A Comprehensive (Beginners) Guide to SEO
Our 8 part guide on all aspects of SEO, from how search engines work to the effects of UI and UX.
If you’re just entering into the world of Google advertising then you’ll quickly become aware of the variety of ad networks managed by Google; Search, Display, Shopping, and Video.
These networks provide advertisers with different ways to get in front of their target audience, each having pros and cons depending on the type of objective you are trying to achieve.
This article will run through the 4 primary Google advertising networks here in Thailand and hopefully give you some insight into which channel(s) might work best for your type of service or product.
The search network is the most common ad network for advertisers. Search Ads appear at the top and bottom of the Google results page and work on a Pay-Per-Click basis, meaning the advertiser only pays when someone actually clicks on the Search ad and visits the destination page.
The main benefit of the Search Network is targeting people when the intent is at its highest, which usually leads to a high conversion rate.
Conversion rates can be affected by a few things with Search Advertising;
Target Keywords – often advertisers will choose very broad keywords, which will show for a large number of searches, but ultimately will show for searches less relevant to your product or service and eat through your daily budget very quickly, resulting in less budget for Keywords that are more likely to convert. See here for more information on Keyword Match Types.
Landing Page Experience – factors such as page speed, relevance, and overall usability will play a big part in your conversion rate once people click through the ad and land on your website. We often build dedicated landing pages for Search Ads to help increase the chance of conversions.
Find out which keywords people are searching for and then match your service or product to their query. Create an advertisement that is directly related to the most searched terms to boost your click-through rates and the overall performance of your ad campaign.
Display Advertising shows ads to users whilst they are browsing the internet, on websites that are part of the Google Display Network.
The display network provides the largest reach of all Ad Networks, in fact, you can reach almost 90% of internet users through the display network. Therefore it’s a great way to promote awareness of a brand, product or special offer.
The costs of running Ads on the Display Network is very different to Search. Although you can still choose to ‘Pay-Per-Click’, the objective of most display campaigns is based around Impressions (how many times the Ad is shown). For campaigns in Thailand, we usually see an average of 3 THB per click for Display campaigns, whereas search can average anywhere between 20 – 300 THB.
If your objective is to create conversions, whether its sales or enquiries, the most effective way to advertise on the Display network is through Remarketing.
Remarketing is a method that displays advertisements to users that have already visited your website. After the user leaves your site and continues browsing the web, Google serves your ads to the user on the websites that he or she visits.
You may have seen remarketing as you browse the web. For example, after viewing a hotel on Agoda, you may start seeing ads for the same hotel or destination when visiting other websites. That is how remarketing works.
Remarketing keeps your products and services in front of the user. This boosts brand awareness and may result in more sales leads. It offers an effective place to start your sales funnel and acquire new prospective customers.
The shopping ad network is relatively new to Thailand, but its quickly becoming the best way for eCommerce sites to advertise their products. As with Search, it generates qualified clicks from users that are more likely to convert, as they already have information about your product or service.
With shopping ads, users can already see your product image price on the search results page, which is far more attractive than a typical Search Ad.
The shopping ad network tends to provide lower cost-per-click (CPC) rates compared to other advertisement networks. For example, the average CPC for a text ad is around 25 THB. The average CPC for a shopping ad in Thailand is currently around 0.54 THB.
The shopping ad network also has the ability to show your Ads across other partner sites such as YouTube and Image searches.
With the shopping ad network, you eliminate the need to deal with ongoing keyword and Ad optimisation. Instead, you optimise product information through the Google Merchant Centre. See here for more information on optimising Google Shopping campaigns.
Shopping campaigns can be tricky to set up. Especially in Thailand, where a lot of ecommerce platforms are custom built. However, once the campaign is up and running the monthly management is fairly straightforward.
Video (YouTube)
Thailand is number 1 in S.E Asia and ranked in the top 10 globally in terms of time watched and videos uploaded, making YouTube an important ad network for many businesses. By 2019, up to 80% of all web traffic may come from video streaming on websites like YouTube.
Consumers retain more information when they see and hear an advertisement compared to when they read an advertisement, allowing advertisers the chance to get creative when it comes to the Video Ad production.
Similar to Display advertising, YouTube is a great way to promote a new product or special offer to a mass market. However, with a search function, you can also incorporate your chosen Keywords into your campaign. YouTube has also included a useful feature to help avoid wasted advertisement spending. This feature is called TrueView.
TrueView is the default format for creating advertisements for YouTube. With this feature, you do not pay unless the viewer watches the entire advertisement or clicks on the links.
There are two ways to use TrueView. You can either use TrueView in-stream or TrueView video discovery.
In-stream are the ads that you see before watching a video on YouTube. When the ad starts playing, users can skip the advertisement after it has played for five seconds. However, the user needs to click on a link or watch the entire ad in order for you to be charged for the ad. You do not pay when they skip the ad.
With the video discovery option, your advertisements appear on YouTube search results pages. They also appear below the video that is being played or on the YouTube homepage.
While TrueView is the standard format for YouTube advertisements, you can also use bumper ads. These advertisements are only six seconds long or less. The ads may play before, after, and during other videos. However, users cannot skip these ads.
Bumper ads are not pay-per-click ads. You pay based on the number of impressions. Instead of paying for each click, you pay every time that your advertisement gets shown to 1,000 users.
Bumper ads are tailor-made for reach campaigns, and 70% of brands that use them report an increase in brand awareness.
Which Ad Network is right for your business?
Each network has its pro’s and con’s and ultimately the Network that is right for you will largely depend on your campaign objective and type of product or service being advertised.
If you’re looking to generate sales or enquiries through a website then using Search/Shopping will put you in the right place at the right time. As Google Shopping is still relatively new to Thailand the marketplace is relatively uncompetitive and therefore cheaper to run ads. In 2018 we saw some great results from Google Shopping campaigns, with CPC’s averaging under 0.50 THB.
Display and Video Networks can also assist with conversions. Using remarketing to target users who may have come through an initial Search query, but left without making a purchase can help re-enforce the Brand and bring customers back to the site to complete their purchase.
Ad creatives will play a large part in how successful your Display or Video campaign will be. Ads need to be eye-catching and relevant to your target audience so it’s worth investing the proper time and resources to creating an Ad that gives the best impression of your business and products.
Fortunately, Google makes advertising on all networks relatively risk-free to experiment with. Using bidding strategies like Cost Per Click (CPC) or Trueview ensure you’re only paying when an action is being made.
At Phoenix Media, we’ve managed hundreds of campaigns over the last 10 years across most countries. If you’re looking for some advice about what will work best for you and your business then speak to a consultant today, call 02 038 5400 or email info@phoenixmedia.co.th.
