How to get the most out of your Google Shopping campaigns?

Google Shopping is a price comparison tool that displays products to web users in an attractive manner directly in the Search channel (i.e. in the Google SERP). This means that when a web user searches for a product that you have in your catalog – and provided that you have set up a Google Shopping campaign upstream – it is likely that Google will highlight your ad alongside those of your competitors. A simple click then directs the user to the product page concerned.

Google Shopping is a powerful tool which offers brands and online merchants great visibility in Search, with ads appearing before sponsored and organic links. It is also a major lever for increasing conversions and generating more revenue. The other advantage of Google Shopping is its automated processes: the algorithm draws on data from your catalog to create ads and associate them with relevant searches.

However, the fierce competition (due to the success of Shopping ads) makes it increasingly difficult to take full advantage of its campaigns. There are many challenges:

• How to stand out from the competition, generate revenue with your Google Shopping campaigns, and make your marketing budget profitable despite increases in CPC (cost per click) and CPM (cost per thousand)?
• How to achieve performance targets (sales, conversion rate, clicks, views, sessions, etc.) and sales targets (margins, profits) while maintaining control over your budget?
• How to maximise ROAS so as to remain competitive?
• How does Lengow help you optimise your Google Shopping campaigns?

Lengow tries to provide a solution to all these questions thanks to the functions of its Google Shopping connector.  There are three major levers that help you take advantage of Google’s price comparison tool.

In marketing, “A/B tests” are used to compare two (or more) variants of the same web page. Based on an original page A, a variant B is created and one or more elements are modified before both versions are put online to see which one performs better.

The Lengow tool includes an A/B testing system on the Google Shopping feed which allows you to compare elements such as titles, descriptions, visuals, etc. The criteria to be tested can be defined as you wish according to the specific features of your catalog and the segments defined. For example, you can assess the impact of different product names via Custom Labels to see which ones generate the most conversions.

Of course, it is crucial to monitor A/B tests closely and analyse the results. Thanks to this simple test, it is possible to focus your efforts on the Shopping ad formats that work best with your target audiences.

For example, with the help of A/B testing, L’OREAL Luxe was able to visually distinguish itself from its competitors (establishing the Armani private fragrance range as a bestseller). This action resulted in a 3-fold increase in revenue generated on Google Shopping in the space of one year.

Lengow offers two tools for collecting marketing data and optimising your advertising strategies on Google Shopping:

• The Google Analytics connector. Remember, Analytics is the audience analysis service for a website or an app provided free of charge by Google. Lengow offers you the chance to add the performance of your Shopping ads as a main criterion in the tool, via the “Apps” tab, in order to collect data for the past 30 days (relating to the effectiveness of your campaigns or your customers’ buying behaviour) and bring it together in the product catalog. Note that you must start by creating an Analytics account and connecting your e-commerce site. To collect behavioural data, it is also necessary to activate the “enhanced ecommerce” function in the tool.
• “Additional sources” allow you to include data of your choice from your own sources in your product catalog, for example information on the inventory, seasonality, margins, competitive pricing, etc. Therefore, you have a more complete catalog that takes account of your specific commercial features.

To get the most out of your data, Lengow’s “automatic rules“, and above all the “Segments” function, help you to effectively segment your catalogs and products. Lengow suggests predefined segments based on a consistent analysis of your product catalog and its performance. But it is also possible for you to create your own segments by defining criteria of interest to you: performance, seasonality, profitability, etc. What is the benefit of this? More efficient coordination of your sales strategy on Google Shopping.

Above all, remember that Google Shopping is a price comparison engine. This means that it is essential to keep an eye on the competition and adjust your prices according to what rival brands and merchants are offering for the same products.

This is precisely what the price intelligence tool Netrivals does, a model designed to effectively manage your advertising budget on Shopping. This tool optimises costs based on a comprehensive analysis of the market and prices, competitiveness and other parameters in order to improve visibility, conversions and ROAS. All that remains is to configure a minimum margin so as to be sure not to sell at a loss.

Lengow’s functions help you get the most out of your Google Shopping campaigns. Now it’s over to you!

⁽¹⁾ https://www.renolon.com/google-shopping-statistics/