Most brands face challenges with Google Ads because they misunderstand their market position. There are some basic principles that can help align market position, audience and targeting to create a successful strategy. Fundamentally, Google Ads facilitates targeting across three distinct audience groups: existing customers, product-aware prospects, and problem-aware prospects.
Brand Recognition
Major brands command widespread recognition. Your Nikes and Apples benefit from extensive brand awareness, which makes targeting and nurturing existing customers their primary focus. The likelihood is that an average joe on the street will have heard of these brands and even purchased something from them in the past. These well-established companies can centre their campaigns on brand terms and retargeting strategies.
Yet this approach doesn’t serve most smaller brands. Their brand recognition spans a much smaller segment, making existing customer targeting a very limited strategy. For these companies, it’s much more likely that someone picked at random will have never heard of them or known what product/services they offer. We model target audiences using an awareness ladder to highlight these factors in our discovery phases, affecting not just targeting but messaging, ad copies and CRO too.
Prospecting
Growth in these situations requires shifting focus to product-aware and problem-aware prospects. These segments represent the largest pools of potential customers. By targeting these groups effectively, brands create sustainable revenue streams independent of other marketing channels. While Google Ads will support other marketing activities, it’s through prospecting that this channel will grow and scale.
Focusing on new audience acquisition also produces compounding advantages over time. As more prospects discover your brand through targeted campaigns, your retargeting lists grow naturally. This expansion leads to reduced costs for branded search terms and improved campaign performance across all segments.
Proven Results
We’ve implemented these fundamental principles countless times with consistent success. Our approach adapts to each brand’s current position:
- Strong awareness brands receive support to maximise their established presence
- Growing brands get guidance on prospecting campaigns to expand their customer base systematically
Success demands understanding where the most potential exists within these audience segments. Analyse your current targeting distribution and identify underserved audiences in your campaign structure. Your ability to scale relies on reaching these untapped segments effectively.
If you’d like to discuss the concepts we’ve outlined here or learn more about our paid media strategies, please contact us for more info!