The Importance of Personalisation in Google Ads

The truth, as they say, is in the pudding. But one person’s pudding is another person’s kryptonite.

That’s why personalisation is key to success, especially when it comes to Google Ads. By truly understanding your audiences, you are able to develop campaigns that are relevant, resonate with key stakeholders, and drive tangible results.

Contrary to popular opinion, personalisation isn’t merely magically referring to someone by their first name. There’s a lot more to it than that. The devil is in the details and the data.

What is Personalisation in Google Ads?

We live in an age where privacy is paramount, and quite rightly so. This, of course, makes the task of applying personalisation in advertising a lot trickier than it used to be.

Despite these perceived limitations, there is still a wealth of data allowing us to craft compelling ad copy that speaks directly to the needs and desires of individual users. With Google Ads, you can tailor ad content to specific audience segments based on demographics, behaviours, preferences, location, and other data, sometimes referred to as signals by Google.

Brands that can effectively leverage this data are able to ensure that their messaging is relevant, relatable, and engaging.

Why Does Personalisation Matter?

As any good salesperson will tell you, there’s no such thing as strangers, only friends you haven’t met yet. Getting the right message in front of the right people at the right time is half the battle won. That’s the power of personalisation.

Rhetoric aside, personalisation in Google Ads has several valuable benefits.

• Increased Click-Through Rates (CTR): Personalised ads are more relevant to users and therefore, generally lead to higher click-through rates. When users see ads that align with their search queries and interests, they are more inclined to click on the ad resulting in better engagement.
• Higher Conversion Rates: There are many different variables that contribute to eliciting a conversion, which is why CRO is a speciality in its own right. But personalisation is an integral factor. By showing users ads that match their unique needs, you reduce friction in the conversion cycle and increase the likelihood of them taking action.
• Improved Ad Relevance and Quality Score: Unfortunately, in Google Ads there’s no such thing as participation awards. Google only rewards ads that are relevant to users. Relevancy is one of the key factors that contribute to Quality Score. In theory, a better quality score can lower your cost-per-click (CPC) and improve your ad’s positioning in the search results.
• Enhanced User Experience: The customer is always right. But this mindset of putting the customer first is critical when it comes to Google Ads. The amount of information and ads that users are exposed to on a daily basis can be overwhelming. To cut through the noise you need to provide a tailored, user-centric experience that communicates to your audience on a personal level.
• Better Return On Investment: People are always quick to say they’re more than just a number. Whilst that may be true, when it comes to business everyone has an estimated lifetime value. That value is very much predicated by the amount you have invested to acquire that customer. Personalised ads allow you to allocate your budget more efficiently by targeting specific segments of your audience. The right message is only effective when delivered to the right audience. To use an analogy here, it’s less about fishing with a net and more about fishing with a rod.

Personalising Your Google Ads

There are several tactics you can employ to incorporate personalisation in your Google Ads campaigns. It’s worth noting that a few of these techniques can be implemented in tandem. It’s a case of assessing the size of your audience and determining how granular you need the personalisation to be.

Dynamic Search Ads (DSAs)

Dynamic Search Ads are particularly useful for brands that have complex websites. In practice, Dynamic Search Ads automatically customise your headlines and landing pages based on the user’s search query. This is extremely relevant when you consider that around 15% or 1.275 billion daily queries on Google are completely unique, meaning they have never been searched before.

Rather than having to do the heavy lifting yourself and resorting to managing exhaustive keyword lists, Google crawls your website and matches the user’s search query with relevant content. This allows you to deliver highly personalised ads without having to manually write headlines for every possible query.

Bonus fact: As we all know, size matters. A benefit of Dynamic Search Ads that is often overlooked, is that unlike standard search ads that are restricted to 30 characters for headlines, DSA headlines are not bound by this restriction. In practice, DSA headlines often exceed 30 characters, with some reaching up to 84 characters in length. This extended length allows for more descriptive and relevant headlines, which can potentially have a positive impact on engagement.

