Product Listing Ads, the image ads at the top and right of Google search pages are getting an overhaul in August. Google is changing Product Ad campaign format in AdWords and how retailers identify their inventory for Google.
The new Shopping Campaign format has been in beta for over a year, and improves conversion rate, ROI and sales for merchants on Google. Retailers on Google Shopping have less than 100 days to make the switch before Google automatically transitions campaigns.
Retailers who make the switch to Shopping Campaigns early will have the opportunity to test ads before competitors, and will have become more familiar with best practices before other merchants.
Below are 5 steps to set up Google Shopping Campaigns on AdWords.
Create a Shopping Campaign in AdWords
1) Login to AdWords and select your campaign
2) Select +Campaign under Campaigns tab and choose ‘Shopping
3) Set Shopping Campaign settings
You can choose to import setting from existing Campaign here and set bids, budget, and other setting such as location and delivery method.
Consider setting up advanced settings here such as ad scheduling if you have analytics data from your current Product Listing Ads Campaign.
4) Create your first Ad Group
You can also set your Ad Group promotion on this page.
5) Sub-divide your Product Group for sub-ad groups.
Consider which product attribute you want to sort your ad group by: Category, Brand, Item ID, Condition, Product Type or Labels 0-4. Generally most retailers will likely want to select brand or Category.
Remember Shopping Campaigns defaults to all of your products for its initial product group. Each subsequent product group you choose to segment out will determine the structure of your campaign. Once you’ve created your initial product group, the remainder of products will automatically be in the Everything else in all ‘All Products’ category.
Within each Product Group under your All products group, you can further segment out product groups for ads:
Switch to Shopping Campaigns
If you already have a Product Listing Ads Campaign running, you’ll want to pause your campaign when you’ve verified your Shopping Campaign program is built out properly.
You may want to leave your Product Listing Ads Campaign live for a couple of days while you test Shopping Campaigns to verify the new Campaign is structured properly but be wary of campaign overlap.
Google Shopping Campaign Setup
- Create Google Shopping Campaigns in AdWords
- Switch Product Listing Ads to Google Shopping Campaigns in AdWords
For Shopping Campaign best practices, tips on switching your campaign over painlessly, and getting the most out of campaign new features, watch the on Demand Webinar with Google.
Learn how to sell more with Shopping Campaigns