Smart Campaigns: What They Are And When Should You Use Them

If you’ve got a website running, or are aware that your target audience is online, you would generally be considering investing in some form of digital advertising. The most recommended format, of course, is Google Adwords. Google Adwords allows you to run PPC ads for keywords and phrases your audience is looking for, to get their attention so that they can be interested in becoming your customers. When set up correctly, Google Adwords is a truly powerful tool for any business that is looking to exponentially grow their sales. Many business owners do choose to set up their accounts based on the recommendations in their Google Adwords account. This is fine as a starting point, but it is important to remember that without proper Google Adwords management, most of the recommendations will deliver clicks rather than sales. This is just how the recommendations are skewed.

To help small businesses starting out with Google Adwords who find the overall process of PPC campaigns overwhelming, Google introduced Smart Campaigns in July of last year. These were introduced with the intention of simplifying the ad-creation experience for small business owners, as they offer more features and capabilities and improved performance. They are a reworking of Google Adwords Express and according to Google, are 20% more effective, and are intended to be easy to set up and manage. They are said to be a great way to test the waters and see if Google Adwords could benefit your business.

So, What Exactly Are Google Smart Campaigns?

Google Smart Campaigns are one of the easiest ways to dip your feet in the world of PPC and digital marketing. They help you run your PPC campaigns without the complicated elements – just a set and forget for Google Adwords essentially.

Smart Campaigns are ad campaigns that run based on some simple setup options. a fully automated, simplified tool that applies machine learning to create image and text ads. Google picks, via their AI (artificial intelligence) algorithms, what keywords to use based on the industry category of your business and the products and services you want to promote.

Why Should You Use Google Smart Campaigns?

Google Smart Campaigns are a fantastic stepping stone into the world of Google Adwords, because the AI interface essentially runs your ads for you. You are able to create an online ad quickly and easily without having to learn Google’s complicated user interface or having in-depth knowledge around Google Adwords. It allows you to have some control over your account without overwhelming you with too many features. Your simple and easy to comprehend dashboard gives you reporting and performance metrics. You also don’t have to worry about doing your keyword research – it is all done for you, and you can see which keywords got impressions and which got clicks. 

One of the biggest benefits of Smart Campaigns for time-poor business owners is that they target and optimise themselves. Google fully automates the experience, creating ads based on your website and your Google My Business profile. They consistently optimise and tweak based on best practices. On the other hand, Google Adwords requires a knowledge of all the best practices and a keen eye for spotting trends so that campaigns can be modified to be optimised in real-time by a Google-certified expert.

When Should You Use Google Adwords over Google Smart Campaigns?

Giving you control over the basics of Google Adwords and automating the rest, Smart Campaigns are a great tool for businesses seeking a simple foray into the world of Google Adwords. But why don’t more businesses, if not all, just consistently use them? If you don’t have to do any of the complicated stuff, and you don’t have to manage dozens of tools, reports, and bidding modifications to find success why wouldn’t you?

For starters, just because it is easy to set up and does all the heavy lifting for you, it doesn’t mean it is the best for your business. With Google picking your keywords and bidding strategy, you tend to have less control over your campaign. This means you could end up paying for the low intent clicks because your campaigns are not optimised to convert. If you want to see clear conversions through your PPC campaigns, a full-fledged Google Adwords campaign will serve you better.

With Smart Campaigns, your ads are shown automatically across Google search, search partners, and Google display ads to achieve optimal performance, whereas you get a choice (through an option in settings) to choose where your ads show.

Google Smart Campaigns are designed for local businesses with a brick-and-mortar presence. If you don’t have three to five hours a week to dedicate to Google Ads management, Smart Campaigns will generate traffic (both online and offline) for your business without the hassle. If you are interested in building up your PPC strategy to become a massive part of your customer acquisition strategy, then you’ll likely have to branch out from Smart Campaigns in the long run.

“Google Adwords is a waste of money – they just don’t work. My free dollars from them were gone in a few hours with no conversions!” We’ve heard this so often, especially in our line of work where Google Adwords are our bread and butter. However, once we run through a strategy session with the business owner, there are plenty of areas that – with just a few tweaks – could offer a serious ROI. If you’ve felt the same way regarding Google Adwords, or want to figure out if Google Smart Campaigns would work better for you instead, we can definitely talk you through your account – book a session using the form below now!