You could argue that setting the proper Google Ads goals for B2B companies takes skill. It’s why some companies get 10x their investment in Google Ads and why some sink money into it with little to no results. Of course, like any skill, Google Ads can be learned and you can easily become a master at it!
There are 3 factors that go into creating a successful Google Ads campaign:
- Goals
- Strategy
- Execution
In this article, we’ll focus on the first one - setting up Google Ads goals. We’ll talk about:
- How do you define your goals in Google Ads?
- How do you set up Google Ads goals?
- How do you set up conversion goals?
- Allowing room for experimentation
- Using confirmation URLs
- Keeping your goals and campaigns separate in Google Ads
How do you define your goals in Google Ads?
You need to know what your main conversion goal is before setting anything up in Google Ads. Is it sales? Leads? Website traffic? You must have proper conversion tracking set up in Google Ads and on your website so you know exactly your return on ad spend.
Set a goal that is similar to what you want your campaign to achieve for your business. Ask yourself, ‘Why do I run this campaign?’ and set the answer as a goal.
There are two considerations for setting helpful goals. The first is to ensure that the goal being measured is meaningful and valuable for the business. The second is to ensure that the goal is being measured.
It’s important to set appropriate metrics or it may be impossible to see how Google Ads is helping you achieve your larger goals as a company. By setting goals using Google Ads that are consistent with your high-level business goals you are putting your company in a position to succeed.
Make your goals extremely simple. Your conversion process should also be simple and easy to track. Whether your goal is increasing the number of downloads of a file like a whitepaper, increasing sign-ups for a newsletter, or purchases of your product – the ad should direct them to the page that requires the least amount of steps to convert.
How do you set up Google Ads campaign goals?
Google Analytics and Google Ads work hand in hand here! The very first step is setting up your first few goals in Google Analytics. Once you’ve done that, you’ll need to import them to your Google Ads.
Tip: If you want to set up cross-tracking between say your website and mobile app, you’ll want to select Google Analytics App + Web.
Be careful when importing – take time to ensure that all of the conversions are working right on the Google Ads end. And also ensure that you are only importing real conversions instead of events and other site interactions such as views of videos. Companies often track non-conversions as goals, and that’s not the ideal way to manage your conversion volume.
How do you set up conversion goals?
When you’re setting Google Ad goals, you should always take into account what your target conversion goals are.
What are the conversion goals for the campaign you’re about to start (i.e.., phone calls, form submissions, chatbots, etc.)? Once you know these goals, you can start making educated predictions on the campaign’s CPA (cost per acquisition), conversion rate, cost per customer, etc. Taking these Google Ads aspects into account will help anyone running a Google Ads campaign have a better return on ad spend
Allowing room for experimentation
When you first set up your campaign, allow a little extra budget for experimentation, You may find that an extra $100 or $200 is enough to provide data that gives much deeper insights into your goals and how you can achieve them.
For example, the extra budget may allow you to focus on website visits instead of conversions, and then you can focus on optimizing your landing page and other funnel components to increase conversions. This approach can create meaningful increases in your ad performance and reduce or optimize your spending in the long term.
Using confirmation URLs
Use confirmation URLs, or thank you pages, for your Google Ads. So for example, if someone submits your contact us form, upon submission have the user redirected to a thank you page.
For example: www.example.com/thank-you
Set up destination goals for either of these and import them into Google Ads.
Then you’ll be able to see down to a keyword level what’s driving leads for your business.
You could also set up one that tracks just viewing the contact us page. Although this won’t be classed as a lead, you can still see that people are showing the intent to get in touch with you.
Keeping your goals and campaigns separate in Google Ads
When creating a successful Google Ads campaign, you must set a specific goal for each campaign and keep the campaign and goals separate.
If your campaign and its goals start to combine, your ads will become less relevant, making it difficult for viewers to differentiate your product or service offerings.
With focused goals, you’ll be able to reach the audience that is interested in exactly what you offer.
Contact our Google Ads specialists here to learn more about Google Ads for B2B companies!
