In March of this year, Google launched its “Ads Transparency Center” as a library of paid content advertisers run on various platforms. This repository includes presently active campaigns and those completed within the past month. The Ads Transparency Center also offers seven years’ worth of political advertisements that have occurred on its platforms, including Google Search, Gmail, and YouTube. Here’s how to use this tool to curate your online marketing strategies:
Learn About Your Competition
Most businesses and organizations have some form of competition, whether directly in their market or providing a very similar product or service. Google Ads Transparency Center is a public site where anyone can research the types of ads that any business runs.
When creating an ad campaign for your next product or service, you can inquire about your competition’s recent ads. This includes examining who they targeted, the language they’ve used, imagery, and more. You can even see what “Call to Action” they’ve chosen to continue a reader’s journey.
What Can’t Google Ads Transparency Center Do?
For businesses that are running unverified ads, the Transparency Center doesn’t track these. If your competitors aren’t verified through Google Ads yet, you won’t be able to see all of their advertisements in one place. However, Google is actively pushing its verification program so that more companies will sign up.
How to Use Google Ads Transparency for Research
Fortunately, Google makes searching for your competitors’ ads pretty simple. Visit the Ads Transparency Website, and enter your competitor’s business name. Check out the various ads they’ve been running and use this information to create your own campaigns.
Consider the number of ads other similar companies are running to gauge how much time, money, and energy you’ll want to put into yours. A more significant number of ads suggests they have a healthy budget for ad testing or sponsored ads.
Analyze the video format to determine whether they run video ads for mobile or desktop users. Consider the time, content, and CTA in each ad to determine how they are trying to get results – creating scarcity, offering a limited-time deal, or a loss leader like offering a copy of their book for free.
Partner with a Seattle Marketing Agency
Running a business of any size takes time and resources. Research, content creation, and advertising are full-time jobs. Partnering with a social media and online marketing company to analyze your competitors’ ads gives you more time to attend to your business’ numerous other tasks. SunnySide’s marketing team has years of experience helping companies grow their online presence. Contact us to learn more.