I used to believe that Google Advertising wouldn’t work for coaches – here’s where I was wrong

Last Updated on: 5th August 2022, 09:39 am

Back in 2008 when I was running my first Google AdWords agency, I used to think that Google Advertising wouldn’t work for coaches.

In fact, if one came along – we would turn them away.

In most coaching niches prospects rarely search for the type of coach they want – meaning Google Search would bring in hardly any leads, failing to justify ROI for our clients.

If a prospect did happen to come along, they were “comparing” quotes and making decisions based on price – rather than who could solve their problem.

When we tried the Display Network  – their pages didn’t convert and anything we tested “outside the box” rapidly got disapproved and Google slapped.

Plus remarketing didn’t exist until much later, and even then it only existed in very basic form (and most of the time the audiences were too small anyway to bother remarketing to!).

10 years later, the game has completely changed such that having the right type of Google Advertising campaign structure works equally as well as – if not better than Facebook Ads.

This amazing structure, which brings in leads the right way for coaches, reaches far more people than Facebook Ads ever can (The Display Network reaches 90% of the online population https://support.google.com/adwords/answer/2404191?hl=en-GB )

Google watched what was happening with Facebook, and improved its advertising for small businesses. Here are a few of the changes we’ve seen:

• Getting opt-ins for lead magnets – you can send traffic directly to lead magnets such as webinars/eBooks
• Uploading email lists and using them to create similar audiences PLUS following around the existing list with adverts
• Automation Engine – Google developed the ability to acquire leads at a set Cost Per Acquisition. So tell it you want webinar leads for $12 each and it will go and find them

The initial players are having a field day, advertising across Gmail, YouTube, Google Display and of course Google Search. The costs are far cheaper than on Facebook – plus you only pay for a view on YouTube when a prospect has watched 30 seconds of your video (whereas you pay for a 3-second view on Facebook).

There’s all this talk about getting Google Ads “working”, but what exactly does that mean?

We believe in a combo of campaigns targeting both cold traffic and remarketing across Gmail, YouTube, Google Display and Google Search. Many coaches have tested just one or two of these, but you’ll have greater results when you combine all four.

• Gmail campaigns are great for targeting certain keywords in their emails plus competitors (you can target someone when they’re reading an email from a competitor) PLUS getting in front of your email lists and remarketing lists
• YouTube campaigns are perfect for establishing authority and trust. They’re perfect for building cold traffic audiences, driving people to opt-ins such as webinars/eBooks and then remarketing to them across the other channels
• Google Display campaigns are ideal for remarketing purposes, continuing to build trust and authority, and ensuring people “see” you constantly
• Google Search Campaigns are perfect to bring in cold traffic that needs advice solving a particular problem. So, for example, they might type in “how to” type queries

Are you driving traffic using Google effectively? If you’d like to speak with us about Google Ads coaching to help YOU create Google campaigns that convert – book a call today.

If you’re ready to take the reins, achieve rapid Google Ads success in 7 easy steps with your copy of my best-selling Google Ads book!

Image credit Arizona – I was wrong