Key Takeaways
- Segmenting can be a beneficial tool when you have identified high-performing ad groups or a high lifetime value customer, but often, oversegmenting can limit campaign performance.
- Oversegmenting can scatter data across too many campaigns, confuse the algorithm with fragmented data, and diminish keyword relevance.
- Adapt for modern search by segmenting ad groups by search intent, refining your targeting, adapting your copy to each group, and setting up strong conversion tracking.
- Often, we recommend starting with a consolidated approach before segmenting based on performance, so you can identify over- and underperformers.
Are You Oversegmenting Your Google Ads?
Once upon a time, single-keyword ad groups that were segmented performed notably well. However, today, consolidated accounts are performing better, and SKAG accounts may actually stifle ad performance by splitting up your budget and your data across too many campaigns.
The most notable change in the Google Ads landscape is the shift toward smart bidding with less manual control and a focus on intent-based targeting. This shift means that marketers need to adapt their approach to equip the algorithm to serve ads to the proper audience.
This guide provides a resource for pinpointing your Google Ads strategy and guiding how you can adapt to the modern algorithm as it moves away from segmenting as a central strategy.
When Segmenting Works
Segmenting relies on breaking up your audience along common themes or search terms so that you can better target audience intent and adapt budget for your highest-performing keywords. Examples of segments may include sports fans, specific age groups, income brackets, or people who have previously visited your website. Segmenting works best when you do so under the correct circumstances and along distinct themes.
- Segment your audience when their search intent is different. For example, if you have product categories that change search intent drastically, such as men’s shoes and women’s winterwear, segments work great.
- Strategic segments are especially beneficial for remarketing campaigns because they provide clear and distinct messaging criteria to focus on. Someone who has visited your site, for example, would benefit from unique ads with separate messaging.
- When used correctly, segmentation is beneficial for initial targeting if you can use it to propel your winning campaigns across different products and services based on data.
Ultimately, segmentation is great when your segments are meaningful and distinct. Though, once your audience intent begins to shift or specific keywords outpace others, you should reconsider your approach.
When Segmenting Goes Too Far
Despite its benefits, segmenting can be overdone when you are targeting multiple keywords that ultimately share the same audience or multiple audiences that share the same intent. Historically, SKAGs were designed for manual bidding, where you can control and adjust bids based on performance. However, they now confuse algorithms that handle Smart Bidding, causing the algorithm to enter auctions across multiple points in your keyword list.
Some of the key disadvantages of oversegmenting are that it:
- Scatters data across too many campaigns, making it harder to identify the most successful and unsuccessful structures
- Confuses the Smart Bidding algorithm with fragmented data
- Diminishes keyword relevance with too many variations
- Spreads your budget thin, preventing you from supporting all your campaigns
Dividing your budget across too many buckets prevents you from seeing tangible performance benefits and identifying clear winners. In the past, you could have a keyword in each ad group. However, now, if these themes are consistent, you don’t need to have multiple campaigns for success.
A simple campaign structure can be beneficial if your brand has a clear intent. For example, if your ecommerce brand sells luxury makeup products, segmenting by age or demographic within your target audience would be unnecessary.
Segmenting vs. Consolidation
While segmenting involves breaking up your ad groups along key themes or interests and allows you to target campaigns along very specific criteria or keywords, consolidation involves merging numerous, similar campaigns and ad groups into a single, larger structure.
Segmenting allows you to target unique search intent, while consolidation is often the better approach when you have too many campaigns with low data, similar audience intent across all campaigns, or a limited budget. Having as much data aggregated as possible gives Google more signals to use and make optimizations from.
One campaign with a few different ad groups allows for concentrated data for overall performance rather than being too siloed. Even with multiple products, if you have a single search theme, one campaign will suffice.
In some cases, segmenting may work better to target different intents or interests. For example, if the same ecommerce brand mentioned above offers luxury makeup products generally and a specific line of environmentally friendly cosmetics, these two categories would benefit from separate ad groups and campaigns.
However, consolidating accounts allows you to provide Smart Bidding with a limited number of places to enter an auction centered around a search query. Over time, you can separate your high-performing campaigns to boost visibility, but adding different segments right away isn’t going to be a massive difference-maker if you aren’t seeing sales currently.
How To Adapt for Modern Search
Between Smart Bidding and the focus on search intent, marketers need to know what they’re working with and how to properly feed the algorithm to assess audiences and reach. Search engine marketers can adapt for modern search with the following steps.
Segment Ad Groups By What People Are Looking For
Segmenting isn’t a lost art; it just needs to be done more strategically, with a focus on the goals you’re trying to accomplish. Google has changed how it treats keywords and phrases. Rather than focusing on the words themselves, it focuses on the meaning of those words and phrases. So, instead of trying to focus on keywords, your focus should be on intent.
