Granular interests and lifestyle targeting on social media platforms such as Facebook and LinkedIn have always previously trumped that available on Google AdWords, until now.
Although keywords and basic demographic data were the main ways to reach target audiences, recent developments now mean that Google’s ‘in-market’ audience targeting for search, and ‘life events’ for video and Gmail only campaigns, have finally been making appearances in UK accounts.
Sophie Logan, Paid Media Consultant at Hallam, shares all the latest information on In-Market for Search and highlights examples of the different targeting that is now available for your AdWords campaigns.
What Are ‘In-Market’ Audiences?
‘In-market’ audiences refer to customers who are actively researching specific purchases. By matching those intentions to your product or service, your targeting becomes more focused on an audience who are not only more likely to convert, but who are also closer to the final stage of your conversion funnel.
Most commonly used for re-marketing, this feature was previously only available in display campaigns, but can now be used in search campaigns as part of audience targeting.
How to Use ‘In-Market’ Audiences
Firstly, make sure you are using the new interface as this feature is not available in the old AdWords.
- In the audience settings for the campaign you would like to amend, click the pencil and select ‘targeting’ option.
- Click on the ‘what they’re actively researching or planning’ (in-market) option.
- You will be presented with a range of options with further drop-down menus.
Currently available in the UK:
- Baby & Children’s Products
- Beauty Products & Services
- Business Services
- Cars & Vehicles
- Clothing & Accessories
- Computers & Peripherals
- Consumer Electronics
- Dating Services
- Education
- Employment
- Event Tickets
- Financial Services
Gifts & Occasions- Home & Garden
- Property
- Software
- Sports & Fitness
- Telecom
- Travel
- You can only filter by term, phrase or URL, which is useful if you are not already familiar with the categories within ‘in-market’ targeting. You may find that a particular topic you are looking for is not available. In these cases, try broadening the range out slightly. So, instead of searching for “swimming clubs”, try “sports & fitness – fitness products and services – gyms and athletic clubs” or “sports & fitness – fitness products & services – fitness classes & personal training services”.
- Once you have selected and saved your option, it will appear in your audience list where you can assign a relevant bid adjustment.
Don’t forget that your other bid adjustments will still be applicable. Beware of bid adjustment stacking, which could cause your CPC to increase immensely.
What Are ‘Life Events’?
Another feature which AdWords is currently implementing into its audience targeting is ‘life events’. In another move to step away from focusing on keyword targeting and more towards the people behind the keyboard, ‘life events’ allow you to target users who are going through major life events.
Many more events are expected to be released soon, but these are currently available:
Moving
- Moving soon
- Recently moved
University Graduation
Graduating soon- Recently graduated
Marriage
- Getting married soon
- Recently married
Applicable to video and Gmail campaigns only, ‘life events’ have to be set at an ad-group level and can be used as either a target, observation or an exclusion.
How to Use ‘Life Events’
- In the audience settings for the campaign you would like to amend, click the pencil and select the ‘targeting’ option.
- If applicable, select which ad group you would like to associate the life event to. Then click on the ‘what they’re actively researching or planning’ (in-market) option.
- You will be presented with a range of options with further drop-down menus.
- Select the life event/s most relevant for you and click save. The targeting option you selected will now appear in your Audience settings list.
Conclusion
Understanding more about customers, their intent and their online behaviour have all been part of Google’s ‘micro-moments’ initiative, and now you can utilise these understandings to improve your own online performance.
About Sophie:
Sophie Logan is a Paid Media Consultant at Hallam. Alongside her interest in optimising ad-copy and PPC landing pages, Sophie’s accreditations include Google AdWords, Google Analytics and Bing Ads Accredited Professional certification.
Source: Hallam
Introducing ‘In-Market’ for Search and ‘Life Events’ Targeting added by Newsroom on
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