The benefits of AdWords are numerous, and if you haven’t already incorporated this highly converting channel within your digital marketing strategy, now is the time to make sure you aren’t missing out on its virtues. As with all things that seem too good to be true, there are certain caveats to be aware of, especially when dealing with international audiences. In this article, we will be exploring what makes Google PPC ads a particularly useful asset in the marketer’s toolbox and how to avoid the common pitfalls which can make a campaign fall short of its potential results.
Reactive marketing puts you in the right place at the right time
With AdWords, you can target your desired audience with pinpoint accuracy. As you are in control of the keywords you are targeting, there is the potential to only generate and pay for enquiries from customers who are actually interested in your product or service. Audiences can also be segmented by geographical, linguistic or device-specific variables. Of course, you can also set up AdWords in such a way that the wrong users are targeted, thereby wasting your budget. The key is to rigorously research your keywords in the language you are targeting – localisation here is critical for ensuring your ads will be served for the choicest terms.
Cost control
With all pay-per-click style advertising, you have full control over your costs. You can regulate these via your daily budget. This is the maximum amount you want to spend per day, which can be changed at any time. This is especially handy if you have peak business hours or days when you want to maximise your exposure. Careful management of your daily budget is critical, especially if you are regularly changing it, as Google will do its best to spend your entire budget.
Flexibility and scalability
When it comes to flexibility and scalability, nothing comes close to the world’s favourite search engine. You can increase or decrease your maximum click price or daily budget as often as you like, there are numerous ways to target your audiences, and you can run as many ads simultaneously as you like (provided you have the budget to support them).
Create international campaigns at the drop of a hat
Are you looking to break into new overseas markets online? AdWords gives advertisers the opportunity to promote products and services to an entirely new market within 24 hours. It’s not as simple as changing the targeting to a different location, however, as if you want to generate conversions, you will need to localise your campaigns to each specific market.
Using the right translators for the job
We’ve already touched upon the importance of investing the appropriate time into keyword research. When it comes to international campaigns, this means engaging with translation experts who can localise your ads, targeting and landing pages so that your brand has a local voice.
Localised keyword research
People search for things differently in different markets, so direct translations of English keywords are rarely the best terms to target. Ensuring keywords are researched natively will avoid missing out on the best keywords for your target market.
Transcreated ad copy and landing pages
In order to achieve a high conversion rate, both ad copy and landing pages must be localised in order to resonate with the desired audience and to match the keyword you are targeting. As with the keyword research, direct translations of English landing pages will not be sufficient – it’s crucial these are localised. Otherwise, ad-quality scores will be low (keywords won’t be matched in the ad copy), resulting in a higher cost per click.
Certain markets also respond differently to styles of ads – for example, the phrase “Did you know that” resonates well with English speaking audiences, however in France, this phrase implies that there is a gap in the reader’s knowledge, causing offence. Here, it really pays to have in-market localisation teams to get the tone right.
Here at ALM Translations, we have a dedicated marketing team of PPC specialists with a track record of managing high-converting multi-market campaigns. Are you interested in scaling up your operations? Get in touch today and we’ll put together a bespoke strategy for your business.
