Attract the right users to test your product

Google ads can be a powerful tool in your marketing arsenal for product validation. I am building SaaS solutions for people who are experiencing a problem and are searching for a solution. I use Google ads to validate the pain point and to test if my product solves their issue.

I use Google ads primarily for two things:

1.) Do people care about this problem (in your target market)?

Inspecting the search volume in your target market through the Google Ads Keyword Planner allows you to gauge the extent of the problem.

What is as "a lot of people"? If you observe tens or hundreds of search term variations with 0-100 searches per month, you have no reason to worry about an absence of need.

If you find absolutely no search volumes (like 3-4 keywords with 0-10 monthly searches), you need to consider if adopting a blue ocean strategy is worth it.

A blue ocean strategy means you're trying to create a new market. You have to educate users, create awareness about the problem, and then sell. This approach takes muuuch longer to pull off than selling into an existing market.

2.) Get people who have exactly this problem to use your product.

I use Google ads to attract users facing a specific problem. You should use long-tail, commercial keywords.

If you're creating a marketplace for refurbished phones in New York, bidding for the keyword "phone" might not yield targeted results.

Broad keywords attract users with very different search intents (repair phone? buy NEW phone? explore new phones? find my phone, and so on). To validate your product, clarity and niche targeting are crucial.

Personally, I'd bid for a keyword like "Refurbished iPhone 12 New York”.

To avoid picking wrong keywords, we've built a free Google Ads Keyword Generator. 🚀

Give it a try here:

https://www.theseocopilot.com/google-ads-keyword-generator

Why does Google Ads have a lousy reputation?

You will lose money if you don't avoid these mistakes:

😱 Using very broad keywords that attract all sorts of users

When starting, my approach was to select long-tail (4-5 words), commercial keywords. Bidding on short-tail keywords worldwide would attract a global pool of users with vastly different search intents.

😱 Short-run campaigns

Avoid running a campaign with a $100 budget for just two days. Google, like any tool, requires time to locate your audience and you require time to figure out what works.

😱 Unlimited budgets

I suggest starting with a modest $5 per day budget. It helps determine if you're attracting the right users and grants you time to adjust your campaign.

😱 Not using conversion tracking

Ensure conversion tracking once you have 5-10 conversions a week. It enables Google to optimise for conversions and prioritising valuable sign-ups.

Conversion tracking also lets you estimate the real cost of acquiring a new user/customer.

😱 Depending on Google Ads alone

Google ads alone as the only marketing channel is very expensive. I use it to strategically attract certain users. In the long-term, it should be supplemented with other (free) channels like SEO, e-mail marketing, social media marketing, etc.