Unlike traditional banner ads and pop-ups that consumers might scroll past on a website, Google Ad campaigns have proven effective in helping brands show up in the right place at the right time.

When someone types into its search engine, for example, they’re hoping to find a list of links that will take them where they want to go. Google Ad campaigns go beyond these basic search results by showcasing brands that relate to each query. If you’re serious about selling online, they’re a critical tool.

Google Ads: What they are and how campaigns work

Originally launched as Google AdWords, Google Ads is the search engine company’s platform for powering online advertising across its flagship site, partner sites and YouTube. It offers ads in a variety of formats depending on a brand’s needs such as text, video, display and banner ads.

Google also offers some proprietary options such as Google Shopping Ads, Performance Max ads and Responsive Search ads.

Launching Google Ad campaigns requires bidding for placement based on keywords and the search volume they get, when the ads will run and the expected reach.

Before getting into the details of bidding and running your ads, however, you’ll have to set up a Google Ads account first.

How to create an account in Google ads

You’ll need a regular Google account for your business to set up an account in Google Ads. You might have a personal Gmail account already, but for marketing purposes start by visiting Accounts.Google.com and choose the option “to manage my business” when you’re asked why you’re signing up.

Once that’s done and you’re logged in, visit Ads.Google.com. You’ll be asked to create a Google Ad campaign right away, but look towards the bottom the screen and click on “Switch to expert mode.” This gives you more time to find your way around the Google Ad Manager dashboard, learn about developing a successful campaign and other Google Ads best practices.

How to create a campaign in Google Ad Manager: 5 steps to follow

With the right planning, you can use your Google Ad Manager to get your products seen by more people who are ready to make a purchase:

1. Enter the Google Ad Manager Dashboard

Once you’re inside Google Ad Manager, you’ll see a link that says “Create New Campaign” on your dashboard.

2. Choose your marketing objective and campaign type

3.  Choose your Google Ad bidding strategy

4. Set up your Google Ad target audience

5. Develop an ad that converts

Types of Google ads campaigns

People consume information in a variety of formats, so think about A/B testing with a couple of different approaches depending on what you’re selling and what your audience needs to see in order to move forward:

Display

Google has an extensive network of partner sites where it can run display ads that predominantly feature images or videos. This can be a good option for when you’re trying to build initial brand awareness and introduce your company and its products to the market.

Shopping

Customers want the basics before they buy. This includes the product name, the price and the seller, all of which are presented through Google Shopping Ads. Having product feeds that can send data directly from your product catalog are essential in order to have Google Shopping Ads perform as expected.

App

This is only so much space on a smartphone screen, which means consumers are becoming more discerning about what they install. Google app ads can use a mix of images, video and text to get the downloads you need to grow your business, especially if your app makes it easy for customers to place and track their orders.

Local Inventory Ads

One of the biggest opportunities in eCommerce is to market products based on where customers can easily go and pick them up in person. Local inventory ads (LIAs) ensure you only promote what’s in stock near your audience’s current location. A strong product feed management solution is critical here, too.

How much does Google ads cost? Find out the minimum budget to launch your campaign

The budget you’ll need to run a Google Ad campaign will vary depending on the industry you’re targeting, average search volume and many other factors. These costs will change over time, but as of early 2024 the average cost per click for a category such as fashion retail, for instance, was US$1.42.

CPC or CPM?

Paying on a cost-per-click (CPC) basis means your budget is going directly towards driving activity to your product pages and eCommerce engine. This can be a sound strategy when you’re focused on short-term revenue goals. In other cases, paying on a cost-per-thousand impressions (CPM) basis can allow you to build your reputation among your audience, which can be important for bigger-ticket items that have a longer buying cycle.

What is Google Ads Keyword Planner and how to choose the most effective keywords

Google recognizes that not everyone is highly versed in running online ad campaigns. Its Keyword Planner is a tool that provides rich data such as search volume for particular combinations of words, forecasts and much more.

You can look up individual words or upload a CSV file with all the relevant keywords in your industry to identify what you’ll use in your Google Ads.

Choosing the most effective keyword is really a process of putting yourself in your customers’ shoes and imagining what they would type into a search engine when they’re looking for their next purchase.

Managing Google Ad campaigns: the Suvae.org solution

Running Google Ads can involve meeting highly specific requirements, which is not something you’ll want to manage on your own.

Suvae.org’s product feed management platform makes it easy to tailor your product data to whatever channel you’re using for marketing purposes. This includes a range of Google Ad formats such as Google Shopping Ads, local inventory ads and more.

