Introduction

Google Smart Campaigns are the easiest way to start for small business owners. It is the perfect solution for small and local businesses with limited knowledge about advertising. It can be the first and default campaign type for people who are new to Google Ads. It can also be a great addition to your Google Ads account even if you have a large company. Smart campaigns are based on the performance goals you have specified in the campaign and are powered by the best Google advertising technology and AI. As each goal generates results the better these will become. More results can be obtained with larger budgets. That is why a smart campaign is a perfect addition for even the largest business. This type of campaign is pretty easy to set up and moderate. The campaigns are automated based on the goals you have set in your Google Analytics account and are then pulled into Google Ads. 

You can create a single Smart Campaign or run multiple campaigns that target different types of products, competitors, potential customers who search for your brand, etc. Each campaign has its own associated keywords that require minimum ongoing management. Smart campaigns work most efficiently for small websites or landing pages that sell one specific type of product. For example, only watches, only smartphones, or only chairs.  It is also excellent for the categories of online shops. For example, if you sell bicycles, you can create a smart campaign targeting only the product category “road bicycles for women”. Before creating a Smart Campaign, make sure you have created conversion actions in your Google Ads account. You will need to import these to your smart campaign.

There are a number of ways to create conversion actions on your Google Ads account. The most popular and best way is to create goals on your Google Analytics account and then import these into your Google Ads account. For this action, your Analytics and Ads accounts should be linked. If you do not have a Google Analytics account, you can create conversion actions directly in the Google Ads account, and can set up a Conversion Tracking tag. But this is another topic.

Google Smart Campaign Setup Checklist (7 simple steps):

1. When you first start to create a Smart Campaign

At the beginning of campaign creation, you will see the different types of campaigns. Which of these campaign types you choose depends on the goal you want to achieve and the network you want your ads to be shown. You will need to select the campaign type “Smart”, as shown in the screenshot below. Then, you need to opt for the action you want customers to take. As you can see, three options can be chosen that describe the overall goal of your smart campaign.

2. Pick your business

In the second step you will need to choose the business type you are advertising from a list of your businesses if you have more than one, or if you are a marketing agency and maintain more than one Google Ads account.

3. Pick the target location for your Smart Campaign

One of the important steps is the careful choice of your targeted area or location, which should be where your storefronts are located. Two options are provided: set up a radius around your business or any other specific areas where you want your ad to appear. In the top right corner, you can see the potential audience size you can potentially reach.

4. Set up keyword themes

The next step is to define the keywords you want to target and your budget setting. As mentioned above, keyword themes should be set up for the product category you are selling. In smart campaigns, search themes are different from the keywords of search campaigns. They help to match your ads to Google searches. Based on these themes, your campaign will be able to collect search terms in the “Search Phrases” sections. Search phrases are representative terms that people searched for when using Google to find your ad. You can refine and manage these search phrases by excluding them from your campaign. To obtain different search phrases, you can edit your products and services.

5. Write the ads

Then, create your ads and select a link that leads to your landing page. Only one type of ad will be available and you will be able to add three headlines and two descriptions to each. However, you can add as many ads copies as you want, as well as different final URLs to each of these.

6. Budgeting

You have to set your budget. You can select between options proposed by Google or enter your own budget. You can change your budget at any time, depending on campaign performance. Using a daily budget is volatile. Some days you might spend less than the daily average, while on other days, you might spend up to four times as much.

7. Review and Go!

Last but not least, you need to carefully review your campaign settings and launch the campaign. You can always change all selected settings of your campaign or create an entirely new campaign with distinctive options. You can create as many Smart Campaigns as you want, as there is no limit for campaign creation.

Get conversions!

The Smart Campaign is very simple to set up and results will quickly become available. Please follow this guide to make your life easier and spend less time on a routine! If you are a business owner and want to grow and scale, please follow up with us and request a free audit 😉 https://uawc.agency/contact/