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Guide to Effective Targeting on the Google Display Network (GDN)

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Targeting will be essential to the success of your Google Display Ads campaigns. The Google Display Network has by far the widest reach of any display network worldwide, which should please AdWords marketers.

GDN reaches 90% of internet users worldwide, including 89% of US smartphone users and 94% of all US internet users, 64% of whom are reached daily. Your shortcut to having your ad appear on 120 of the top 200 most visited websites is the Google Display network.

Display Ads are not triggered by particular searches, in contrast to Search and Shopping Ads, which mostly depend on keyword-based targeting. Rather, you specify to Google who you would want to see your advertisement (and maybe where), and that decides who will see it when they are on other websites and applications.

Targeting Audiences on Google Display Network

With literally millions of targeting possibilities available to advertisers on the Google Display Network, selecting the best targets for your display campaign may first appear daunting. All targeting techniques, however, essentially belong to one of two groups:

Website-based: Shows advertisements to every user on a group of websites depending on certain characteristics.

Person-based targets: These display advertisements on all websites that a person visits on the Google Display Network, depending on a set of parameters.

Options for Audience Targeting on Websites

The most straightforward method of targeting a website is using a managed placement target. All you have to do is choose the page or websites you like to display your advertisement on, and you are done! With the Display Planner Tool, you can examine which ad formats the website allows, estimate traffic and costs for a certain domain, and obtain suggestions for other comparable places.

Topic Targeting:

Using the Google Display Network, topic targeting enables you to target any website and page related to a predetermined subject. Though somewhat less constrictive, topic targeting is comparable to controlled placements. Advertisers can reach more people with topic targeting than they can with managed placements alone.

Keyword Contextual Targeting:

On GDN, keyword contextual targeting is less constrictive than topic targeting. If your subject is not one of the hundreds Google has identified for topic targeting, it is ideal. All you need to do is compile a list of keywords, and your advertising will be matched with pages that include information that is contextually related.

User-Based Audience Targeting Options

As previously stated, this allows you to target certain people on all of the Google Display Network websites they visit.

Remarketing

One of GDN’s most effective targeting strategies is remarketing. By using Google display remarketing, you may show adverts to past site visitors as they browse the internet, ensuring that your brand and product remain prominent in their minds long after they have left your website.

Additionally, remarketing enables you to interact differently with high-value visitors—those who have made a previous purchase, seen important pages (such as product or price pages), or had the greatest interaction on your website—than with those who have not.

Similar Audiences

By using similar audience targeting, you may draw in new visitors to your website who behave similarly to the people on your remarketing lists in terms of their browsing and search habits. For marketers who have found success with remarketing, similar audience targeting is a smart next step in identifying their next target group.

In-Market Audiences

In-market audience targeting displays your advertisement to people whose online browsing and search activity suggests that they could be “in-market” for a certain product or service. For instance, a user may be considered “in-market” for a temporary or seasonal position if they begin to often search for “Temp Jobs” and browse relevant job listings on Monster.com. Products or services with lengthier purchasing and research cycles are the ideal candidates for in-market audience targeting.

Targeting Demographics on the Google Display Network

We may include demographic goals for a user’s gender, age range, and parental status in addition to the many website- and user-based targeting techniques. Based on these demographics, advertisers may either exclude people or develop unique bid modifications for them.

The ramifications are evident for certain marketers that have a very homogeneous target audience. Demographic targeting might be a useful strategy for you to use. If your sector is highly dependent on a single gender, age group, or parental status (for example, women’s apparel, retirement services, or child care).

You may experiment and discover your audience, regardless of how narrow it is, using sophisticated website and user-based targets as well as multilayer demographic targeting. But be sure to prepare ahead of time!

More than 3,000 preset targeting choices are available on the Google Display Network, and more are constantly being added.

Targeting Lifestyles (Affinity Audiences)

In Google Ads, lifestyle targeting is referred to as “Affinity Audiences.” In essence, you may target individuals based on their long-term online activity. For instance, an “Avid Investor” would be someone who regularly checks websites with financial reporting and financial news and does keyword searches pertaining to the stock market or stock prices.

Concluding remarks

Whether it involves more or less targeting and selecting which alternatives to utilize, audience targeting is crucial to the success of your Google Display Ad campaigns.

Testing is crucial since, apart from the creatives themselves, this is one of the most complicated aspects of Google Ads.

Our digital ad experts can assist you to create an optimized strategy to target the correct audience and provide outcomes. Get in touch right now to maximize your display advertising and increase your ROI!

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