Working with Suvae.org means you can not only tackle product listing ad feed management but set up ad retargeting feeds that increase your conversations and get more return on investment (ROI) from your campaigns.

Mastering Google Ad campaigns happens a lot faster when you partner with the experts. Book a demo with Suvae.org and let us show you how to save time, reach more customers and sell more online and in-store.

The post Google Ad campaign guide for growing eCommerce brands appeared first on Suvae.org.

Why connected TV advertising? Let’s start with the fact that it’s where a growing number of consumers are choosing to spend their leisure time.  According to data from ComScore, for example, connected TV viewing rose 21% in May of 2023 compared with the same period the year before.

As a result, the competition for viewers’ attention is also on the rise. One forecast suggests that CTV ad spending will grow more than 10% between now and 2028. It’s not just the large numbers of people watching. Connected TV ads are reaching a highly engaged audience that can be targeted in increasingly sophisticated ways.

If you’re trying to make some last-minute marketing investments amid the holiday season – or simply trying to sell off excess inventory in January and beyond – using Google Promotions and CTV ads could be a smart idea.

How do Google promotions work with connected TV advertising?

The business case for using Google Promotions has been firmly established by now. It’s an effective way to distribute product offers across multiple Google properties, including the Shopping tab, Chrome and Search. Mastering Google Promotions can allow you to compare multi-screen traffic, increase conversions and boost your marketing campaigns’ click through rate (CTR), all while building your brand.

Google has made it easy to extend your reach with connected TV ads, particularly based on audiences you’ve already developed through visitors to your web site or those who have downloaded your mobile app. The basic process is as follows:

1.   Log into Google Merchant Center and opt to build a campaign using Display and Video 360.
2.   Select a first-party data audience list.
3.   Add the audience list to your insertion order or line item. This may be similar to how you’ve booked campaigns for mobile or the web.

Google will then ensure your ads can reach those consuming content on smart TVs, OTT and other connected TV devices.

Measuring the results of connected TV advertising using Google Promotions

Of course, investing in any emerging digital marketing channel carries with it concerns of whether you’ll achieve your desired goals. If you’re counting on a Google ads promotion to drive sales amid the holidays, for example, you probably can’t afford to make a wrong choice.

Fortunately, Google has continued to introduce new capabilities that help ensure alignment between your eCommerce goals and your campaign effectiveness. These include:

Optimized targeting

Using its own artificial intelligence (AI) applications, Google has said it can help brands not only reach their desired audiences but help them find consumers most likely to respond to CTV ads. This can help strike a balance between precision advertising and not overstepping on consumer privacy or turning to third-party cookies.

Identity reconciliation

Consumers don’t like feeling as though they’re being pursued relentlessly around the web by a brand. Google said it will help avoid this by distinguishing between those who have visited a brand’s site vs. that of a publisher. This will turn connected TV advertising into a more focused channel, where consumers are served a campaign when it’s most relevant.

Reach Planner

Is YouTube your best option for CTV ads? What about Roku, Hulu or one of many other streaming services? Google’s toll allows you to evaluate these publishers based on incremental as well as unique reach. This can build greater confidence in the connected TV advertising decisions you make with Google Promotions.

Unique Reach Overlap

Managing ad frequency is important because it’s easy to unnecessarily duplicate efforts over multiple CTV devices. By offering a greater understanding on where they’re driving the greatest performance with their Google Promotions with connected TV ads, Google is letting you maximize return on investment (ROI).

How does connected TV advertising open up opportunities for localized Google Promotions?

Traditionally, brands have advertised on linear TV by purchasing a spot from a network operator. These spots were then converted into a CPM based on the number of households reached.

CTV ads tend to be purchased a little differently. Brands often buy inventory directly from the publisher, or programmatically using a demand side provider (DMP).

Using Google can offer a more streamlined approach given that many brands are already seeding Google Promotions with ads to run across multiple channels. Google also offers what it calls Deal ID forecasting, which helps advertisers understand how a Preferred Deal or Programmatic Guaranteed deal might perform before it runs.

With a service called Instant Reserve, meanwhile, Google lets you book premium placements on its YouTube connected TV advertising inventory. This includes YouTube TV and YouTube Select.

Regardless of how you book, CTV advertising opens up opportunities to target audiences based on demographics and interests, such as high-income households who are predisposed to fashion and lifestyle content. Connected TV ads also support geotargeting, which allows you narrow campaigns even further to designated neighbourhoods or other areas.

