6 ways to do pinpoint targeting when running Google Ads

Businesses around the globe choose Google as an ideal platform for running pay-per-click advertisements and for a good reason. Google currently has more than 93% of the market share in the search industry. And, the numbers are too high to be ignored.

However, a critical problem that advertisers often face when running Google ads is junk traffic. This happens when your ads fail to target a relevant audience. It's essential for your ads to target the right audience to generate quality leads and maximize conversions.

Around 70% of people don't trust paid recommendations as is. Targeting the wrong audience would make it even more difficult to find success when running paid ad campaigns.

So, it's best that you do pinpoint targeting before deploying your ad campaigns.

How to do it?

Here are a few recommendations that can help.

So, without further ado. Let's dive in.

1. Location-Based Targeting

To choose the right audience for your paid ad campaign, start off by specifying the location of your target audience.

This is the most basic strategy where your ads will be shown to everyone from the targeted region. With location-based targeting, you can cater to the natives of a respective locality or people who've shown interest in the targeted region.

You can refine your targeting a bit further by excluding parts of the region you're targeting but that's about it. This is the simplest targeting strategy less likely used as a standalone method to choose the fitting audience for a campaign.

2. Audience Segmentation

After location-based targeting, you should use Google's audience segmentation for a bit more detailed targeting.

Google has access to tons of user data, and the platform uses this information to create different consumer profiles. These user profiles are classified as per consumer demographics, affinity, search patterns, and more.

Google allows you to explore the specified categories and choose user profile characteristics that best represent your target audience. All you have to do is use the right keywords to help you identify relevant characteristics and create the best-suited audience for your campaign.

Audience segmentation paired with location-based targeting is a basic targeting strategy for advertisers who are just getting started. The process is a little less intricate making it an ideal choice for beginners.

3. Interest-Based Targeting

Interest-based targeting is an efficient way to do pinpoint targeting when running Google ads. Here you target the audience based on their purchase intentions or search queries.

To target an audience based on their purchase intentions, you need to come up with a list of keywords that best represent the solutions that users seek. This paired with location-based targeting and audience segmentation enables your ads to capture leads that are likely to convert.

For query-based targeting, you have to specify the search terms your audience uses on Google to research. This paired with location-based targeting and audience segmentation helps you target relevant search queries of users that best represent what you have to offer.

4. Custom Lists

When running Google ads, you can target an audience by creating custom lists. These lists are fueled by a bunch of different sources like Google Analytics, App Analytics, Google Play, YouTube, and so on.

With these lists, you can target an audience that has interacted with your brand in one way or another. This audience can comprise your site visitors, people who downloaded your app, people using your app on their mobile devices, subscribers to your YouTuber channel, etc.

You can connect different data sources with your Google Ads account and use relevant information to create custom audiences for your ads to target. This is a bit more advanced targeting strategy that uses insights from your connected properties and helps you create a tailored target audience.

5. Site-Based Targeting

This is a renowned targeting tactic used by veteran PPC experts. Here, you target an audience based on its search history of visiting particular sites. Google will show your ads to people who have visited the websites specified by you or the ones similar to the prescribed URLs.

This is an amazing strategy to dominate the competitive landscape as it enables you to target an audience that prefers competing brands. With in-depth knowledge about your competitors, you can hit the bull's eye and capture leads nurtured by your competition.

Site-based targeting can also be used to target online communities where your audience is readily found. All you need to do is identify the platforms where your audience prefers to hang out.

Research is the key. With data, you can amplify the reach of your ads by multiple folds and generate traffic without having to compromise on audience relevance.

6. App-Based Targeting

This targeting strategy is similar to site-based targeting. The only difference is that here you list the apps that your target audience prefers to use. You can use this strategy for competitive targeting.

For example, if you're a food delivery service, you would want to target an audience that has Uber Eats or similar apps installed on the phone.

However, listing competing apps isn't the only way. You can also base your targeting on apps that compliment your business.

For example, if you've just opened a gym in a new area, it's best that you target fitness enthusiasts in the vicinity. App-based targeting enables you to identify your target audience through fitness tracking apps installed on mobile devices of users.

This is an excellent targeting strategy with diverse implications that enables you to find a relevant audience for your ads.

It's a Wrap

There you have it. The 6 ways to do pinpoint targeting when running Google ads. An average company sees around 200% return on investment from Google ads alone. You can ensure similar results by nailing your targeting strategy and deploying ads for maximum yield.

The aforesaid recommendations and best practices will help you target a relevant audience and help you score quality leads. So, try out the strategies and see if they work out for you.