Financial Services Industry Knowledge Center

Start off on the right foot

Learn how to draw up blueprints for successful ad campaigns.

In this tips section we'll cover:

• Location targeting: Reach your core audience
• Campaigns and ad groups: Build a strong foundation
• Keywords and ad text: Match your themes
• The Keyword Tool: Create strong keyword lists

Location targeting: Reach your core audience

With AdWords you can adjust your targeting options to reach potential customers in the areas you serve. For example:

• An online brokerage firm targets ads to reach all regions in the United States.
• A regional insurance firm targets ads to states where it's licensed.
• A local credit union or accountant shows ads only in the city of its brick-and-mortar location.
• An international bank shows ads in several countries.

You can run global, national, and localized campaigns within the same AdWords account.

Potential customer in San Francisco searches for:

Potential customer in San Francisco sees: Sponsored Links SF Credit Union Low Rates. Comprehensive. Open An Account Today! www.AdWordsExample.com San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, CA

We'll automatically display your chosen region or city in the fifth line of your regionally-target ads. Our system bases this on a user's location or a region name included in their search query. This way a potential customer will know that your services are available in their area.

For more information on how to target your campaigns, read about regional and local targeting in the AdWords Help Center.

Campaigns and ad groups: Build a strong foundation

Use your website's menu or sitemap as a guide for organizing your AdWords account. If your account mirrors your website, you'll have an easier time identifying keywords, writing relevant ads, monitoring your success, and making changes.

Make sure you create a different campaign for each product, service, or theme.

Let's say you're a tax consulting and filing company that offers services in several states. Your business’s menu may look like this:

Using your menu as a guide, you could create a campaign for each location and an ad group for each type of insurance. This way, your account will be organized and easy to navigate, and you’ll be able to write the most relevant ads and and focus on specific keywords.

Keywords and ad text: Match your themes

With all AdWords campaigns, the general rule of thumb is to group keywords based on the same product, service, or location into the same ad group. By tailoring your ads to the keywords that trigger them, you can increase the likelihood that users will see their search query in your ad title or text and be inspired to click on your ad.

Let's take a look at how we might improve a campaign by breaking a broad ad group into more specific ad groups and writing more relevant ad text and keywords.

Here's an example of a keyword list and ad text for a general homeowners insurance ad group:

General keyword list

General ad text

And here's how we could break the general ad group into three more specific ad groups for burglary, earthquake, and fire insurance:

Burglary insurance ad group

Earthquake insurance ad group

Fire insurance ad group

Breaking general campaigns into ad groups that focus on a specific offering will make your ads more relevant to searchers’ queries, and your account easier to manage. By using different ad groups for each offering, it's easier to compare performance and see which of your products or services are generating the most traffic. For more detailed analysis of your campaign performance and website traffic, try putting Google Analytics to work on your site.

The Keyword Tool: Create strong keyword lists

Be sure to include plural variations and synonyms for all of your keywords to capture all relevant search queries. If you're experiencing writer's block, try using the AdWords Keyword Tool from within your account. Just enter terms describing your product or service, and the tool will generate keyword suggestions. Add the most relevant ones and don't be afraid to experiment with new keywords − you can always pause or delete a keyword in the future.

Don't have an AdWords account? Use the external version to start generating some keyword ideas.

Want more help?

• AdWords Help Discussion Group: Ask questions, get answers, and share your favorite AdWords tips and tricks with your fellow advertisers.
• AdWords Glossary: Look up definitions for AdWords-related terms that have you stumped.
• Seminars for Success: Attend a full-day, in-person seminars will help you make the most of your investment with AdWords.
• AdWords Learning Center: Review multimedia lessons covering all things AdWords.
• AdWords Building Blocks Newsletters: Master the basics with advice and tips for new advertisers.