Tips to optimise your Smart Shopping campaigns in 2021

From Q4 2020, Showcase Shopping ads now work with Smart Shopping campaigns and provide dynamic ad creation. Showcase ads appear when relevant for the user on the most appropriate surface and when it is expected that this format could drive better performance than standard Shopping ads.

Google recently announced that Showcase Shopping ads will start serving automatically out of regular Shopping campaigns from the end of Q1 2021. This change will allow Showcase ads to be displayed in all countries where Shopping ads are available from April 1st 2021 onwards.

Acquire new customers and retarget existing ones

Advertisers typically focus on two different types of customers when they build their Shopping campaigns strategy to drive online sales effectively: new and existing ones. Reaching out to new potential customers has become even more important given the dynamic landscape of online shopping. External studies published in 2020 showed that between 20% to 50% of customers in EMEA have shopped online from a retailer that was new to them¹.This provides a window of opportunity for advertisers to present and promote their products to a new audience. At the same time, since it usually costs more to gain  a new customer than to keep an existing one, advertisers shall also maintain their focus on attracting  their existing customers to repeat purchases.

Is it possible to achieve these two goals with one Shopping campaign?

Yes, it is! Good news is that now Smart Shopping campaigns can optimise conversion value for both online sales and new customer acquisition. With a simple set-up, you can decide how much you want to spend on acquiring new customers in addition to online sales. The system will count the total conversion value as the sum of your fixed new customer value and the amount of the purchase they made. To make things clearer, let’s look at the following example: if you decide that a new client is worth €50 for your business, and they made a €30 purchase, then the total conversion value in this case would be equal to €80.

Key tips for new customer acquisition

1. Set the new customer value wisely: A higher customer value in a Smart Shopping campaign can deliver more new customers, but at the same time it might move away the Shopping campaign’s focus from online sales. If you are not sure what your new customer value should be, you can use the default option when you select the new customer conversion goal. This default value estimates future sales from a customer and is calculated using your business’ average order value and purchase frequency for Shopping campaigns.
2. Adjust the budget: By enabling  new customer acquisition, you are setting an additional goal for your existing Shopping campaign. Therefore, it is recommended to increase budgets by at least 20% to accommodate this new goal.
3. Test for at least 3 weeks: If you’re adding a new customer goal to your existing Smart Shopping campaign, a recommended practice is to allow it to work at least for 3 weeks before you evaluate its performance. If you’re setting up a new Smart Shopping campaign  you can keep a 2 week learning period on top of the testing one. After this period ends, you can adjust the Shopping campaign settings when necessary to meet your business objectives.

An efficient way to re-engage with existing customers or attract new ones is to utilise diverse asset types. As of Q4 2020, advertisers can add video assets to their Smart Shopping campaigns to boost their performance.

Why use them?

• Access additional Google Display Network inventory (e.g. rewarded inventory).
• Improve potential reach to new users and engage with existing or lapsed customers.
• Boost your brand, as videos can help your Shopping ads stand out.

How do you add them?

There are 2 ways to add video assets to your Smart Shopping campaigns:

1. You can upload a video or select a YouTube video and link it to your Shopping campaign. Tip: It is recommended that the video is 30 seconds or less.
2. If you don’t have pre-existing video assets, autogen videos can be created based on your feed information (just like with other Google Display Network formats).

*Note: It is possible to add videos longer than 30 seconds, however videos longer than 1 minute may impact your reach.*

What do they look like?

Below, you can see an illustrative example of video in display responsive ads created by Smart Shopping campaigns.

Have you wondered what you can do to find better qualified leads for your Smart Shopping campaigns? If so, Customer Match might be the answer, as it can help you show more personalised ads to your existing customers based on the information they have shared with you. To build this, you have to upload a data file with first-party data you’ve collected from your customers (i.e. information you’ve collected from a customer who’s registered to receive marketing messages from you, or who has signed up for your loyalty programme).

Key benefits of using a Customer Match list:

• It can help  you re-engage with users who interacted with your business recently.
• It can improve your Shopping campaigns’ performance by ensuring that  they are targeting more customers who are more likely to convert.
• It can allow you to reach new, potential customers by targeting similar audiences to the ones who are already on the list.

You can try the Customer Match list and start exploring the advantages that it offers by checking the Recommendation tab in your Google Ads panel. Don’t forget to refresh the list at least once every 90 days in order to provide updated information for your Shopping campaigns. Keep in mind that in order to use Customer Match lists, you need to meet the requirements of the Customer Match policy.