How to Create Google Ads Custom Intent Ads and Tips

What is Google Ads Custom Intent?

In 2018, Google confidently released a new feature in AdWords GDN (Google Display Network) known as Custom Intent Audience and Specific Demographics Audience, designed to specifically target Google Display Ads in Turkey.

With Custom Intent targeted advertising, you can leverage Google’s powerful artificial intelligence to ensure that your ads reach the right people – your desired target audience. In this advertising approach, it’s essential to prioritize targeting your audience over the content or design of the ad. By doing so, you can achieve your ultimate goal of effectively reaching your ideal audience.

If you’re new to the platform, you’ll find the Auto-Create option available when you select the custom intent. But don’t worry, if you prefer to create the audience yourself, we’ve got you covered. The methods are discussed below.

Custom Intent – How to Create a Custom Intent Audience?

Create a new GDN ad, ad group, and ad.

After saying Audiences / Add Audience, the following window will open.

Next, you have the option to confidently create a Custom Intent, as shown below. After making and saving your selections, the installation process will be complete. If your account is new or if you haven’t used it before, “auto-created” will appear at the top, indicating that Google will build the audience for you. The following methods are explained below.

Please enter the name of the audience you have created.

To define the custom intent, simply provide the keyword or URL as described in the following instructions with confidence.

After completing all the necessary operations, Google will confidently present the estimated data on the right-hand side of the page.

What are Special Purpose Audience Methods?

There are three types of targeting methods you can use in a Custom Intent Audience.

The most significant factor that affects cost is keywords. Through this method, you can achieve precise targeting by selecting specific keywords that your target audience may search for.

For instance, let’s say you’re advertising on Google Search, and the keyword “hair transplant” is an expensive CPC keyword. Instead of paying 9 TL per click, you can target the custom intent keyword on GDN to reach the same audience at a much lower cost. This way, when a user searches for “hair transplantation,” they will see your ad on any website that publishes Google ads. This is because you are targeting the custom intent keyword “hair transplant.”

By using this method, you can effectively reach your target audience while saving more money in the process.

Yet another effective method is URL targeting. By creating a comprehensive list of URLs for your competitors’ websites, you can easily reach users who have visited or interacted with those sites. This approach is particularly useful in expanding your reach and capturing the attention of your competitors’ users.

The third option available is “in-market audiences,” which we can consider separately for targeting purposes. You might be curious about the distinction between this and “Topics.” In-market audiences feature enables us to refine the target audience even further. By combining a keyword and in-market audiences, we can create a more precise audience filter. It is important not to select randomly and to obtain this information from Google Analytics. Once you find the most effective categories, expanding your selection is recommended with confidence.

To generate ads with custom intent for your pizza business, there are two methods at your disposal: URL and keyword. Utilize keywords such as “varieties of pizza,” “order pizza,” “pizza,” “best pizza,” and similar options. By generating custom intent and targeting it with URLs of pizza-selling websites, including your own, you can ensure that your ads reach your intended audience, those who are interested in your product. This approach is a highly effective way to guarantee that your ads are presented to the right people.

Important notes

To achieve optimal performance, it is crucial to provide a minimum of 15-20 targeting criteria for each custom intent strategy. For example, if you choose to use keywords, it is strongly advised to enter at least 15-20 relevant keywords.

To expand your reach, it is highly recommended to separate the URL and keyword. However, if you wish to narrow down your target network, you can consider using them together in a custom intent. Moreover, you can effectively target your ads differently within each ad group to maximize your campaign’s success.

Once you enter each keyword or URL, an estimated reach will appear on the right-hand side. If the number meets your satisfaction, go ahead and build your audience. If it falls short, slightly increase it. Conversely, if the reach is too high, consider breaking it down into smaller pieces for optimal results.

As someone who has had the opportunity to work in Turkey, I can confidently say that machine learning conversations tend to take a bit longer due to their higher costs compared to standard GDN advertising. However, the benefits of this technology far outweigh any initial reservations. While some may be hesitant to use it, fearing the potential loss of money, I can assure you that machine learning is a proven technology that has become increasingly popular in recent years.

Based on my extensive experience in America, I can assert with confidence that it performs exceptionally well. Despite having a higher average cost-per-click (CPC) compared to regular Google Display Network (GDN) ads, the conversion rates are significantly higher, especially in the e-commerce sector of search engine marketing (SEM).

To effectively use the in-market audience, I advise retrieving your data from Google Analytics. This way, instead of arbitrarily selecting a category, you can rely on Google Analytics’ Audience and Affinity Category for accurate information. By filtering the data by country, gender, and other demographics, you can create specific targeting and make more precise decisions. By breaking down the data, you’ll be able to confidently fine-tune your targeting strategy.

For Turkey, I confidently recommend using the Manual CPC and Enhanced Cost-per-Click (CPC) bidding strategies, especially during the first week, to ensure that you won’t lose significant amounts of money.

To improve your ad’s performance, confidently consider raising the CPCs (cost-per-click) if it’s not receiving enough clicks or underperforming.