship with AdWords today—no expert required—read on …
1) Evaluate the Competition
Chances are, if you’re going to try and date the most attractive people, you’ll have competition. So, how to you beat out everyone else?
First, you have to understand what you’re up against. You have to understand who the competition in your dating pool—or on Adwords—is.
Although checking out your dating competition will require some next level stalking capabilities, AdWords makes it easy with their Auction Insights Report.
First, make sure you’re logged in. (Yes, the fact that I have to say that indicates that it’s been a problem before.)
Next, decide what you’d like to look at—keyword, advertisement, etc. After you’ve selected the item for the report, click on the details tab next to “Edit.”
Lastly, click “Selected,” which should be under “Auction Insights.”
After you follow the steps above, you’ll have a report you likely haven’t viewed before. In general, this report will help you understand how your advertisements, keywords, etc. compare to your competitors.
Once you understand what you have going for you and what you can improve upon, you can change your AdWords around to beat out the competition.
2) Position Yourself for Success
Dating, and advertising, is a cheeky game—you have to give enough, but not too much. In the aforementioned case, you gave by familiarizing yourself with the competition, so now it’s time to protect your hard work.
When you date, you have to give enough of your time and money, but if you give too much, your partner might take you for granted, thinking you can do everything. Similarly, when it comes to AdWords, you can kill yourself if you let users take advantage of you.
One of the main way companies are “burned” on AdWords is through broad match settings that are a little bit too inclusive.
For example, if you’re a rock shop, you wouldn’t want to have people searching for rock candy directed to you. If they are, your AdWords budget will deplete before you catch the issue.
There’s nothing worse than bleeding money unknowingly—whether your new love interest has run away with your credit card or every crazed parent in town is clicking on your Google advertisement, trying to get rock candy at the last minute for their child’s “Bob the Builder” party that’s been planned for months.
When you handle your wallet—real or digital—in the right way, you can avoid both of these potential disasters.
To safeguard your AdWord account, turn to the Broad Match Modifiers feature. One it’s open, add a “+” to every one of your keywords. For example, if you have the keywords “rock” and “shop,” you should edit them to “+rock” and “+shop.” This way, searchers will need to have one of these exact keywords present in their query to see your advertisement.
You wouldn’t let a new partner have free range over your bank account, so don’t let the greater internet, either.
3) Zero In On What You Want
Much like with dating, your company should have a core advertising audience. Although you won’t seek out the same things you do when you’re looking for a potential partner—blonde, wakes up early, wears a long jacket—you should still be as selective, if not more.
To narrow down your AdWords audience, first, navigate to the “Audiences” tab. Next, locate the “+ Targeting” button and click on the “demographics” button that’s just to the right of it. Finally, add modifiers that are specific to your target audience.
The Truth of the Matter
We’re getting to the end here, people—have you learned something?
Did this improve your AdWords and dating games?
Heck, we hope we knocked out two birds with one stone, but we’re not perfect. If we missed anything, let us know! We’d love to continue this conversation in the comments section.
If you’re happy with what you’ve read and don’t have any feedback, at let us know your favorite “missed connection” story.
If we don’t hear from you, we’ll assume you’re off optimizing your AdWords, or hiring an expert to do so for you.
We can’t all be experts in everything …
If that GIF is reminiscent of your feelings, we’ll let you in on an industry secret: as Tinder excels relationships, digital advertising agencies can fast track your relationship with AdWords. That is right—we do all the work so you can ride off into the sunset with a PYT on your arm and money in your pocket.
