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You may have noticed Google’s recommendations within your Google Ads account and wondered whether these are worthwhile or if Google is trying to milk more dollars out of your pocket. My advice is to always take these recommendations with a grain of salt and do your research, but when Google recommends incorporating Responsive Text Ads into your campaign it is almost always a good idea.

Responsive Ads: A Brief Summary

Let’s quickly refresh ourselves about Responsive Ads. Responsive Ads look just like standard text ads, but they respond dynamically depending on what a user searches. Instead of creating the typical 2-3 ad headlines and descriptions with a standard text ad, responsive ads allow you to create 10+ headlines and 4 descriptions that Google jumbles together to form a narrow and targeted ad for every unique search related to your product or service. By showing targeted ads to searchers you can expect your click-through-rate (CTR), cost-per-click (CPC), conversion rate and just about every metric within your Google Ads account to improve. (Assuming you have the fundamentals in place)

Real Client Results Using Responsive Ads

After testing Responsive Ads on a number of clients – we know they work. Allowing Google to pair headlines and descriptions with user intent is a great asset and you should be utilizing it.  The more targeted your ad copy is, the more likely you are going to satisfy a searcher and drive positive results. 

Client Example 1

The image below compares data between a responsive ad and a standard text ad from one of our clients within the escape room industry. Both ads are bidding on the same keywords and use the same account settings.

As you can see, CTR improved by over 15%, Avg. CPC is cut in half, conversions more than doubled, and the cost per conversion decreased tremendously. By offering targeted ads to potential customers, we can be sure our budget is being used efficiently and clicks are generating more ROI. 

Client Example 2

One of our SasS clients saw a huge jump in conversions and a lower CPC once we implemented responsive ads into their campaign. The goal of this clients account was to capture emails and have users sign up for our client’s free software. As you can see, conversions (blue) saw a big spike and CPC (yellow) was cut in half near the beginning of May. This can be attributed to the addition of responsive ads and landing page optimization. By improving the relevance of our ads and simplifying the conversion funnel we were able to improve the accounts Quality Score and generate a better ROI for our client.

Quality Score is a metric Google uses to rank your ad compared to your competitors. There are a number of factors that influence a quality score including:

Landing Pages

You can’t simply incorporate responsive ads and expect numbers to shoot off the charts. You still need to focus on the fundamentals and have a well designed, user and mobile friendly landing page. This means you want your landing page to use well-written web copy, lead users down a conversion funnel, simplify the conversion process, load quickly and have appropriate tracking in place. This is exactly what we did with the client mentioned previously and the results were worth sharing.

Relevant Keyword Bidding

Every successful ads campaign starts with solid keyword research. Review your competition, use keyword tools to determine what phrases will offer you the most ROI, and utilize the Search Terms Report and Negative Keyword tools available within your Ads account to control what keywords are using your account’s budget. You can have a beautiful landing page and targeted ad copy, but if you are bidding on the wrong keywords your campaign will never perform. 

On-Page Keyword Matching

Google has expressed the importance of making sure the keywords used in your ad also appear on your landing page. This helps Google ensure your ad aligns with what a user is searching for and ultimately can allow your ad to appear before your competition in the search results.

Final Thoughts

Responsive Ads are a great tool for improving the overall performance of your Ad campaign. They are simple to setup and generate amazing ROI if you keep up with your ad maintenance and satisfy Google’s Quality Score.

If you are interested in learning more about the results webFEAT Complete has generated from our digital marketing services you can view our Client Results page.

Want to learn more about Responsive Ads? Get in Touch with us.