When you're getting ready to launch ads, figuring out who you're trying to reach is super important. I mean, you wouldn't want to try selling surfboards to a bunch of 50-year-old women, right?
But how do you even know who your target audience is? Did you know that on Google, there are six different audience segments you can play around with?
Let's dive into those and see how they can help you out!
What Exactly Are Audience Segments Within Google Ads?
Audience segments in Google Ads refer to groups of individuals who share common characteristics or behaviors. These characteristics can include interests, demographics, or online activities. When setting up a Google Ads campaign, you have the option to select these segments.
Imagine you're running a fitness apparel store and you want to advertise a new line of running shoes. In this scenario, you might target:
People interested in fitness and running: Individuals who have shown interest in fitness-related topics, such as gym memberships, running events, or fitness apps.
Active lifestyle enthusiasts aged 25-40: This segment could include individuals within a specific age range who have previously engaged with content related to healthy living, outdoor activities, or sports.
Previous customers who have bought athletic wear: Targeting existing customers who have previously purchased items like workout clothing, sports accessories, or running gear from your store can be an effective way to encourage repeat purchases.
Failing to segment your audience could result in your ads reaching irrelevant audiences, which may lead to the underperformance of your campaigns.
What Are the 6 Types of Audience Segments?
Google Ads offers six primary types of audience segments for targeting purposes. As promised, let's delve into each of these segments:
Affinity Segments
These segments focus on broad interests, hobbies, habits, and lifestyles. They are applicable across various ad formats like display, search, video, and shopping ads.
Let's say you're promoting a line of organic skincare products. Using affinity segments, you could target individuals who are interested in natural living and holistic health practices. This allows you to reach an audience that values organic and eco-friendly options, increasing the relevance of your ads and potentially driving more conversions.
Ads targeting affinity segments are particularly effective for building brand awareness as they reach people who broadly align with your target audience.
Custom Segments
Custom segments let you target specific groups of people based on things like words they search for, websites they visit, or apps they use. You can use this feature mainly for ads that appear on websites and videos.
This is super helpful if you're trying to reach a smaller, specific group of people. Instead of just aiming at general interests like "pet grooming," you can get more specific.
Suppose you run a pet grooming business and want to target pet owners who are interested in grooming their pets at home. Instead of casting a wide net, you can create a custom segment to reach this specific audience. You might use keywords like "DIY pet grooming tips" or "how to groom my dog at home" to target individuals actively seeking information on home pet grooming.
Detailed Demographics
Detailed demographic segments allow you to fine-tune your ads based on specific aspects of your audience's lives, such as their parental status, level of education, homeownership, and more.
These segments can be applied to various ad formats, including those you encounter on websites, search results, videos, or during online shopping.
This type of targeting is particularly useful when you need to be very precise about who your ads reach. For example, if you're promoting a retirement planning service, you could target individuals aged 50 and above who are nearing retirement age and are interested in financial planning.
Life Events
Segmenting by life events is a feature available for video and display ads, allowing you to target individuals who are undergoing significant life changes.
For instance, these changes could include starting a business, switching jobs, getting married, buying a home, retiring, or graduating.
This segmentation method proves especially powerful for products or services that coincide with these life milestones.
If you're offering career coaching services, you might want to target individuals who are changing jobs. You can connect with people who are actively seeking support and guidance during their job transition.
In-Market Segmentation
The in-market segmentation feature enables you to target individuals who are actively seeking products or services similar to your brand. This targeting option is available for display, search, video, and shopping ads.
This is particularly beneficial when your primary goal is to drive conversions. Google Ads displays your advertisement to users who are currently in the process of making a purchase decision.
For example, suppose you're a travel agency promoting vacation packages to Hawaii. When you use an in-market segment focused on individuals researching travel destinations or looking for flight deals to Hawaii, you can reach potential customers who are actively considering booking a trip to the islands.
Data Segments
Your data segments, which used to be called remarketing, help you target people who've already interacted with your business before. This includes visitors to your website or app, customers who have provided information, and those who resemble your existing customer base.
For example, let's say you run a clothing store online. You can use your data segments to target people who visited your site but didn't make a purchase. Maybe they added items to their cart but didn't check out. You can then create ads specifically for these users to remind them about your store and encourage them to come back and buy.
You can use these data segments for all types of ads, whether it's on websites, in search results, or on social media.
SO, WHERE DO YOU FIND THIS PARTNER?
Well, aren’t we glad you asked! We at DigiCom are obsessive data-driven marketers pulling from multi-disciplinary strategies to unlock scale. We buy media across all platforms and placements and provide creative solutions alongside content creation, and conversion rate optimizations. We pride ourselves on your successes and will stop at nothing to help you grow.
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