Leverage Audience Segmentation

Audience segmentation allows you to target specific groups of users based on their behaviours, interests, demographics, and past interactions with your website. The key is to focus on micro-segmentation rather than broad audience segments. By dividing your audience into specific sub-sets, you can deliver highly relevant ads that address their unique needs. As an example, remarketing lists give you the opportunity to serve tailored ads to users who have previously visited your website, viewed specific products, or engaged with your brand.

AI and Machine Learning

At this stage certain elements of AI and machine learning are opt-in features on Google Ads. However, I envision that these will soon be mandatory as Google is pushing to automate campaigns in order to leverage the power of their machine learning algorithms. There are some pros and cons here. On the one hand, practitioners will have to be comfortable with having less control over their campaigns. But on the other hand, machine learning algorithms are able to process vast amounts of data in real time. This will make it easier to identify patterns, interpret and contextualise user behaviour, and deliver personalised campaigns at scale.

Implement Customer Match

First-party data can be extremely valuable in delivering a personalised user experience. The caveat is that it needs to be done in a privacy-centric manner and within the confines of any applicable regulations. Customer Match allows you to target users based on customer data, such as email addresses, that you have uploaded to your Google Ads account. With this data at your disposal, you can create personalised ads for specific customer segments, such as first-time buyers or high-value customers.

Dynamic Remarketing

Dynamic remarketing takes traditional remarketing one step further by showing previous visitors ads that showcase products or services they viewed on your website. These ads can be enhanced by featuring a promotion or discount that incentivises users to complete a purchase or submit a lead. This personalised approach can significantly improve conversion rates, especially for e-commerce businesses.

Ad Customisers

Ad customisers allow you to customise the text of your search ads automatically. You can adapt your ad text based on keywords, location, pricing, product details, or countdown timers. The two key benefits of ad customisers are tailored messaging and scalability. With ad customisers, ads are hyper-specific to each search or web page being viewed. Ad customisers also significantly increase the number of ad variations available and will show the most relevant variation to each potential customer.

Best Practices for Personalising Google Ads

Understand Your Audience

Knowledge is power. The better you understand your audience and understand their needs, desires, and challenges, the better positioned you will be to create relevant ad copy that resonates with your target audience. Use data sources like Google Marketing Platform, Google Analytics, or Power BI to understand who your customers are and what motivates their behaviour.

Test, Monitor and Optimise

Personalisation requires continuous testing, monitoring, and optimising. By regularly conducting A/B testing, you can finetune your personalised ads to improve their efficacy. Leverage analytics tools to assess performance and optimise your campaigns based on real-time data.

Align Ad Content with Landing Pages

There’s something I like to call the Alice in Wonderland effect, which is essentially where there is a disconnect between expectations and reality. This mirrors the experience of users who click on an ad expecting one thing but arrive on a landing page that feels like a completely different world. That’s why it’s crucial to ensure that your personalised ads match the content on your landing pages. A seamless user experience reduces friction and increases the probability of eliciting the desired outcome.

Focus on Intent

Target users based on their search intent. Whether their search intent is commercial, informational, navigational, or transactional, you can use keyword research and audience insights to inform your ad copy. Ads that align with user intent result in higher engagement and better performance.

Now is the Time to Embrace Personalisation

By leveraging data, machine learning and AI, businesses can deliver meaningful, targeted experiences that drive engagement, build customer loyalty, and increase ROI.

Personalisation in Google Ads is no longer optional. It is fundamentally changing how brands interact with customers. Personalisation is a critical strategy for brands that want to remain relevant, evolve as consumer behaviour shifts, and stand out in an increasingly saturated digital landscape.

Need Assistance with Google Ads? Gordon Digital Experts are Ready to Help

Ready to take your Google Ads to the next level? Partner with Gordon Digital to create personalised, data-driven campaigns that captivate your audience and maximise.

Our Brisbane Google Ads management team is here to ensure your paid search ads resonate with your audience, leveraging advanced techniques to align personalisation perfectly with search intent.

Speak with us today to see how we can maximise your Google Ads budgets.