A Guide to Maximizing Profitability in Your Display Campaigns
Display campaigns are often misunderstood and overlooked as an effective advertising strategy. Many people claim that “display campaigns don’t work” because they fail to use them correctly. However, when used properly, display campaigns can be highly profitable. In this guide, we will show you how to maximize profitability in your display campaigns at every stage of the funnel.
Targeting Options: Content Targeting vs. Audience Targeting
There are two categories of targeting options for display campaigns: content targeting and audience targeting. Content targeting allows you to show your ads to people who are currently on specific website content that you specify. This can be done through topics, placements, or keywords. On the other hand, audience targeting shows ads to people regardless of the website they are currently viewing. This includes demographics, affinity, in-market and life events, your data segments, combined segments, and custom segments. One of the most profitable options is custom segments, which allows you to create custom audiences based on people’s recent searches, website visits, or app usage.
Top-of-Funnel Display Ad Campaigns
At the top of the funnel, you can use placement content targeting to reach your target audience. Think of it as buying ad space in a magazine that your demographic reads or sponsoring a podcast that your target audience listens to. With this option, you can track clicks, time spent on your site, pages viewed, and conversions. Case studies have shown that display ads on relevant websites can generate more leads at a lower cost than search campaigns.
Other examples of top-of-funnel usage include targeting local news websites for local services, events, restaurants, and home goods, targeting health and wellness sites with ads for supplements or fitness programs, and targeting gaming websites with ads for games.
Middle and Bottom-of-Funnel Display Ad Campaigns
For middle and bottom-of-funnel campaigns, custom audiences targeting is the most profitable option. This allows you to target people who have recently searched for related keywords or visited websites similar to your competitor’s site. By combining this targeting option with auto-bidding, you can follow users no matter what website they are currently on and determine which websites and users are most likely to convert. Case studies have shown that this targeting option can generate more leads at a lower cost per lead compared to search campaigns.
Other examples of middle and bottom-of-funnel usage include targeting previous customer lists with ads about new products, targeting previous website visitors who viewed specific pages or products but did not convert, and targeting in-market and life events audiences with ads relevant to their current shopping or life events.
Critical Settings and Optimizations
To ensure you don’t waste money on display ads, it is important to target one option per ad group or campaign and avoid using “Optimized targeting” or “targeting expansion” in ad group settings. You should also consider blocking all apps or only showing ads on desktops to avoid irrelevant placements. Additionally, it is recommended to block bad placements frequently, exclude irrelevant topics, use negative keywords, and exclude your remarketing audiences to avoid overlapping with your remarketing campaigns.
Why Not Just Use Performance Max?
While Performance Max campaigns can be effective, they do not offer the same level of control as display campaigns. With limited data transparency, it can be difficult to know if your Performance Max campaign is appearing on specific sites your audience visits. By using display campaigns to directly target relevant websites and easily track results, you can have more control and potentially achieve better results. Display campaigns can also provide valuable data to improve your Performance Max campaigns.
In conclusion, display campaigns can be highly profitable when used correctly. By understanding and utilizing the various targeting options at each stage of the funnel, optimizing your settings, and combining display campaigns with other advertising strategies, you can maximize profitability and achieve success in your display campaigns.
