Inbound Marketing strategies usually include actions in organic channels such as SEO, Social Media, Content, Email Marketing, Marketing Automation, etc … and, undoubtedly, it is a discipline with a very high return on investment. However, achieving results with an Inbound strategy can be a very profitable but long-term issue. Therefore, at Lifting Group we believe that it is a good idea to complement it with paid campaigns, which will shorten times and allow you to notice an increase in your business sales from the first few weeks and to detect opportunities to organically exploit later on.
Through this post, we are going to explain how we combine this type of paid actions in Google Ads more typical of an outbound strategy in the overall strategy of our customers’ Inbound Marketing. We shall look at each of the stages of the funnel: Attract, Convert, Close and Delight and we shall look at what strategies and types of campaigns typically fit into each.
Google Ads Campaigns in the Attract Stage
Remember that at this stage of the funnel, the user does not usually put a name to their need and does not yet know how to solve it, but they are aware of their problem and usually go to the Internet in search of relevant information and answers.
In this context, campaigns that are placed in this stage are usually not so aggressive. We usually promote and disseminate the top contents that provide answers to the problems of our buyer personas.
Display and Video campaigns are a good option for this. The possibilities of segmentation are very suitable and we can draw up our types of customers through demographic data and interests based on user behaviour and throw them the answers they are looking for. What we are going to obtain is a good amount of traffic at low costs. Of course, they are not yet ready to buy/contract but we will have already put enough users in the bag, and from then on we will use other techniques to make them move forward in the process.
Search campaigns can also be used, but we shall bid and put them in our campaign to “Attract” more longtail terms with informative intentionality. We shall save the transactional keywords for later. For example, if we are a cybersecurity company, we should bid for searches here such as “prevent my company’s computer data from being stolen”, “tips to protect my information in the cloud” but not yet for keywords such as “security company”.
Google Ads Campaigns in the Convert stage
When the user is at this stage of the conversion funnel, they are already aware of how they can solve their need, either through a product or by contracting a service. In this sense, we shall be able to be more aggressive in our strategies and to tread lightly in our segmentation. The message to be promoted can now talk about the product or service we are trying to sell.
We can still use display and video. But unlike the previous stage, here we must make customised audiences or limit ourselves to a very specific target that has historically worked well for the business. Go beyond demographics and interests.
We can also use search campaigns and here we shall bid on product or service keywords or with transactional intent. Following the previous example, we shall bid on keywords such as “cybersecurity company”, “IT security audit” or similar…
Where applicable, we can also place app campaigns and even shopping campaigns here. Although depending on the complexity of the product or service, it is sometimes better to place this last typology in the closing stage.
Google Ads Campaigns in the Close Phase
At this stage, the user has already become a lead and, in some way, has already shown interest in our products or services. Therefore, we must take advantage of all the information we have from our potential customers to resolve any remaining doubts and convince them that buying/contracting with us will be the best option.
In Google Ads, this can translate into customised retargeting or remarketing campaigns. Customisation is a differential factor when it comes to closing processes and converting leads into customers.
This can be done through smart campaigns (display and/or shopping) or by being very precise when segmenting and creating targets of similar audiences grouped together whenever possible. A very clear example of these audiences can be, people who added products to the cart but did not finish the purchase, people who were interested in our service in the last N days but have not finished the contracting process, etc…
Google Ads Campaigns in the Delight Phase
Most companies do not tend to invest a lot of resources in this type of campaign. It makes sense if we think that Google Ads campaigns require an additional investment to the work of the marketing department itself and sometimes the goal of closing new customers under this channel is prioritised.
Interesting actions can be undertaken here. Again, good customer segmentation and identification plays a crucial role and Google Ads campaigns can be used within this stage for up-selling or cross-selling.
However, the strategy needs to be tailored on a case-by-case basis, but some examples might include selling ink cartridges to printer buyers, selling recurring services to one-off audit customers, or selling an outsourced plan to a group of customers.
Within this stage, surveys can be disseminated, prize draws for current customers and other actions with the aim of improving the service / offering more solutions to customers.
I am sure you have thought of many other ways to integrate Google Ads campaigns into your marketing strategy. If you need to validate the idea or need us to help you plan or implement it, then please contact us. At Lifting Group, we are an Inbound Marketing agency with more than 15 years’ experience and, in addition, we have Google Partner Premier certification that proves our expertise and success when working with Google Ads in projects like yours.
