It’s fair to assume that your rivals are recruiting prospects via Google advertisements who would be a good match for your company as well. So, why not use your own Google Ads campaign to target your competitor’s brand terms? It’s a bit more complex than that, to be sure. We’ll go over everything you need to know about creating and implementing a Google Ads competitor targeting campaign in the sections below.
Tip #1 – See Who is Bidding on Your Branded Terms
It’s necessary to keep in mind that Google Ads competition targeting is competitive. Before you begin constructing a Google Ads competitor targeting campaign, be sure that your rivals aren’t already using this strategy. You may begin by looking at who has bid on your branded keywords by clicking on “Campaigns” and then traveling to the “Auction Insights” page.
When you filter for your branded campaigns, you’ll be able to see who has bid on your branded keywords and how their efforts are doing. If you discover that your rivals are already bidding on your branded phrases, you should do the same. You’ll need to perform some preliminary research before you begin, but more on that later…
If no one is presently bidding on your branded keywords, you should carefully examine if it is worthwhile to begin with a competition targeting plan. When you begin bidding on competitor-branded phrases, you may develop a trend once your rivals figure out your technique. When they target your branded phrases in their own efforts, they have the ability to raise your cost-per-click.
Tip #2 – Learn How Your Competitors Position Themselve Against Your Brand
Discovering who is bidding on your branded phrases is just the beginning. If you want to create a Google Ads competitor targeting strategy, you must first learn how your rivals are presently presenting their brand in their Google Ads campaign. You may find out by running various search queries in different areas using Google’s Ad Preview and Diagnosis tool.
You will not only be able to see who is winning bids for your branded keywords, but you will also be able to see how they are positioning themselves. You’ll have a better sense of what you need to modify in your own ad campaigns if you look at what your rivals are saying in advertisements that include your targeted phrases.
Tip #3 – Know Who Your Competitors Are
Before you start with your rival targeted Google Ads campaign, you must first understand the competitive environment. It’s likely that none of your rivals are targeting your branded phrases. In fact, you could discover that none of your rivals are focusing on your key phrases. However, if you don’t know who you’re competing against, you should start here.
Begin by doing keyword research before commencing your rival targeting strategy. While analyzing the keywords that are most likely to be utilized by your target consumers, begin to compile a complete list of companies in your sector that are vying for the same audiences.
Once you’ve identified your rivals, spend some time reviewing their websites and expanding your keyword list to include branded phrases for items, slogans, and anything else that may be relevant.
Tip #4 – Create Ad Copy That Highlights Competitor Weaknesses
While researching your rivals’ websites, you’ll notice that they aren’t eager to bring out their own problems or deficiencies. You’ll need to know them before you start writing ad text, so check in the correct locations to find out what consumers are saying about your competition. Customer reviews on Amazon, social media, and other review sites are a good place to start.
When you examine what consumers are saying about your competition, take notice of their strengths (so you can avoid mentioning these in the ad copy). You should also analyze what pain problems their consumers have that your business can alleviate. Assume the competition is a service provider, and many consumers complain about the time it takes to respond when they need help. This is a flaw that you may use to assist steer your Google ad wording, making it simpler to redirect visitors to your own site.
Addressing your rivals’ flaws by emphasizing your own strengths is a terrific strategy to differentiate your brand from the competition. Many customers who are ready to purchase have already done their homework and are aware of their pain spots. You may separate your business from competition by explicitly addressing them in your ad content. The same characteristics or elements that you emphasize in the ad content should also be highlighted in the landing page copy.
Tip #5 – Obey Google’s Rules
One of the most challenging components of creating a Google Ads rival targeting campaign is ensuring that you adhere to Google’s guidelines. Google has a trademark policy, which may be challenging when attempting to target a competitor’s branded terms. This is why you won’t see businesses revealing the names of their competitors in their ad content.
If you utilize another brand’s trademarked phrases, your ad may be rejected or reported to Google. The only exceptions are information websites and resellers that use brand names or words to describe their items. For example, a shoe retailer may use the name “Reebok” to identify a kind of shoe even though it is not the Reebok brand.
If you do not belong to one of the two exception-granting organizations, you must be cautious not to breach this rule. In general, even if you’re going for their branded keywords, you should always strive to be kind to your competition. Be cautious so that you do not provoke reaction from competitive companies.
Tip #6 – Protect Your Own Brand
Remember that no matter how careful you are when planning your Google Ads campaign, your competitors may not always be. If you observe your rivals utilizing your trademarked phrases in their advertising text, you may submit a complaint to safeguard your brand. If you want to register a complaint, create a snapshot of the ad text that includes your trademarked word.
If you haven’t already trademarked your branded word, now is the moment. Make sure to trademark it in nations other than the United States as well. Going through the procedure may be quite beneficial to your company, particularly if you are up against stiff competition online.
Tip #7 – Defend Your Brand’s Position
Even if you believe your brand should be at position one for your branded phrases, you must still fight for it. If you are careless with your ad wording or your landing pages do not give a great consumer experience when your bids are low, your rivals may outbid you. As a consequence, your situation rapidly deteriorates.
One method to avoid this is to use the target outranking share automatic bid technique in Google Ads.
When you compete with another Ads bidder for the same keywords, this method automatically increases your bids, resulting in a higher bid. If both you and your rival use this method, each bid will be increased until one of the brands achieves its maximum bid limit.
Tip #8 – Monitor Your Cost-Per-Click (CPC)
One of the most significant downsides of using competitor targeting in your Google Ads campaign is the possibility of a bidding war. When this occurs, the CPC will begin to rise in value. That is one of the reasons we advise you to exercise caution when bidding on a competitor’s keywords if they aren’t also bidding on yours. When they discover you’re targeting their branded phrases, they may respond, increasing competition for your keywords and pushing up your ad prices.
Finally, branded phrases will typically get you more clicks at a lower cost than competition traffic. This is because when you target branded keywords that match the branded experience on both the ad and the landing page, your advertisements are more likely to be relevant and give a better landing page experience.
That being said, if you observe that the CPC of your branded search phrases is rising, it’s possible that rival targeting is to blame. If you discover this to be the case, it may be worthwhile to attempt to expand your company via competition targeting on Google Ads.
Get Started with Google Ads Competitor Targeting
You’ll be able to make a better educated choice about whether Google Ads competitor targeting is the correct approach for your brand after you’ve done your research and discovered the competitors. You should exercise caution while using this method, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be a terrific way for you to build your company online. Remember to be polite, provide appealing ad language, and keep an eye on your own terms and CPC.
Do you need assistance in launching a competitor-targeting Google Ads campaign? Seologic’s team understands Google Ads and will assist you in determining if competition targeting is best for business. If it is, we can assist you in establishing an efficient campaign that will attract more relevant visitors to your site. Please contact us right away.