5 best practices for the Google Display Network
Jun 16, 2015
Agencies, Marketing Teams, Retail
The Google Display Network (GDN) has been poo-poohed by some digital marketers because it’s not as effective at direct response as its AdWords cousin, paid search, and it doesn’t feature the targeting or programmatic buying capabilities of brand-awareness platforms like Facebook or DSPs.
So, should you ignore the GDN? Emphatically: no. If you haven’t had success with the GDN in the past, it might have less to do with the platform and more to do with some campaign-management mistakes. With that in mind, let’s review 5 GDN best practices that can put you on the path to ROI-positive success.
1. Know Your Goals
Sure, the GDN can get you some direct-response conversions, but the platform has different strengths – so before you pour in money, figure out what you’d like to accomplish.- More volume?
- Lower overall CPA? (Note that a good attribution strategy is key to learning the GDN’s value here)
- Cheaper traffic?
- Fuel for a retargeting strategy in place to re-engage your site’s visitors?
2. Know Your Audience
The GDN does have a bunch of targeting options (which we’ll get to in a second). To make full use of those, though, you’ll need to have a good idea of who your audience is. Who’s your target customer? This breaks down into:- Age
- Gender
- Interests
- Location
- Problem your service or product is trying to solve
- Income level
3. Know Your Targeting Options
The GDN allows you to target by:- Contextual
- Placement
- Topics
- Interests
- Remarketing
- Gender
- Age