le Ads broad matching: What data tells PPC marketers about the service //
Broad match allows you to reach the maximum number of people and convert them within your performance goal.
In their Google Marketing Live recap 2023, Google describes wide match as follows:
Wait, what? What is the best way to reach your audience?
PPC marketers understand that it is not the most relevant. Or at least, this was the consensus within our team.
The Performance Max campaign and our team have discussed extensively the future of “keywordless”.
We have also noticed that the exact match has become more lenient when it comes to “close variants.”
I wanted to know how well paid search accounts performed at the level of match type. Here are a few key observations for PPC advertisers.
Google Ads performance by match type
As these campaigns span a wide range of brands and non-brands in different verticals, I have indexed the results based on the average. A 1 represents the average. Anything above 1 is considered to be above average.
I pulled the data from our clients’ accounts over the last 12 months. My analysis led me to four main conclusions.
Broad Match has the lowest CPC
It is to be expected. The theory goes that the more targeted you are, then the less competitive and lower cost.
Data confirmed this theory. The least expensive type of match was almost a dollar less than other types.
The highest click-through rates are driven by exact matches
This data point supports the theory that, the more specific your ad is, the more relevant it will be.
The higher the response rate, the more relevant your ad copy will be for the consumer.
The phrase match is the match type that performs worst, with CTR as an exception.
Poor phrase match. This seems to be a child stuck in the middle.
The company can’t do anything right. The highest CPCs and conversion costs were found in this campaign.
The CTR was not much better than the broad match.
Broad Match has the lowest conversion cost
This was the one that surprised me most.
If broad match is the least expensive per click, then it may have a lower rate of conversion and the lowest price per conversion.
The data confirms this. Broad match has the lowest rate of conversion, but the cost for acquiring the traffic compensates for the lower rates.
Data suggests that performance is fairly constant with the addition of AI tools. It’s not clear that advertisers or users have used these match types in a different way over time.
The other graphs, which show different data points, also have similar patterns.
Data showed that only 11% (or 8%) of total impressions accounted for clicks.
Interesting, the exact match was the most popular for both clicks and impressions.
In light of the fact that the broad match was the most cost-effective for conversions, I am eager to examine the complete data set in order to identify any potential areas for performance improvements.
How to effectively use broad match in Google Ads
Broad match is a powerful tool for reaching a larger audience, but you should use it with caution.
You could waste money if you are using broad match a lot.
Here are some tips on how to use broad match effectively.
- Use negative keywords in order to exclude irrelevant search terms. If you sell running sneakers, you can add “basketball” as a keyword to exclude your ad for searches relating to basketball shoes.
- Ad extensions can make your ads appear more relevant for the searches that they are displayed. If you sell running footwear, for example, you can add an extension that displays the different running shoe types you offer.
- Monitor your results, and make any necessary adjustments to your campaign. Watch your cost-per click (CPC) and click-through-rate (CTR) to determine how well your ads perform. If your CTR or CPC are high, you may need to change your keyword match types.
Google Ads: Make data-driven choices
Broad match is a powerful tool. But it must be used wisely.
These tips will help you to use broad match in Google Ads and reach a larger audience.
The fate of different match types will be determined as we move towards a future “keywordless”.
Data-driven decisions will be crucial for now so that we can optimize our systems more intelligently.
The first time Search Engine land published the article Google Ads Broad Match: What data reveal for PPC marketers.