The construction market is expected to remain competitive in 2019 and that’s a positive position for companies. A strong market correlates to higher demand and more potential business for you to gain. It may also cause more competitors to enter the construction services space as well. So it’s time to get smart with your marketing dollars.
This will require a commitment to implementing a strong marketing and lead generation strategy to attract the high quality prospects you want this year. Paid search is an effective tool to grow opportunities for construction services. It is a continually evolving platform that provides companies with better targeting and often a more efficient use of their ad resources than other types of lead gen activities.
Targeting ads have become a critical component of a successful advertising campaign. Getting your well-designed ad in front of the right people and the right time is the key to helping you reach your goals. And there are now multiple ways to make this happen.
In the past, paid search has only had a small number of targeting tactics to choose from. These included keywords, basic geographic location, like zip codes, and device type. Google Ads has now expanded its targeting capabilities to provide companies with much better reach.
Audience Targeting
Google’s improvements allow advertisers with the ability to target based on more specific demographics. You can target people based on who they are: age, gender, education level, and household income and what they are interested in: habits, active searches, and interactions with your company. The last set of target criteria relates to online behavior and often has a positive impact on helping you reach clients when they are close to a purchase decision.
Audience targeting also can boost your campaign’s performance by reaching people browsing websites, using apps, or watching videos. Something American adults do quite a bit of – in fact, they’re spending 5.9 hours per day watching, reading, listening to or simply interacting with digital media, according to Mary Meeker’s 2018 Internet Trends Report.
Similar Audiences
For those of you who are also remarketing, meaning you’re reaching people who have already engaged with your company’s products and services, including past visitors to your website, mobile app, videos, or given you their contact information, Google Ads offers a similar audiences feature. Google Ads uses machine learning to update similar audience lists in real time to compare new users to your current remarketing lists. With similar audiences you can target your ads to people who share characteristics with people on your existing remarketing lists.
Enhanced Ad Capabilities
Better audience targeting puts you in front of the right clients at the right time. Google’s new ad capabilities, on the other hand, make the ads themselves more effective.
Responsive Ads
This offering became available in the summer of last year and allows companies to create multiple headlines, in fact, you need to provide a minimum of five (and the maximum is 15) and four text descriptions per single responsive search ad. These ads are also asset-based, and automatically adjust their size, appearance, and format to fit available ad spaces. Thus, you can reach more people on Google’s Display Network because your ad will be automatically adjusted to fit the format of people’s different viewing activities like watching their favorite websites, showing a friend a YouTube video, checking their Gmail account, or using mobile devices and apps. Over time, Google Ads is also automatically testing different combinations and learning which combinations perform best to improve your campaign’s performance.
Promotion Extensions
Remember, if you have a special occasion, offer, or new service you want people to recognize consider using this feature in Google Ads. Promotion extensions make your offer stand out so potential clients can spot great deals and generate new sales for your business. As suggested by the name, this tactic literally extends the size of your ad below the main portion of your ad text. These extensions can add more value by catching the eye of people that are searching for the best deals your business has to offer.
While these are just a few of Google Ads features, there are more reasons than ever before to enhance your paid search campaigns and expand your reach to identify the best clients for your construction business. Mastering Google Ads is an art form, so give it the resources it deserves in 2019 to capitalize on the continued growth expected for your industry.