How to Run a Successful Showcase Shopping Ads Campaign

Google Shopping Ads have become a must-have for e-commerce businesses in recent years. They presently account for up to 70% of non-branded sponsored clicks in Google search results for merchants. However, Google is facing stiff competition from Amazon.

Google is no longer content to be merely a middleman; it wants to make its properties more of a shopping destination. Google Shopping Showcase Ads are one feature that will help with this. These allow advertisers to display additional information about their brand and products.

What are Google Showcase Shopping Ads?

Showcase shopping ads are a kind of shopping advertisement whereby companies may showcase information about several linked products. These ads are more likely to show up when consumers search for broad terms than for particular products.

They happen early in the buying process, during non-branded product searches—like running shoes. You can thus use these to promote a particular brand or to grow your business with a unique range of products.

How should one begin to create Google Showcase Shopping Ad Campaigns?

Step 1: Log into AdWords and create a shopping campaign

To begin, log into the new AdWords interface and start a shopping campaign. Then, when you go to the dashboard settings below, select “Showcase Shopping.”  You may launch your Showcase Shopping campaign with only one click!

Step 2: Set your bid and choose product groups

After you’ve decided on the best format, it’s time to place your bid. This is the highest cost per engagement that you are willing to spend for the ad group. It’s vital to note that you’re bidding at the ad group level, not per product group. Once you’ve put in your bid, you can still adjust it.

You will also need to decide the products you want to promote in your advertisement. For the greatest results, structure your ad groups according to product resemblance. For example, a jewelry store may place women’s rings in one ad group and men’s timepieces in another.

Step 3: Choose ad images

Now it’s time to construct your ad in the Showcase Shopping Ad dashboard. The first thing you should do is upload a header image. Avoid including advertising material in your header image. Instead, select a high-quality photograph that includes at least one of your products. The header image is vital since it attracts viewers to your ad.

After you’ve selected a header picture, you must select an image for the non-expanded form of the ad. This is what the customer sees before clicking on the ad to expand it, so use product-focused photos that reflect your brand’s quality and benefits.

Step 4: Create a headline and description

Both the headline and the description are optional. However, when combined with your attractive product photos, they may be the determining factor in whether a user chooses to interact with your ad. Choose a headline that will attract the audience’s attention. This can be as many as 24 characters long.

The description is included in an extended version of your ad. Use this to include any additional information about the products in your advertisement. This could be between 70 and 120 characters.

Step 5. Enter the landing page and display URLs

One last step before you’re finished: enter the final URL and display the URL. The final URL is the landing page to which your ad will drive traffic. The display URL is the website address that appears in your advertisement. Before you finalize your ad, double-check that you’re sending consumers to the correct targeted landing page.

Once complete, you may preview and save your ad. And voilà! You have created your first Google Showcase shopping ad campaign.

Need help getting started with your Google Showcase shopping ads? We’d love to help. Our digital marketing team has extensive expertise using Google Shopping ad campaigns to help businesses reach new customers and enhance conversions.

How to Create a Showcase Shopping Ad

Showcase shopping advertisements can only be made via the API or the new Google advertisement interface (currently in beta).

Step 1

First, create a new ad group in your shopping campaign and choose the shopping showcase ad group type. Ad groups in shopping campaigns can either offer product shopping advertisements or display shopping ads.

Step 2

Choose the products you wish to include in your showcase advertisement. You can design different display ads for different product groupings, categorized by brand, product type, or custom labels. You can establish many ad groups to deliver various showcase advertisements.

Step 3

Next, you’ll need to develop a showcase shopping ad. Unlike a product shopping ad, you’ll need to include more information than just that from your Google Merchant Center.

Here’s all the info you’ll need to provide:

• The header for your enlarged ad comes from the larger image (1080 x 566), which shows on the SERP prior to a user clicking on their ad. As a SERP preview, you choose instead to use a product image.
• Headline (Optional, 24 characters): This text will show at the top of your expanded ad and behind your image on the SERP.
• Optional, 120-character description: Your description will only show after your ad is enlarged. Send them to click on your landing page using this text to add more details about your goods and sales.
• Final URL: Where do you wish to forward your traffic?
• Show URL (35 characters): Under your header image and above your description, the display URL will show. Longer display URLs could be concatenated on mobile devices.

Best Practices for Showcase Shopping Ads

Use these guidelines to maximize this fresh ad style:

1. Retail advertising depends on high-quality, vivid images rather than headlines or descriptions to be successful. If at all feasible, show your goods in use. Steer clear of clipped photographs, too generous whitespace, and stock photos.
2. Create appropriate display shopping advertising using separate ad groups.
   Steer clear of having one ad group run the same ad for a range of unrelated products.
3. Run both product advertisements and showcase shopping. While shopping, product advertisements should show more regularly for more product-specific searches; shopping showcase advertising will show less frequency and only for broad top-of-the-funnel searches.

Remember, clicks to enlarge the shopping showcase ad are free; hence, utilize them to prequalify searchers who might be just starting their search for your goods and educate them.

Conclusion

Showcase shopping ads account for 25–30% of mobile impressions, making them crucial for enhancing visibility at the top of the funnel. Retailers aiming to monetize early-stage customers should include Showcase Shopping campaigns in their Google advertising plan. You may now make a solid first impression in front of high-intent consumers by using properly optimized ads.