With so many spiffy ways to target customers and control bids in AdWords, you may have missed Location Groups; I know that I did!
If you rely on location-based targeting, it’s likely that you already use bid adjustments for locations that preform better than others. But targeting with Location Groups takes it to another level as it allows you to reach customers based on average household income, places they visit, or when they are at or close to your place of business.
Income Based Targeting
As a smart, savvy marketer you probably have a good idea of your client’s ideal customer. And like the majority of business in the US, your clients probably rely on location-based targeting. What if I told you that within AdWords there is a way to use both methods and target customers based on their income? Well there is and it is awesome.
Google’s income-based location targeting uses publicly available data from the IRS to target ads to certain locations according to the average household income. Just imagine the possibilities!
Bid more for households that have income for traveling, or more for people who need specific services.
Places of Interest
At first, I wasn’t as jazzed about Places of Interest as a targeting option, but it grew on me. I thought that if you didn’t have a storefront, it wouldn’t be as useful; but I was wrong.
Places of Interest can be used to target airports, shopping malls, and universities. Depending on your product or service, this could be very useful or at least something fun to test.
For example, targeting a university for products like bike locks, desks, or ramen noodles.
My Locations
If you do have a storefront or service that relies on local business, you best-be targeting the area around it.
That can be accomplished within the usual radius targeting, but Location Groups takes it to another level with bidding based on proximity to that location.
For example, let’s say that you are a professional dog walker looking for new clients. It’s not ideal to have clients that are so far away from your main location that you spend more time traveling to them than actually working. In this case, My Locations can be used to tier bids based on the distance from your main location.
So, where do you find these Location Groups that I speak of?
Head on over the Settings tab, and like adding or excluding locations, click on Advanced Location.
In-between Radius Targeting and Bulk Locations, you will see Location Groups. There you will find the three glorious options for modifying bids and location targeting domination.
Have you tried Location Groups? What has your experience been? We’d love to hear your tips & tricks in the comments!
