What are Google Display Ads?
Simply put, Google Display Ads are ads that come up on other websites, normally in the form of images with associated text. These ads are great because you can show your ads to a wide audience that you have selected based on certain criteria, and you only pay when someone clicks on the ads. The ads can show your brand 100 000 times, and you won’t pay a single cent until someone clicks on the ads.
For us to set up your campaign, we need quite a bit of information from you. Below are the steps outlining what information is necessary and what you can expect on your Google Ads journey.
Display Ads Campaign Process
Isn't this the first step in any project? Once we have received your payment, our team jumps into action!
Our onboarding document is the foundation of everything that we will need to do for you - it gives us all the info we need to make sure we deliver an outstanding campaign. There are some sections in the document that may result in some confusion, so here are some explanatory terms to make your life easier, as well as ours:
- Website access details - we need to have full administrator access to the backend of your website. In many cases we need to make small changes to allow us to track your advertising properly. If we can do this ourselves, it saves time and headaches.
- Google Analytics access - we have to be added to your Google Analytics account at the Property Level with full permissions. Why? Because we need to configure the settings on the account so that we can properly track contact forms being completed.
- Why do we need so much information on your business? So we can write better ads! If we know that what makes you unique is that you deliver 84 different flavours of ice cream to anyone, anywhere, 24/7, we can write adverts that speak to all of that and more. If you told us that you just sell ice cream, that wouldn't really have the same impact would it? Nobody knows your business the way you do, so its important that we try to get that information conveyed to our ad writers.
- Services you would like to advertise - remember, this is advertising. We want to focus on the things that make you money and that you want to sell. Be as specific as possible!
- Ads Budget Per Month - this is the amount of money that you want to pay to Google for your ads. Remember, you will only pay when someone clicks on the ads!
For some clients, we find it necessary for our Google Ad Account Manager to come and have a meeting with you to run through everything first. This can often be helpful in ensuring that we target 100% the correct market with the correct message. For some clients, we feel that this is not necessary as the team has a solid handle on the goals and messaging required. We will only take up your valuable time if we feel it is vital to the success of the campaign.
This is the period of time where our team builds the campaign. Generally this process takes up to week - two days for the campaign to be built, and two days for it to be proofed and checked. Once the campaign is ready, we will send you an email with a video preview of the ads. You will then need to review and approve these via email.
We have a very strict protocol when it comes to getting your credit card details loaded onto the Google Ads system - you will receive an email or phone call from our office to find out when would be a convenient time to get your credit card details over the phone. At the appointed time, our Account Manager will log into your Google Ads account and create a new Payment Profile for your account. He or she will then call you and enter your card details directly into the account. To find out why we do this, see the FAQ below. Once your details are loaded into the system, we can no longer see your credit card details, apart from the last 4 digits of the card number and the expiry date. When we load budget every month, it will be from the payment profile.
Once the campaign is approved and budget is loaded, we can get your ads live! This is an exciting time, although the first leads can take a while to come through.
On a consistent basis, our team will be monitoring your campaign and making it better based on its performance. Our most common actions are:
- Looking for high performing placements and trying to get the ads shown more often on those sites
- Deleting irrelevant or non-performing placements
You will receive a report every month that details the previous month's campaign performance. We encourage you to read these reports, as we can sometimes miss something vital that you will notice. We need your feedback to make the campaign better!
Google loves to celebrate new advertisers, and they do this by loading a voucher into your account after you have been advertising for 30 days. This voucher can be anything from R600 to R1200, depending on how much you spent in the previous 30 days. We love free advertising!
Got Google Display Ads Campaign Questions?
We have answers to all of the most common questions we get! Just click on the question to reveal the answers.
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1
Can I pay your invoice after the campaign is built?
Unfortunately no. We have a strict policy of payment in advance - no exceptions.
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2
How long does it take to build a campaign?
Generally we will tell you two weeks from when payment is made - that gives us enough time to do a really great job.
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3
What delays a campaign build?
Not getting website access, not getting access to Google Analytics accounts, not getting the onboarding document back - these are the most common reasons for campaign builds being delayed.
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4
I don't like the images you have used - can you design new ones?
We use images from your website to build the ads - if you need new images or images edited, we will need to charge you a little bit extra for that.
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5
Can I pay you for my Google budget?
Yes you can, but then we will charge you a 10% handling fee on the budget. Also, the Adwords account then belongs to us, and not to you. TFor this reason we really do prefer to load your card details so that the budget and account are yours alone.
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6
Can I email or whatsapp my card details to you?
No, please don't. We do not have the ability to ensure the absolute security of those details. By calling the details in, they are not recorded by us in any way. This keeps your credit card details secure.
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7
I don't have time to check my campaign - can't you just publish it anyway?
No, unfortunately we won't. The things we have put in those ads are about your company, and you are legally bound by your adevrtising. It is absolutely essential that you give us permission to publish them as they are written.
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8
I don't want reporting - can I pay less?
Our price is the same with or without reporting.
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9
If I decide to move to another agency, can I take the campaign with me?
Yes, as long as you have been paying the Google budget, we are more than happy for another agency to take over the campaign.
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10
Can my campaign spend more than what I have said is the budget
Your budget is set in Google Ads as a daily budget, so we take your monthly budget and divide by 30. The Adwords system is set so that it can overspend by double the daily budget on any single day, but will adjust and spend less so that over a 30 day period, the spend remains within the limits set.
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11
Which websites will my ad show on?
There are hundreds of thousands of sites on the Google Display Network (GDN). We promise we will do our best to keep your ads off of fake news sites and other dodgy places!
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12
Why can't I see my ads?
We get this question all the time. We wrote a whole post just on this topic. Take a look at https://wsionlinebusiness.co.za/blog/cant-see-adwords-ads/