That means consumers watching a fashion show being streamed through a CTV service could also be served local Google Promotions that identify clothing and accessories they could buy at a nearby store. The same tactic could work for eCommerce brands that prioritize fast shipping close to their manufacturing sites.

In this way, pairing Google Promotions and Connected TV advertising could complement the work you’re already doing by running local inventory ads (LIAs) when consumers are searching on the web.

Why successful CTV ads and Google Promotions rely on optimized product feeds

Remember that connected TV advertising tends to focus on the end result: what appears on the screen. To ensure consumers see relevant Google Promotions, you must avoid any errors in how product data feeds from your catalog.

An automated solution supports this by mapping the relevant promotional ID to products within Google Merchant Center that will appeal to the target audience on CTV. This improves campaign planning and goal-setting. Using a platform that allows frequent updates to reflect changes in inventory levels will ensure that CTV ads only showcase Google Promotions for available products, providing peace of mind.

Consider utilizing a product feed management solution as you conduct pilot projects using CTV ads for localized Google ads promotions during peak buying periods like the holidays. Then, based on the results, you can be prepared to scale further as streaming audiences continue to grow

For a close-up look at how Suvae.org can get your product data feeds in a position to make use of connected TV advertising, get in touch and see a demo today.

Related Articles

• The New Omnichannel Experience Retailers Must Master
• Why Google Shopping Local Inventory Ads are a Must-Do For Marketers
• Essential Feed Optimization Techniques for Google Merchant Center

The post Connected TV ads: Using Google Promotions for Local Reach appeared first on Suvae.org.

Although some grocery shopping begins with planning at home, many consumers decide to make a trip to their local store in the moment, while on the move. Local search ads, much like local inventory ads (LIAs), are increasingly the way they decide where they’ll go to buy their favorite foods.

What are Local Search Ads?

When consumers search for a term like “grocery store,” there are any number of brands that might show up in results based on the search engine optimization (SEO) quality of their content. In this case, however, consumers want the most relevant suggestions, which means identifying grocery stores nearby. This is where local search ads can help.

Using location extensions within Google Merchant Center (GMC), for example, local search ads ensure that Google will run the ads above more general search results and even provide directions to minimize the time spent traveling to get to a grocery store.

Benefits of Local Search Ads

Consumers are becoming more thoughtful than ever before in where they grocery shop. This is in part due to rising food costs, but also because they know they can quickly compare multiple brands at once with a quick search on their smartphones. As a result, greater competition has been a rising trend across the grocery sector.

Local search ads on Google Maps can make sense as a response to this trend because they focus on the convenience of shopping for groceries at the nearest possible store.

Other benefits include:

• A more effective use of your digital advertising budget: While other marketing tactics could nurture customers over time, local searches are often tied to more immediate purchase intent. This can mean a greater return on investment (ROI) for pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns.
• More data for analysis and insights: Tracking the path to purchase from local searches to in-store visits can help you see opportunities to optimize your website and other aspects of the digital experience you’re delivering to potential customers.
• Details that drive decisions: Consumers don’t just need to know which stores operate in their neighborhood. They also want to ensure they don’t show up when a store has closed, or whether it offers more than one way to get the items they want. Local search ads on Google Maps provide plenty of room to include particulars such as store hours and whether they offer delivery or in-store pickup.

Google Local Search Ads vs. Local Inventory Ads

Grocery stores aren’t limited to local advertising campaigns based on search ads alone. Successful brands also take advantage of local inventory ads (LIAs), which provide even more granular specifics about a brand’s products to help customers shop.

Instead of a generic search for “grocery stores,” for example, consumers might be shopping with a special ingredient in mind. A Google LIA could highlight that ingredient – whether it’s a kind of bread, a sauce, or a cut of meat – to confirm it’s in stock at a nearby location.

This goes a step further than Google business ads that are based on a grocery store’s Business Profile (formerly Google My Business). Instead of simply verifying a business is operating and listing its store locations, a Google LIA lets you feature products that are part of an overall Google Shopping campaign by linking the Business Profile with GMC and Google Ads.

A Google LIA also requires having accurate, up-to-date data on your product availability, which is supported by a product feed management solution. This is why leading grocery brands like Carrefour have worked with Suvae.org to help manage their LIAs.

Best practices for running local campaigns as part of a successful marketing strategy

A Google Local Inventory Ads can work hand-in-hand with Google Local Search Ads to provide the kind of immediate, comprehensive information consumers want and expect. Make sure you consider the following as you begin exploring further:

How will seasonality influence customer needs?

