Block irrelevant traffic and keep search lean
Primer helps marketing teams get the most out of core digital advertising channels, including Google Search. It narrows down branded and unbranded search with inclusion and exclusion audiences. While inclusion enables reaching people who search for a specific term, exclusion prevents users with selected attributes from seeing your ads.
These features are an effective tool for reducing the CPC, avoiding junk clicks, and optimizing your budget. You can experiment with different audiences and exclusion/inclusion rules while keeping the match rate high with Primer. Here is how to do it.
Primer Ad Audiences for Branded and Unbranded Search
Google Search campaigns rely on branded and unbranded keywords as one of the core settings. The problem arises when such ads bleed the budget due to an overly broad audience and low match rates. That's when marketers use Primer to boost Google Ads targeting.
Inclusion targeting for unbranded search
Inclusion audiences guarantee that only your ICP sees ads and filter out everyone else. You build an audience of your ideal buyers based on firmographics, industry, company size, and titles. Then you add this list as an inclusion filter in your Google Ads campaign and set the audience as Targeting. It narrows the reach of your campaign, making it more precise to save you costs.
Exclusion targeting for unbranded search
Broad keywords bring students, tiny companies, and consumers. Exclusion audiences remove the junk without shrinking volume. They enable a more extensive reach than inclusion targeting for unbranded search while still keeping the quality of advertising campaigns high. You preserve the volume, but cut the waste.
Branded search exclusions
Branded keywords convert, but many clicks are from customers logging in, job seekers, and support inquiries. These are the people who have already become your customers or are not your target audience at all. Branded search exclusion allows you to determine who will not see your branded search ads. You can turn on Observation mode to see the spend on the wrong audiences and decide who should be excluded. The impact on volume is low while the efficiency grows substantially.
Funnel Stages to Run Branded and Unbranded Search Campaigns
Branded search campaigns deliver maximum results at the middle of the funnel. You exclude the people entering your brand name for purposes other than conversion and focus on those who are likely to become your customers.
Unbranded search campaigns are most effective at the top of the funnel. You only know the characteristics of the desired target audience and use inclusion or exclusion criteria to reach suitable people. It may be their first interaction with your company.
Top Cases to Target Google Search Ads with Primer
By combining Google Search Ads with Primer, you can address many common marketing challenges. Below are the key cases when creating Primer's custom audiences with high match rates can save your campaigns:
CPC exceeds $20-40
When the cost per click (CPC) becomes too expensive, you must narrow down the reach by only including the audiences that meet your ICP or excluding those who never convert. It may slightly reduce the volume, but the increased qualified rates and, therefore, lower CPC are worth it.
Primer play to use:
Over 30% of junk clicks
Junk clicks mean your ads reach the people who are not really interested in your offer. You must refine the target audience to eliminate users who do not match your ICP. Cutting waste increases your qualified lead volume by allocating more budget to good-fit prospects.
Primer play to use:
Targeting niche markets with a limited budget
If you have a narrow target niche, guide your Google ads by building an inclusion list based on firmographic filters. This approach is not suitable for everyone, but it's a great option for targeting niche markets with limited budgets.
Primer play to use:
Clicks from customers, job seekers, and PLG users
When you include your brand name as one of the keywords for Search campaigns, your ads may start to target user groups you'd rather skip. Your existing customers, job seekers, and PLG users result in high repeat clicks, wasting your budget. By configuring exclusion audiences for branded search with Primer, you can focus on MOFU leads who are real revenue opportunities.
Primer play to use:
You are not #1 for your brand name search
If your website doesn't show first for your brand name search, you either have indexing issues or competitors who are using your keywords to beat you. Adding banded search exclusions enables you to exclude your brand name from generic campaigns and focus on more specific ones with higher potential.
Primer play to use:
3 Steps to Set Up Branded and Unbranded Search Campaigns with Primer Audiences
The configuration process for branded and unbranded search ad targeting is similar. You need to create a Primer audience with relevant attributes, push it into Google Search, run advertising campaigns, and measure the results. Here are the main steps to take:
Step 1. Build an audience in Primer
Go to Primer and select the necessary attributes to generate an audience. You can build an ICP-based audience for unbranded search inclusion/exclusion or use your CRM or firmographic filters (current customer list, job titles that never convert, support-seeking roles, etc.) to build an exclusion audience for branded search.
Step 2. Apply the list in Google Search
Open the Google campaign, go to audiences, and assign the Primer audience under exclusions or inclusions, depending on how you use Primer.
Step 3. Test and refine
Monitor the results of the upgraded campaigns, including CPL, ROAS, traffic volume, and total spend. The volume may decrease with the inclusion/exclusion of specific criteria. The key point is to achieve higher ad efficiency for the same budget.
Results: What Outcomes to Expect
The results vary depending on how you use Primer to optimize your Google Search campaigns. We encourage you to test the impact of different targeting approaches to see what works for you.
What to expect in general? The outcomes of companies that are currently using Primer show the following change for unbranded search exclusion:
With unbranded search inclusion, you can increase the percentage of qualified leads and ROAS.
Refining branded search with Primer exclusion audiences increases the number of qualified conversions while reducing the cost of acquisition (CPA).
FAQs
- What is the difference between branded vs. unbranded search campaigns?
Branded search campaigns include your brand name, while unbranded ads rely on more generic terms. Therefore, branded ads target people who are already familiar with your brand and are looking for your website or related accounts. Unbranded ads reach users searching for the services or products you offer.
- Should we run branded or unbranded campaigns? Or both?
You must know your marketing goals before determining the best ways to use Primer. For example, unbranded search inclusion is a perfect choice for niche markets, while branded search is effective when you are not the first organic result for your brand name. Any of these would benefit from Primer ad audiences.
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