Avoid segmenting for a ton of keywords that act as synonyms to each other, such as law firm, law office, law firm near me, etc. Instead, roll these into one broad match keyword, like “law firm” or “legal services,” which will trigger the others to be targeted as well. If you are not writing a distinct ad for each keyword, then you do not need a different ad group.
In doing so, you can develop better data density, which improves the algorithm’s ability to target like-minded traffic, rather than putting spend into fragmented groups.
Refine Your Targeting
Once you’ve built your ad groups, you can clarify who these groups should target. Segmenting is more successful when you use fewer keyword variations and speak directly to the intent of each ad group. Set your ad groups around core themes and then weed out anyone who doesn’t fit your ultimate goals.
Because broad match keywords focus on broad search intent, it can sometimes cast too wide a net. To rein in your search traffic and prevent runaway spend, we recommend:
- Being intentional about your keywords
- Controlling your geographic targeting
- Having a strong negative keyword list
As you identify your high-performers and under-performers, you can begin to refine even further. If certain keywords drive low-quality leads, cut them.
Adapt Your Copy to Each Ad Group
A key question to inform your segmenting is, “Will my ad copy change to address this group specifically?” If the answer is yes, then you can justify having a new segment. Working in the other direction, both your ad copy and your landing page should be relevant to the ad groups you are targeting.
You must adapt your ad copy to speak to the generality or specificity of each campaign. Have a clear pathway and consistent alignment between the search term, keyword, ad, and landing page. This clarity allows the algorithm to identify the best headlines that convert as it serves ads to your audience.
When consolidating your campaigns, make sure your copy and landing page properly address the group you’re targeting. If the search intent is more general, ensure that your ad group copy speaks to all ad groups. For example, if a home services business offers both roof shingle replacement and roof leak repair, then the ad copy and campaign landing page should be general enough to encompass both under a “roof repair” service page.
Set Up Strong Conversion Tracking
Conversion tracking is a crucial part of modern search strategy, allowing you to signal to Google what works and what does not. Plug in first-party data to optimize for high-value actions rather than just optimizing for the marketing qualified lead.
Beneficial data from your CRM includes:
- Closed/won deals
- Purchases from someone with a high LTV
- Purchases with a high order value
- Consultation or appointment attendance
Google will then use these signals to identify which ads led to these results, increasing bids for high-quality members of your audience and reinforcing the strongest headlines. Similarly, the information gathered will reinforce which ad groups make the most sense and how to speak to them, such as dividing new users from loyal customers or using a headline that targets a specific desire or pain point.
Leverage Data-Driven Attribution
Use data-driven attribution rather than the old-school strategy of using last click for attribution. Because a typical purchase or lead path takes so many steps, it’s crucial that you have data to give you a better understanding of where your leads came from. The key here is that all touchpoints get credit, not just the last click.
For example, if a customer learns about your brand through another channel, but ultimately converts after a branded search, it may inflate brand performance when, in reality, they were led to you through a display ad. Data-driven attribution helps you understand this relationship, giving you a clearer picture of the customer journey and enabling you to invest in the right ad groups.
How We Balance Consolidation and Segmentation
In short, starting with consolidation can lead to segmentation based on performance later on. We segment for the business and consolidate for the algorithm. Unless there’s a strict reason to segment, combine them into a clear campaign to maximize data density.
Some examples of scenarios that justify segmentation include:
- Different degree types for a university
- Different practice areas at a law firm
- Vastly different product categories for a fashion brand
However, in most cases, consolidation is the best first step. As long as audience intent can be addressed with a single landing page and ad copy, we consolidate.
Start with a consolidated approach and then segment based on your data-driven observations. Separate keywords or segments that significantly over- or underperform, regardless of shared intent. Significant performance difference warrants a separate ad group so we can better control budget allocation and desired targets.
Improve Your Ad Group Targeting with collystring
Modern, algorithm-based Paid Search requires being more intentional about your targeting, feeding the algorithm with the best possible information, and consolidating your campaigns for a data-rich approach. Ideally, you focus on a consolidated structure and equip the SmartBidding algorithm with enough information to target the right audiences.
collystring’s Paid Search team is here to support you in building thoughtful ad groups, carefully managing your campaigns, and refining your targeting to drive high-value leads. Our service experts at collystring can help you sift through the noise and find the ideal strategy to achieve meaningful Google Ads performance for your business and your audience, taking the stress off your team in the process.
Contact us to set up a call to discuss how we can advance your Paid Search strategy.