Having run a variety of tests, we’ve been learning a lot about Gmail ads and the great opportunities for advertisers they offer.

Here are 7 of the best tips we can offer potential advertisers who want to get the most out of Gmail traffic.

What Are They?

Formally known as Gmail Sponsored Promotions, they’ve been around since 2013 and target users based on the activity of their personal Gmail accounts.

Tip 1 – Raise Your CTR & Quality Score

Many advertisers aren’t aware that quality score DOES exit in Gmail. Problem is, you can’t see it…

Put simply – higher CTR = much lower CPC

Lower CTR – WAY higher CPC.

You have to maximise your open rates as Gmail ads Quality Score algorithm will give you huge rewards. The key is to write very compelling subject lines.

Tip 2 – Leverage Your Existing Email Marketing Data

Use the data you’ve already got, take your email marketing lists from email marketing campaigns that have performed well in the past. Don’t have any? Then use a customer list instead!

With emails that have done well for you organically, use them in a sponsored email ad format. We’ve found that subject lines starting with ‘Quick Question’ tend to get a high open rate.

Tip 3 – Emojis Are Here To Stay

As inboxes are so competitive, to get someone’s attention you can use emojis that can make your subject lines pop. This is especially true on mobile where over 50% of email opens occur.

Depending on the seriousness of your industry, emojis are a powerful tool that you should be leveraging for higher open rates. We’ve seen an increase of 30% in open rates since using them!

They should be topically relevant, stay away from random smileys.

Tip 4 – Keyword Targeting

Remarketing works well because past browsing history is a great idea of future sales potential.

People tend to lose interest when they’ve signed up to your email marketing list or any other materials you send out. Some who signed up a while ago may not have opened any emails in months and may not even be in the market for what you’re offering.

Unfortunately, you can’t use common display advert options within Gmail ads as it will fall foul of Google’s regulations about PII (personally identifiable information).

So, to get people who have shown recent interest in your stuff interested in Gmail ads, use keyword targeting as a substitute for remarketing.

When people enter some of our sales funnels, we send them emails as part of the marketing automation campaigns that contain our own name. These then end up in their Gmail accounts. So we can target recent interest in our own company by targeting our own trademarks.

Do this, and you’ll increase CTR and Quality Score – lowering your CPCs.

Tip 5 – Competitor Keywords are A MUST

Don’t stop at just your own trademarks! Target people who have shown interest in things that your direct competition sells.

In addition to targeting your own brand terms, you can be targeting your competitors with Gmail. This is a clever way for you to potentially steal some sales from a direct competitor all for a much lower cost than in Search ads.

This has the added benefit of increasing QS and lowering your CPCs as these people will be in the market for what you offer.

Tip 6 – Use Your Analytics

Google has Gmail-specific campaign metrics that aren’t turned on by default, enable them and monitor these to track the health of your campaigns.

Tip 7 – Try Different Ad Formats

Gmail Ads offers four different ad formats to choose from:

• Gmail single promotion template
• Gmail image template
• Gmail multi-product template
• Gmail catalogue template

Use them all and you might find that different offers work best with different formats.

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