One of our favorite concepts at Thomas Creek Concepts is what we call Brand First. We feel your own brand should be the first priority in Google Ads. There isn’t as much resistance to that concept as there once was, but we do still meet with some resistance.
The main objections are usually:
– Why should we pay for a click when we will likely get it for free through an organic search? (cannibalization)
– We don’t have enough budget for that. We want to bid on obvious words that show immediate intent. (you and everybody else)
As to the first objection there are plenty of articles out there that address the 1 + 1 = 3 phenomenon when it comes to cannibalization fears and bidding on search terms when you already have organic presence for those terms. As to the second I’ll simply say Google is making a fortune on the obvious while those doing the advertising are struggling with the rising Cost-per-Click due to competition.
I will address the particulars of bidding on your own Brand in this post. When we say Brand we mean the name of your business and/or product(s). Your website name and URL. The names of any key players in your endeavor.
– My first thought is as much philosophy as it is practical. That being, have pride in your good name, and don’t take your customers, clients, followers, reputation, and word of mouth for granted.
– Bidding on your Brand is a great way to monitor your Brand. The rise and fall in the amount of impressions and clicks you receive are prime indicators of your place in the market and the effectiveness of other marketing and advertising. It also establishes your status on the Google radar. For instance:
>– Google may not serve your ad at all due to low search volume. In which case you have work to do in raising awareness to the point where Google will serve ads on your Brand. Since this is Pay-per-Click, you pay nothing until you have increased your awareness appropriately.
>– If you are in good standing in the Google searchscape, your Quality Score will be high and your costs low. Meaning when searchers use your Brand in searches, Google feels they are indeed looking for you and not someone or something else.
>– If you have what we call a Brand Noise problem, your Quality Score will be low and your costs high. This is a problem you need to be aware of. Lets say for instance your Brand name happens to be the same or similar as a popular pop music band. Google might very well assume when searchers use that term they are not looking for you but rather the band. That is a longer road that takes some experience and finesse in Google Ads to mitigate. The Costs-per-Click can also be painful so budgets have to be kept on a tight leash.
– Then there is the simple matter of space on a search results page. If an ad is showing for your Brand chances are you are taking up more space above the fold on the page.
– In the United States competitors can bid on your Brand. Hopefully if you have a good Quality Score for your Brand you are paying less than they are so you have the upper hand if a bidding war breaks out. If you currently have no competitors bidding on your brand then getting in early and further establishing yourself with Google should help when they do start bidding on your Brand as your success and market share grow.
– Think of bidding on your Brand as a mailing list, newsletter, and constant dialogue with your customers and prospects. Whether it is upselling/reselling current customers or making a first impression with word-of-mouth prospects, with Google Ads you have the agility and data feedback to do message testing and such that is hard to match with any other kind of advertising. Bidding on your Brand in Google Ads has a lot of upside when it comes to getting the most lifetime value out of your ad dollar.
> The combination of using the Google Display Network to raise your Brand awareness and then capitalizing on that awareness by bidding on your Brand can be a way of outpacing your competitors that are just bidding themselves into oblivion on “obvious” keywords. One of the primary ways this can work is to drive relatively inexpensive traffic that is still somewhat qualified to your site, and then through Remarketing or email garnering create layers to overlay the most expensive keywords to get the most out of your spend.
These are just a few reasons we think almost any online endeavor would benefit from having a Google Ads account and bidding on their own Brand.