Grocery stores know it’s time to showcase turkeys in their stores as holidays like Christmas get closer, or to vegetable skewers when barbecue season arrives. Consumers may be increasing local searches amid these seasonal periods as their schedules get busier, so use the right ad tools to reach them.

What will drive long-term customer loyalty?

Customers will be grateful to find a local grocery store when they’re in a pinch, but they may go out of their way to return if they can get a good deal. Think about how you could use local search advertising to boost the effectiveness of discounts and other promotions.

Where will the customer journey take people?

Consumers may prefer to not only search online but buy that way too. Enabling e-commerce options provides greater flexibility and can be highlighted as part of local advertising campaigns. Don’t stop there, though: think through whether customers will shop locally because they want a shorter distance for shipping, or whether you should offer in-store or curbside pickup. If they come in-store, strive to offer personalized campaigns that can build a unique and emotional connection with your brand.

Take the next step with local advertising campaigns

If you haven’t already, set up your Google Business Profile so that it can be easily connected with GMC and you can begin leveraging location extensions in search ads.

Much like the products you’re advertising, meanwhile, your business is likely in a state of constant change. You can avoid the risk of outdated or incomplete details in your profile by connecting with a partner like Suvae.org which specializes in business listing management. This includes curating, optimizing, and distributing all the data necessary to rise in search rankings and gain more search traffic.

When it comes time to pair local search ads with a Google LIA, work with a partner like Suvae.org to allow inventory data to be updated easily and consistently, while also taking away the manual effort that can otherwise put a strain on your resources.

Grocery stores are the ultimate example of the kind of local business consumers depend upon. Make their lives easier and grow your business by connecting with Suvae.org to make the most of search advertising.

The post How Grocery Stores Can Use Local Search Ads And LIAs appeared first on Suvae.org.

Even amid ongoing economic turbulence and supply chain disruption, for example, it’s easy to see how using LIAs aligns perfectly with the SMART goal framework:

Specific

Rather than run campaigns focused simply on the broadest possible reach, Google Shopping Local inventory ads allow you to target specific products at the consumers who are searching within the vicinity of your physical locations.

Measurable

As retailers who have already worked with Suvae.org to implement LIAs have learned, the results of these campaigns can be directly attributed to critical marketing metrics (more on that below).

Achievable

With a partner like Suvae.org, LIAs can be set up and run without adding to the workload of marketing teams who already have enough on their plates. Using product feed management to power LIA campaigns can reduce manual and repetitive tasks.

Relevant

LIAs are relevant to any retailer that wants to increase revenues and lower their costs of acquiring customers. As for shoppers, LIAs represents the most relevant marketing imaginable because they only see what’s in stock.

Time-bound

When you’ve optimized your product feeds for LIAs, they can change as frequently as necessary to ensure available inventory is always front and center in search results.

Making the Most of Google Shopping Local Inventory Ads

As a trusted Google partner, Suvae.org has a proven track record in helping online sellers maximize their marketing budget and deliver increased value for their business.

No question that taking a local approach to omnichannel marketing is essential. According to recent research, 81% of consumers used Google to evaluate local businesses in 2021, compared with 63% the year before.

If Google Shopping Local inventory ads are new to you, here are three best practices to consider as you get started:

1. Identify the metrics where LIAs can move the needle

Ultimately, marketing is about enticing customers to make a purchase and encouraging them to come back again. LIAs allows you to analyze results at an even more granular level, however. While the metrics that matter can vary from one business to another, some of the common areas where LIAs have proved transformative include:

• Average increase in online conversation rates
• Increase in mobile sales
• Increase in-store visits
• Lower cost per store visit
• Lift in in-store visits at a constant store visit rate
• Lift in offline revenue from traffic driven by local inventory ads
• Increase in return-on-ad-spend (ROAS)

As 2023 begins, talk with your team about where you’ll want to focus in terms of monitoring marketing performance and talk to experts like Suvae.org about how to act upon the data.

2. Optimize marketing for the complete customer journey

For some consumers, the path to purchase is pretty linear. They look for an item they want on Google, see a local inventory ad showcasing the product they want, then visit a nearby store to buy it.

In other cases, shoppers will place orders online and reserve items to be picked up later. Some consumers will be shopping on their smartphones while they’re already in a store, comparing pricing and selection among competing brands.

LIAs offer options to tailor your marketing based on all these journeys, and others. You can promote inventory that can be conveniently picked up on the same day, for instance, or “pickup later” items that will show up in search results with the specific date they’re available.

LIAs can also help guide customers toward their preferred fulfillment experiences, whether it’s buying online, pickup in-store (BOPIS), click-and-collect, and more.

