AI, Small Businesses and Google Ads
Have you ever wondered how Google auto-completes your sentences when you type a couple of words into the search engine? Or how Netflix and Amazon can make accurate movie suggestions to you? Or how Siri or Cortona have all the answers you’re looking for? Well, all of this and so much more is possible because of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
As a small or medium sized business owner, we always worry about budgets and deliverables. For the longest time, people in the small business industry have been cautious to invest in AI because they think it costs an arm and a leg, and it is only meant for technology giants like Facebook or Google. But the truth is, that in the last couple of years, AI has become much cheaper and more readily available.
In fact, one of the biggest technology giants in the world is on the side of small businesses. Google has leveraged this technology to give small and medium sized business an ads platform.
Google Ads
Google has been honing its Machine Learning (ML) tools for some time now. And if you are wondering if you should spend money on Google Ads, then we are here to help you with that.
First off, what is Google Ads? Google Ads is an online advertising platform that allows you create ads that will reach your target demographic. Your target demographic is anyone who is aware of your brand. Google Ads works on pay-per-click technology. That is to say that you pay every time someone click on your ads.
The world of technology is a rapidly growing one. People will always tell you to invest in this and invest in that. It can be very confusing if you are trying to decide where to put your money. And as a small business ourselves, we completely understand that. So we have curated for you, a list of reasons, why we think that Google Ads is your safest bet.
Google is a Verb
It is true! Long gone are the days when Google was just a search engine. Google is a verb. It has even been included in the official Meriam Webster Dictionary.
Don’t believer us? Just Google it!
Google has an enormous reach. You’ll be hard pressed to find people who do not know or understand what Google is. With Chrome, Google is an inbuilt search engine for most android smartphones in the market today. Google handles a whopping 5 billion searches per day!
People always run to Google for solutions. Even we do, because who knows better than Google? With targeted advertising on Google, when someone looks for a solution to their problem, they are likely to choose you over a competitor because you used Google Ads.
Google Ads > SEO
Search engine optimization (SEO) and Google Ads are both search engine traffic strategies to generate more traffic. But the fact is that Google Ads work faster than SEO.
We are not saying that you should ignore SEO, but we are merely saying that while SEO is a long-term process, Google Ads are more fast paced. They are also more transparent; you know exactly what is happening with your ads.
Ads give you instant visibility at a cost, whereas if done with the right content, then SEO can give you success in the longer run.
Build Better Brand Awareness
While Google Ads is an excellent platform to boost traffic, clicks, and conversion, it is also extremely effective in telling people who you are. It promotes an independent identity for what your brand stands for.
You may be wondering how this is different from SEO. Well, when it comes to SEO, the rank of your webpage and your brand completely depends on the number of searches for your brand or its variations. With Google Ads, you can increase your brand awareness through search as well as display ads.
If you’d like to learn more about the differences between Search Engine Optimization and Google Ads, we will be happy to assist you. Just give us a call at 01522 822520 and we will walk you through it.
Ad Campaigns
Google can create five types of Ads Campaigns for you.
- ◊ Search Network Campaign: This type of campaign enables your ads to appear not just on Google Search or Maps, or YouTube but hundreds of other search partners.
- ◊ Display Network Campaign: This includes getting visual ads in front of people using products In the Google Display Network.
- ◊ Shopping Campaign: This uses your web store’s data to determine the how and where of your ad should be displayed.
- ◊ Video Campaign: This campaign uses a video to display your brand on YouTube and other places on the Google Display Network.
- ◊ App Campaign: Through an App campaign, your ad will be displayed on Google Search, YouTube, Google Play, AdMob, the Google Display Network, Google Discover, Google's search partners and many other publishers that display app ads.
Wondering where AI fits into all of it?
One of the most popular ways in which Google are getting everyone immersed in ad creation is by using AI to optimize ads. This system is called Responsive Search Ads (RSAs).
The way they work is that you create up to 15 headlines and four descriptions which can work in any combination. Then, Google Ads AI tests different combinations and works out what performs the best.
RSAs are a great way of making your campaigns flexible. How? Well you leave all the hard work for AI. Gone are the days when you need to sit in long, and needless meetings to decide which ads do the best for you. All you need to do is let AI take over this tedious task, and sit back and enjoy the results.
Another great example of AI is bidding. Suppose you have created an Ad using Google Ads, and you’ve allocated a certain amount of money to this ad. A bid represents the amount of money you are willing to spend for a single click on a given keyword in Google Ads. Those bids will dictate where your ads show up in search results.
As we have said time and again, AI is not here to take over our jobs and make humans redundant. AI simply bridges the gap between man and machine by doing the repetitive tasks for us, that in turn free up time to focus on what is important.
Still not sure of whether this is the right way to go for you and your business? Write to us at
Many of you are wondering what happened to Darren’s Dispatch this month. We have some exciting news! Instead of creating a monthly newsletter, we have now decided to make it a weekly newsletter! We appreciate your feedback and value your time, and so, moving forward our Dispatch will now be easily accessed via a weekly email!
Haven’t subscribed the Dispatch yet? Well, just click on the link here Subscribe to Darren's Dispatch or simply scan this QR-code and you’ll be redirected to our sign-up page!