Here’s a common scenario, you’re scrolling through your social media and an ad pops up about a business near the exact location to where you are standing. This can come across two ways, one, you find it a little disturbing or two, you find it incredibly useful – as it’s something you actually were interested in. This is what we, in marketing, consider to be highly efficient advertising.  

In this week’s tip, you’ll learn how analyzing paid search results by specific locations such as cities or regions could be the key to unlocking greater ROI. 

Geo-targeting is a form of advertising that lets you target customers based on specific geographical location. This advertising method lets you place your ads on assumed knowledge of a customer’s location, allowing you to create more relevant campaigns that can lead to higher engagement. If this sounds like something you’re already doing –  great.

But are you targeting people in your area or are you targeting people interested in your area? Targeting people in your area are those who actually live near your business. People interested in your area are those who may be planning a trip to your city and are searching on Google for businesses of interest to them such as restaurants.

For example, people who are interested in an Everglades airboat tour on their upcoming trip to Miami are interested in the geographic location of Miami, but don’t necessarily live there. Whereas, if you’re a local Orthodontist in Boulder, you don’t want people from Michigan clicking on the ads promoting your practice. You want local people from Boulder or within a 10 mile radius clicking on your ads. 

Or if you can only sell your products in the United States, then you shouldn’t be displaying your ads in other countries. You will quickly run out of money with very little to show for it. We wouldn’t want you getting in trouble at work for using up all the ad budget promoting a product to people you can’t ship it to.

Who should use geo-targeting?

Geo-targeting is especially beneficial to brick-and-mortar businesses, like Orthodontists, who want to attract new patients within a specific radius to their practice location. But it can be equally beneficial to larger companies who want to focus their marketing growth efforts on a specific city or region. Like if Nike were to open a new flagship store in Austin.

However, it does take a little finessing as Google’s default is to set your ads to display across the United States, meaning your ads could show up for users anywhere in the country searching for the keywords you’re bidding on.  This isn’t a problem if your company services the entire United States but more than likely that’s not the case. For many businesses the main focus is the local radius around their office or storefront.  Check out the following case study showcasing how a geo-targeting campaign can lead to increased ROI.

Are you thinking about using geo-targeting as part of your marketing strategy? Let our team of PPC experts help you avoid making costly mistakes and generate solid customers for your organization.