3. Build a Google Shopping Local Inventory Ads partnership to keep your business competitive

LIAs have evolved considerably since they were first introduced, and Google continues to provide additional features and functionality.

In the past year, for example, the company has begun offering formats such as navigational ads that are shown when drivers are using Google Maps. “Similar Places” LIAs, meanwhile, can ensure your stores show up when consumers are looking for products at a competitor that has closed for the day.

The most valuable marketing partnership is therefore not limited to providing a seamless process for setting up LIAs, onboarding, and offering support. Instead, successful retailers work with Suvae.org to explore new opportunities to fine-tune campaigns based on new formats, features, and the unique needs of each business.

Learn more about how to use LIAs to make 2023 your most successful year yet – online, offline, and everywhere in between. To get started, contact us and speak with a feed management professional today.

The post Why Google Shopping Local Inventory Ads are a Must-Do For Marketers appeared first on Suvae.org.

As Vogue Business reported, some of the luxury world’s best-known fashion houses have used everything from pop-up shops to limited-edition merchandise to cater to local interests. Others have set up permanent physical locations that reposition their brands from mass-market merchants to an integral part of specific neighborhoods.

This builds upon a long tradition of local advertising that connects with discerning consumers through their language, their sports teams, or cultural celebrations.

The Case For Selling Products Locally

Local online marketing and selling products locally became an even greater priority in 2020, when lockdowns amid the early COVID-19 outbreak restricted many consumers from shopping with brands nearby.
At the time, research from consulting firm Accenture found that 56% of consumers were shopping in neighborhood stores. The overwhelming majority (79%) said they were planning to continue this behavior in the long term.

The increased reports of floods, forest fires, and other impacts of global warming are also influencing shoppers’ decision-making. Data from Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram found that “sustainable fashion” is nearly 12 times more likely to be discussed on Instagram than any other topic.

As shopping locally becomes the norm, global brands may need to combine their marketing activities with changes in where they source materials and how they manufacture goods to align with their customers’ values. This will not be without its challenges, but with the right strategy, it opens the door for deeper, more personalized relationships.

Local Online Advertising: Challenges And Strategies To Consider

Global brands that use local advertising need to market themselves to consumers in specific locales in a way that’s both authentic and credible. In other words, the ads they create or tactics they use need to demonstrate a genuine knowledge of, and interest in, the characteristics of specific communities.

If you’re ready to begin selling products locally, keep the following principles in mind:

1. Being present everywhere in the omnichannel journey

A 2022 survey of consumers found that 75% of people who use their mobile phone to make a local search end up visiting a store within 24 hours. For the quarter who choose to shop locally online, the customer journey needs to be just as simple. That means making it easy to find products on digital storefronts and displaying them with local pricing and currency information.

Remember that customers may also turn to brands with a local presence when browsing on social media or other channels. The path to purchase should always be as smooth as possible.

2. Ensuring every local brand promise is kept

If local advertising for a limited-edition product drives interest among niche clientele, they will have expectations that product inventories are accurate and up to date long before they walk through the door. The same research found that 58% of consumers who found incorrect information on a brand’s website would leave and not give them a second chance.

This is why smart global brands use local inventory ad campaigns. By showcasing products that appeal to them – and are ready to be picked up or shipped – they can have confidence they’re delivering a positive customer experience. This, in turn, means customers will have good things to say about a brand to their friends, family, and visitors. Another study showed that nearly 80% of local businesses believe their reputation is their greatest differentiator.

3. Reinforcing local inventory ads with brand visibility

Local online marketing works best when it resonates with the lived experience of its target audience. Beyond the pop-up shops and other examples mentioned above, there are plenty of local advertising opportunities global brands could pursue. These include:

• Creating products or merchandise tie-ins that connect with a locale’s history or heritage, such as images that include an element from a national flag, an iconic building, or local cuisine.
• Sponsoring a local charitable initiative, such as a food bank, that speaks to a locale’s unique needs
• Collaborating with local suppliers or artisans to boost the fortunes of an entire community
• Develop ads featuring the stories of local people that reflect their aspirations and milestones

When this is done well, brands can make a positive impression on consumers – one which can be reinforced by the local inventory ads they see later.

Next steps: Working with an experienced Local Online Marketing Partner

The way forward will have brands taking a two-pronged approach: marketing to the world at large but also honing on local communities that represent significant sources of potential growth. It may require rethinking how marketing budgets are allocated, the advertising content that is created, and even the people they hire.

