When to Use Google Ads (+ when it's a bad idea)

Use Cases for Google Advertising

Google Ads is so much more than a few search/display ads where you pay for visibility and clicks.

In reality, there are so many right and wrong ways to use Google Ads depending on your community’s goal.

Ready to refine your marketing with some of the most powerful use cases for search advertising?

Here’s what to do next.

The Primary Benefits

One of the primary benefits is being able to get in front of your prospect at the exact moment they’re searching for your product. Here's an example:

Additionally, you can dial in on the exact combination of targeting and ad copy that results in a qualified lead.

Once you find that secret sauce, go all in!

Target Your Ideal Residents

Instead of setting up blind ads for anyone who stumbles upon them, you can target only your ideal residents.

Over time, you can filter out the keywords, ad copy, and/or targeting that isn’t delivering results.

Keep in mind that Google Ads does have some restrictions on whom you can target in housing, including age, parental status, and gender. However, you can target your ideal resident by:

Topics of interest
Similar audience (re: your competitor’s)
Geography
Search intent

Need more info? Get a breakdown of Google's personalized advertising policy on housing here.

Tip💡: Pull data on current residents with your property managers to come up with a profile of your ideal resident. Your managers will also have more insights beyond the data, like which group is likely to re-sign a lease or take care of their unit.

Truth 💣: Google advertising and targeting isn't a set-it-and-forget-it strategy. It requires ongoing touchpoints and re-evaluating your data to see what's working and what's not.

The goal is to find the right blend, and scale it up or down with your community’s needs.

Create Competitor Campaigns

Google advertising offers innovative ways to get in front of your competition's audience.

Competitor campaigns work like brand campaigns, but you're targeting nearby communities instead of your own brand. These campaigns can be effective with the right approach in place.

Here are a few tips to get your competitor campaigns right:

Obsess over the search intent
Use the right negative keywords
Create tailored competitor content or landing pages
Make sure to target the right competition
Focus on where your competitor's gaps

Tip💡: Make sure you target highly relevant keywords and align with your audience's search content. In other words, you don't want to bid on keywords like “Citywide Apartments wireless password” that won't move the needle on your conversions.

Truth 💣: Competitor campaigns shouldn't be about bashing another community. At the end of the day, competitor campaigns help your audience make an informed decision about which community to choose.

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Retarget Your Google Advertising

Retargeting your Google advertising is a powerful feature to customize your display campaigns to someone who already visited your site. Google stores their data and can then show ads to these visitors when browsing the web.

Think of retargeting as a second-chance marketing strategy.

Now you have the opportunity to connect with potential residents, showcase more of your amenities, or show a rent special.

Here's an example from ladder.io:

When done correctly, retargeting ads offer high ROI by focusing on potential residents you already know are interested.

Tip💡: When retargeting, don’t just send them back to your home page. They already saw that. Entice them with a new offer to come back and become a lead (like your current special).

Truth 💣: Highly relevant ads and retargeting pay off. Website visitors who are retargeted are more likely to convert by 43%.

Show-Up on Google Maps

Google maps can be a game-changer for communities looking to get noticed by potential residents. Google maps ads show up when someone searches for a business or community in your local area.

Considering that 84% of consumers perform local searches, your visibility is crucial on Google Maps.

Google Maps also continues to roll out high-converting features, like Promoted Pins. Despite the name, this strategy isn’t about Pinterest.

Google Maps' promoted pins represent a business (or multifamily property) entity on maps and help your listing stand out from the rest.

Tip💡: This can be valuable when you’re trying to build your SEO rankings, but haven’t cracked the first or second page yet. Pay to be at the top while you build your rankings, then pause when you have visibility.

Truth 💣: Maps simplify the apartment hunting process for residents. They know exactly how far your units are from their workplace, favorite hang-outs, and nightlife.

Generate Qualified Leads

Are qualified leads a problem for you? Some communities report over 70% of their pipeline as unqualified to rent.

This can be a huge problem and administrative burden for your team.

In multifamily, many sources don’t give you any options to increase lead quality. Rather, they advise you to spend more to widen your funnel.

Often times you don’t need more leads, simply better ones.

Google Ads can help you find the targeting that brings in the highest quality renters. With the right attention to detail, you’ll improve your lead quality month over month.

When Should You Avoid Google Ads?

You should avoid Google Ads if you’re unsure whether your communities poor performance is a lead problem.

Google Ads won’t fix poor follow-up, bad reviews, or any operational issues for that matter.

“Don’t try to fix a bottom-of-funnel problem, with a top-of-funnel solution.”

If your leasing team is crushing it, and you just need to deliver more qualified leads, Google Ads can be a great solution.

Always ask yourself, is this just a lead problem?

Next Steps

Make the most of Google's host of tools to create a power-packed marketing strategy when you combine:

Google Advertising
Retargeting ads
Google My Business Profile
Competitor campaigns
Google Maps
Promoted Pins
and more

… you establish a rock-solid online presence for your community, with the flexibility to hit your leasing goals.

What was your biggest takeaway from this article? Let us know in the comments!

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