Have you ever felt puzzled by audience targeting in Google Ads? You’re not alone. I’ve often struggled with it too, particularly when it comes to custom segments. Yet, when understood correctly, these custom segments can become a powerful tool in our advertising arsenal.
Custom segments allow me to craft audiences using Google’s vast data pool. It’s like taking audience targeting to the next level by making it personal and tailored to individual user behaviors.
So, what exactly is a custom segment in Google Ads? Simply put, it lets us create an audience based on recent user interactions with content. Instead of targeting a generic website category, I’m aiming directly at users who have shown interest in specific topics, like running shoes, for instance.
I see content targeting transforming into a more focused audience targeting. It’s exciting and effective.
Building a custom segment is straightforward. From Audience Manager, I name my segment and choose up to four input types: interests, search terms, websites, and apps. This flexibility allows me to strategically target exactly who I want.
If I’m using multiple inputs, I prefer creating multiple custom segments. This way, I can track which segment performs better – whether it’s search terms or websites.
In my experience, search term-based custom segments often yield the best results. They specifically reach users who have searched for related terms, functioning much like Exact Match close variants.
Starting with search terms, I dive into Search, Shopping, or PMax campaigns to extract my top non-branded search terms. I use these to shape a new custom segment, ensuring to target people who searched for these terms on Google.
When applying this segment to a Demand Gen campaign, it’s crucial to stick to Google-owned networks like YouTube, Discover, Gmail, and Maps, where Google accurately knows user search behaviors.
This strategy shines because it targets the same audience from Search or Shopping at a drastically reduced cost, often around 95% less per click!
For website and app-focused segments, I focus on people who visit similar sites or use similar apps rather than exact ones. It’s a subtle but important tactic in my overall strategy.
Despite the various names for custom segments across different campaign types, their versatility makes them invaluable in my Google Ads strategy. They offer a seamless entry into advanced audience targeting beyond traditional search methods.
This article is part of an ongoing Search Engine Land series, designed to help you grasp key Google Ads features in just 3 minutes.
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