In such a fast-changing industry, we believe innovation is the key to success. That’s why you should consider incorporating the right technology into the process.

An effective product feed management solution, for example, ensures customers are never disappointed. That’s because this technology allows you to organize all your product data in one place while running local inventory ads that cover a broader range of items within a specific radius.

Reach out to us for a consultation with our product feed management experts to get started.

The post Local Online Marketing: How Big Brands Respond to Local Competitors appeared first on Suvae.org.

Your customers are no different. When they’re searching for products, they go online to find them. And, if the product is available within reach of their location, thus they can get it right away, and they will make that purchase.

Search marketing is usually focused on driving traffic to websites & online sales, so it is not easy for marketers and retailers to attract customers to their brick-and-mortar stores.
In the world of advertising, there are many solutions to better grab users’ attention and bring them to your website – but how do you attract people online, and turn them into in-store shoppers?

In this post you will learn about users’ local search intent, and how local online advertising can help you better meet customer expectations, boost foot traffic to your store and increase sales.

The importance of Local Online Advertising

Almost half of Google searches showed local intent with a third of consumers checking local products and local businesses online every day, with mobile queries prevailing. According to Forbes local search helps people find what they need when they need it.

Local search has also the greatest potential to connect consumers with your products and services better than any other marketing medium.
It’s all about the intent to buy. So, when people perform a local search, there is typically a much higher intent to purchase. Therefore, a higher conversion rate, as searched products are available within reach of the user’s current location.

Consumers are searching for locally available products everywhere, on every device, and at every point in the purchase journey. If we look at mobile users, the likelihood of local searches resulting in an in-store visit increases by 35%.

This is why having your products available across Google properties on Google search and Google Display it’s so important.
Remember, you must make sure your product availability, address, location, and directions appear in your ads across smartphones and computers/tablets to truly succeed in your local advertising.
Check out how to better manage your business listings

How Local Online Advertising Works

Local Online Advertising specifically centers around a local business or local store chain and targets potential customers in a physical store’s area.

By showing people products that are at hand in their location, they will likely become more attracted to you and your products, and take a step into your store to purchase as it’s immediately available within their reach. The takeaways? Consumers would buy in-store instead of online knowing they are closer to the store, and that they can get the product quickly.

This type of marketing can be very effective for brands and retailers who want to increase awareness and effectively advertise their products and availability, bringing more qualified customers into in-store purchasing. Let’s take a look at how advertising locally available products within a specific area user are searching, can help you stand out from your competitors and gain more qualified in-store traffic.

Powerful Local Online Advertising Tips

Advertising locally available products online can be a tremendous tool for many different businesses. And it is especially useful for larger businesses, looking to build their customer base in specific areas.
Here are some powerful local online advertising tips that can help hyper-localize your marketing:

• Create more appealing ads that are relevant to customers’ local search intent
• Tag location-specific keywords onto your product titles and description to match relevant search queries
• Geo-Target your audience. targeting users interested in a specific product that is locally available, can easily increase the chance to have more potential buyers at your store
• Incorporate location data into your marketing campaign to better reach consumers based on qualifiers like proximity to a store, events happening in their area, and more
• Optimize your landing pages by showing products available in a given store and provide your customers with all the information they need to confidently buy in-store
• Promote only available and in-stock products to avoid bad customer experience, so you can meet customers’ needs and expectations

Key Benefits of Local Inventory Ads Campaigns

Local inventory Ads allow retailers to promote all of their store’s inventory across Google.

Here’s how Local Inventory Ads can benefit your business:

• Generate more in-store traffic and sales
  With Local Inventory Ads, you can promote your locally available products to users who are searching in a specific area.
  As you attract them into your store, you can provide them with the product they want to buy, by addressing and satisfying their needs. Plus you get a chance to cross-sell related products per purchase.
• Build trust with your customers
  By bringing customers to your retail store, you can enrich their in-store experience with human interactions.
  A positive experience will lead to repeat visits and long-lasting trust. Plus, Google tends to increase organic search rankings for businesses that are relevant and trusted by local users.

• Spend less and get more
  Local Inventory Ads make you reach out to a specific number of people. You will have a lot more flexibility in terms of ad budget and get a higher ROI because you specifically target certain demographics to maximize your sales.

Conclusion

Big Brands have always struggled to try and reach customers at the local level. And when it comes to advertising big catalogs of products for different stores, most marketers spend more than half their day optimizing campaigns and marketing data.

