With so many ways to connect to your audience, picking the right medium can be overwhelming. While it may be tempting to focus your efforts on the latest social media platform, don’t make the mistake of overlooking more traditional channels. Email is still the most popular lead generation channel and Gmail ads can add some serious value to your digital marketing strategy.
What are Gmail ads?
Gmail ads are interactive paid Google ads sent directly to the inbox of your users’ Gmail accounts. They’re displayed in both a collapsed and expanded form, where the collapsed version acts as the attention grabber and the expanded ad contains the full body of the message.
Why use them as part of your web strategy?
By landing your message straight into a user’s inbox, you’re achieving a level of visibility that many other paid ads can’t guarantee.
On average, people spend 20.5 hours in their inboxes per week. You’re literally placing your ad under their noses, so if nothing else, your ad will likely be a valuable brand awareness device even if it doesn’t convert.
Gmail ads are also cost effective. Unlike other paid ads, you’re only charged once for the click that expands the ad and not for every time a user interacts with it.
What’s more, Gmail ads are automatically formatted to accommodate both desktop and mobile devices. This means your content will always be displayed in the most optimal format.
Gmail ad Dos and Don’ts
Be targeted
Being selective about who you communicate with will increase your success rate. Yes, it’s partly a numbers game but that doesn’t mean putting your ad in front of as many people as possible. If 80% of your audience isn’t engaging with it, what’s the point? Use keyword targeting to reach those people you know are interested in what you have to offer. Doing this will increase your click through rate (CTR) and lower cost per clicks (CPC).
Consider a manual bidding strategy
Automatic bidding can save you time, but manual bidding can save you money. You’ll not only gain more control over your bids, but you’ll also reap the benefits of higher ad viewability and lower the cost per action. Begin conservatively with under $10 a day and go from there.
Use emojis
A picture’s worth a thousand words, but emojis increase open rates. Who’d have thought that cute little monkey emoji in the subject line could have such an impact?
Don’t forget about Quality Score
Gmail ads may not display the Quality Score but this doesn’t mean it doesn’t matter. Remember: a higher CTR results in a lower CPC.
Don’t overload your audience
Sending too many messages too often will guarantee your ad a trip to the trash can. Use the frequency capping function to limit the number of times your users see an ad to no more than three per day.
Don’t rely on just one ad
Variety is the spice of life and one ad simply won’t cut it. Be sure to create multiple ads with different messages depending on the different stages of your conversion funnel.
At Redline Digital, we know the ins and outs of incorporating email ads into a successful digital marketing plan. If this is something your digital strategy could benefit from, get in touch with our experts today.