Paid Search for Top of the Funnel - Are You Crazy?
Nope, I’m not crazy. Most paid search professionals will tell you that paid search is strictly for the middle and bottom of the funnel - audiences that already KNOW that they are interested in a product like yours, or at least know they have a problem that needs solving.
But I’m here to tell you the top of funnel campaigns can pay off in terms of long-term growth. Why? Because they are an exercise in brand building, not lead or sales generation.
For example, if you’re a bathroom remodeling company, you might already be buying search terms such as “bathroom remodels” or “contractors near me”. Buying these terms is likely to result in measurable online and in-store sales in the near-term. However, buying the terms “bathroom design” and “house flipping” gives you the additional opportunity to put your brand name in front of a much wider audience that may remember your name in the future.
How do you know if a TOF paid search campaign makes sense for your product or service? There are a few scenarios where it is an option for brands. You should make sure you meet most/all of these criteria before moving forward:
You have low brand awareness.
You have high-value products.
Your space is highly competitive.
You’ve nearly maxed out impression share at the bottom of the funnel.
The customer journey in the middle and bottom of your funnel is already built out with strong email nurturing and remarketing programs.
You’re willing to spend dollars now for future sales.
Do you meet the criteria? Great! How do you get started with TOF paid search campaigns? Here are some basic techniques to start with, from easiest to more advanced:
Duplicate your existing keywords with a ‘Broad ‘ match type.
Expand the content on your website to be broader, then craft keyphrases specifically for that content.
Already have broad content housed in your blog? Build Dynamic Search Ads that allow Google to draw the right audience to the right posts.
Add a few keyphrases that are really broad - such as ‘home design’, then layer the campaign with audience targeting. In this example, you might narrow down to people aged 40-60 who are researching buying a home and have higher than average incomes, because you know that is your core demographic. Or, you can get targeting ideas by layering a bunch of likely audiences in ‘Observation Mode’ on top of your existing campaigns, and seeing which ones are successful. You might be surprised by what trends pop up!
So, if the idea is that these searchers will remember your name when it comes time to purchase in the future, you’ll need to get creative with success measurement. Some tips for measurement:
Make sure to track these visitors separately from your traditional paid search visits. I use a specific campaign name in my UTM code, then create a custom channel grouping in Google Analytics.
Make sure your conversion goals are set to the longest time period possible.
Refer to your Assisted Conversions report to see how many of these visitors came back at a later point in time to perform a conversion action.
So, if you meet a few criteria, and you’re willing to think outside the box and loosen up the reigns on campaign success metrics, paid search can be an incredible awareness tool!