Maintaining multiple campaigns across multiple channels can be challenging at times. It requires a level of attention and fine-tuning that can often create headaches for you and your team, leading to a lack of accuracy. What if there were simple and smarter ways to manage all of your product data for your local campaigns?

A Product Feed Management Tool helps you:

• Manage all of your product data in one place, to improve your local inventory ads

• Advertise a broader range of products and services in a specific location radius, to better serve your audiences with products they’re looking for

• Send more qualified customers to your stores by showcasing product availability at a nearby location

With the right marketing technology, you can effectively advertise your local products, on a large scale, with ease and efficiency. Discover how Highsteeet.io can become your ally in getting more local sales and traffic.

The post Local Online Advertising: Turn Online Browsers Into In-Store Shoppers appeared first on Suvae.org.

Worst of all is when they place an online order and find themselves clicking the “order status” button on their digital receipt over and over again, wondering if shipping delays are getting between them and what they bought.

As more people turn to online channels as a key part of their shopping experience, product availability, and proximity are becoming what defines success in almost every kind of business.
This is why understanding the difference between local text ads and Google LIA — and how to use them — is an essential part of your e-commerce strategy.

Why Thinking Global But Acting Local Is More Important Than Ever

As eMarketer recently reported, e-commerce sales are expected to continue double-digit growth in the U.S. alone to almost 18 percent in 2021 and will make up an estimated 20 percent of all retail sales by 2024.

The explosion of online shopping makes it easier to overlook an even more important retail transformation. While the Internet provides global reach for even the smallest businesses, customer behavior is creating what we might call a “neighborhood economy,” where the ability to meet customers where they are is the ultimate competitive differentiator.

As proof, consider that local search has become the second most important channel after organic search, according to a recent article in the Search Engine Journal.

This makes intuitive sense: Customers may start their research by looking broadly on Google for the products that interest them, but their buying decision will largely be driven by the convenience and speed of the retailer they choose.

How Local Text Ads Work

This is where local text ads in Google Ads campaigns provide a way to help streamline the experience for potential customers. By using location-targeted campaigns whose ad groups are used to configure local keywords and local ads, local text ads answer an urgent question:

“Where are [luxury designer jackets] near me?”

Local text ads can drive conversions with only a headline, a display URL, and a brief description.
Even within those creative constraints, it’s possible to convey a unique selling proposition in a way that immediately builds credibility.
Think of someone who’s looking for ethically produced cashmere sweaters. When they search on Google, they might see an ad like the fictitious one below before they even scroll down to see the organic results:

Cashmere wool sweaters with sustainability in mind
www.planetfriendlycashmere.com
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Google LIA at a glance

As an extension of Google Ads campaigns, Local Inventory Ads are based on Google Merchant Center, and a linked Google My Business account.

Here are a few other important details that differentiate Google LIA from local text ads:

• While local text ads can be used to promote cars, travel services, and almost anything else that Google Ads supports, local inventory focuses on selected categories. These include apparel, accessories, and many other retail products.
• Google LIAs are also managed by Google, which assigns areas and location keywords using data from a linked Google My Business account.
• Consumers might land on local inventory ads when they enter a search on Google like, “designer handbags near me,” or “buy pencil skirts in [city or town].”
• Beyond text, Google LIAs allow retailers to feature images of their product as well as the price or other details such as measurements.

When consumers click through, local inventory ads also act as digital storefronts by answering all the other frequently asked questions (FAQs) that run through customers’ minds. The ad will tell them exactly how far away a store location is, for instance, hours of operation, and more details about the product.

Why a Local-First Approach to the Customer Journey Matters

Customers may continue to randomly visit stores to see if a product is available, but increased concerns around safety protocols and simply the time they potentially waste mean they’re increasingly likely to begin their search online.

Based on what they learn from local text ads or local inventory ads, consumers can arm themselves with information to take the next step in their journey.

For some, this might include making an in-person visit, but not necessarily in the store environment. They might order online for curbside delivery instead.

Local text and local inventory ads aren’t just great marketing tools. They are also ways to ensure customers don’t get frustrated or disappointed in their search and provide just enough details to offer value and guide customers to the right purchases.
This helps businesses create the same kind of trusted relationships that people have always had with their favorite neighborhood shops.

Product feed management technology offers an ability to enhance the use of Google LIAs by optimizing the journey between marketing, sales, and beyond. Explore what the future of your e-commerce experience could look like, and feel free to contact us to learn more.

The post Harness the Power Of Google LIA appeared first on Suvae.org.

Considering that local customers are most likely to visit your physical shop, it makes sense to focus on attracting these clients to your store location as they are browsing online. So why not give it a try?

