Get the Most From Google AdWords Managed Placements

Managed placement targeting on the Google AdWords Display Network is one of the most efficient marketing tools advertisers have in their locker.

For those who do not already know, the Google Display Network (GDN) is a vast compilation of websites, and other sub-placements ranging from NY Times, Weather.com, to relatively unknown blogs that run Google advertisements.

As an advertiser, it provides an immense opportunity to get your message in front of your desired audience. With the GDN, you will have the option to place ads that could potentially be shown across thousands of websites that reach almost all of the internet users around the world.

Being able to manage your ad placements delivers more control as to where on the Google Display Network your ads will appear, and the amount you wish to bid. This control is crucial to gain maximum return on investment.

The trick is knowing how to target your placement prospects effectively on the Display Network so your campaign can drive the right traffic, and clicks that have the highest chance converting to you. This is where the Google PPC AdWords’ managed placement steps in.

Managed Placement Targeting Tips

With managed placements, you select the specific websites you want your ads to appear on the GDN. You also have the option to manually decide how much you would like to individually bid on each placement to remain on budget. The Google Display Network includes regular websites, videos, RSS feeds, and mobile sites that relate to your product or service.

Prospecting for the right channels to manage your placement ads can be one of the hardest challenges you may face with AdWords. Do not worry, there are a few ways to find these effective placements to display your ads on.

1. 1. 1. Do a manual search for relative websites in your niche. Check out the website yourself, and see if it runs Google ads on them. For example, the image below shows where to look when deciding if a website participates in the Google Display Network. If you find some fitting and relevant sites during your manual search, you can go into AdWords and add them to your managed placements campaign. Google Reference: How to add, edit, and remove managed placements
    2. Use the display planner. The display planner is an AdWords tool that automatically provides preparation and predictions before implementing a Display Network campaign. It essentially guides you with ideas where to display your potential reach beforehand (among other things).In the AdWords display, enter your chosen keywords and/or a landing page URL, and the Planner gives you placement ideas that are relevant to your campaign. You can access this by going to tools, and then display planner in the top navigation in your AdWords account.
    3. Use the Placement targeting tool in the AdWords interface. This allows you to type in keywords or websites to generate a list of sites Google thinks are related. The image below shows the placement URL’s, ad placement types, and impressions on the website per day. This offers the chance to automatically scout fitting managed placements for your ads.

Managed Placement Prospecting Tips

Page and Ad Relativity:

People do not want to see random ads that have to nothing with their interests. Find a website page in which the provided content is somehow associated with your product or service offering. Once you found relatable websites, curate your ads to fit the placement.

Say for example you sell home gym equipment. You wouldn’t want your advertisement to be displayed on a blog website about chocolate cake would you? No they are not relatable enough, nor likely would someone who reads about chocolate cake be interested in purchasing home gym equipment (at that point in time).

Choose websites and create ads that provide value to not only you the advertiser, but the potential customer as well.

Branding Associations:

When you decide to advertise on a publisher’s site, you are essentially “partnering” with the website. Even if you may not be in your best intentions, customers are going to create their own associations between the website, and the ad in which it was placed on.

Read the content, evaluate the images, and try to diagnose the audience, and ask yourself if you are comfortable with manifesting an association with the website? Would you want to drive this type of audience to your website?

Managing Your Placement Best Practices

Leverage Your Winning Managed Placements:

If a managed placement display ad is bringing in high amount of traffic, you will want to increase your bid amount on that particular website. This will make your bid more competitive which will result in your advertisement increasing its exposure on the placement such as a website or video.

By choosing specific placements, you know your message is going to be exposed where your customers are spending their most time. The more time they are exposed to the message, the higher chance that the person is going to click through the advertisement.

Even if he or she does not click through on the ad, the related display message has a chance to stick in the mind of the viewer. This can go a long way the next time he or she wishes to make a purchase decision.

Another strong option when setting up managed placements is to target specific pages within a site, not just the domain website itself. In lots of instances, a specific page within the overarching site domain is the only relevant placement worth targeting for your account.

Exclude the Losers:

Just like you can target specific placements in the GDN to display your ads, you can also exclude placements. This blocks your ads from being presented on certain sites.

This option is useful if the website is not relevant, or you do not want to be associated with the brand. This will save money knowing that your ads will only be bids are more focused on the winners. Over time, you will have a list of the winners that bring in the right customers who convert, and a list of losers who do not offer a return on investment.

Google Reference: More on how to manage excluded placements

Successful Google AdWords campaigns are about quality prospect targeting, over purely quantity. You must display your ads on relevant websites that are going to drive the right type of audience to your website.

While processing managed placements, do not be afraid to fail. Experiment with differing webpages until you have an optimized and distinguished list of winners versus losers. Follow your innate intuition, and let the creativity flow with your associations. In time, you will become smarter with your Google AdWords managed placements targeting.