The Value of Local Inventory Ads

Local Inventory Ads (Liasisre online ads that appear after you search for a product on Google. They display local products and, subsequently, your physical storefront, providing potential customers with all the details to help them move forward in their purchasing journey towards your stores.

There are two options of landing pages for this ad type:

• A Merchant-Hosted Local Storefront (MHLSF) page
• A generic Google-managed page

Merchant-Hosted Local Storefront (MHLSF) pages improve shoppers’ experience with Local Inventory Ads by offering more information and purchasing options for users, helping you to increase in-store traffic and sales.

Let’s dive deeper into the two types of MHLSF options available:

• Basic MHLSFs lead visitors to a product’s landing page, where they can select and purchase from a store of their choice that offers the item. The ad notates the price and availability of the product and allows for local pickup.
• Full MHLSFs, by contrast, lead to a product’s landing page for a specific store which includes the customized branding, store name, store location, local product price, related products, and a map of how to get to the store, and different purchasing options.

Using the Full MHLSF option for your local advertising gives you more control over directing shoppers to your branded landing page. Also, consumer behavior can be tracked and campaigns can be adjusted based on performance.

Product Landing Page Requirements For Full MHLSF Pages

Your LIA Merchant Hosted Pages must be specific to your storefront and be compatible with various devices, from desktop to mobile.

The mandatory elements include:

• The essentials: Address, local price, and availability must be visible upon first hitting the page. If your business has multiple locations, have all this information present upon selecting a specific location. The local availability point is crucial and should have the same prominence as the option to purchase the product online.
• Accurate pricing: The local price must match the one you applied to your local inventory feed. If you’re only going to show the online price, the local price for that specific location must be the same.
• Accurate availability: Likewise, your actual in-store inventory availability must match the records in your Google My Business account. (You don’t want to provide a product landing page for an item that is out of stock.)

Here are a few optional additions to consider:

• Other store details like directions, contact information, and opening hours
• A selection of similar products in your store
• The ways to purchase items, such as through in-store pickup

For Google’s Search Engine to properly crawl your landing pages to check for accuracy and potential issues, we recommend you follow Google’s structured data markup requirements.

Full MHLSF Pages Feed Requirements

If you’re working with local product feeds you will have to add specific attributes to your feed like:

• [link_template], including a [store_code].
• Other parameters like [mobile_link_template] work well if you’re optimizing for mobile devices and [ads_redirect] for URL tracking parameters.

Let’s go through a brief rundown of the attributes needed for eCommerce stores.

Every product needs the [title], [description], [id], and [image_link] tags. [gtin] is recommended heavily and mandatory if the product manufacturer specifies one. New products require the [brand] attribute, while used or refurbished ones need [condition] specified.

For companies operating in the EU, energy efficiency attributes are needed:

• [energy_efficiency_class]
• [min_energy_efficiency_class], and [max_energy_efficiency_class]

Other local regulations sometimes require:

• [unit_pricing_measure] and [unit_pricing_base_measure] to complement the usual [price] and [sale_price] attributes.

If your store offers local pickup options, think about using the relevant attributes as well. These include:

• [pickup_method]
• [pickup_SLA]
• [pickup_link_template]
• [mobile_pickup_link_template]

For products not sold in stores, use [excluded_destination], as it hides certain items from your online product feed.

Consult with Google’s official documentation for more information.

Get Started With Merchant-Hosted Local Storefront

Optimizing the landing pages for Merchant-Hosted Local Storefront plays a massive role in local marketing strategies.
A customer-focused shopping feed management solution can help you track all the requirements and recommended practices, so you can get started on the right foot, and give your local and online product sales the boost they need.

Suvae.org’s MHLSF Landing Page Service provides you with:

• Customized landing pages that include branding and related products
• Customer-focused user experience that allows for in-store checkout and the ability to reserve products
• Direct communication with Google for approvals

Improve engagement and conversions from your Local Inventory Ads with Merchant Hosted Local Storefront pages. Book a consultation with Suvae.org to find out more information on how we can help you get more customers at a local level.

Other Resources:

• How Google Local Inventory Ads Work
• How to Create a Google Local Inventory Products Feed
• What You’re Missing to Run Successful Local Product Listing Ads

The post Merchant-Hosted Local Storefront: Attract More Local Customers appeared first on Suvae.org.

The post What You’re Missing to Run Successful Local Inventory Ad Campaigns appeared first on Suvae.org.

The post How Google Local Inventory Ads Work appeared first on Suvae.org.