Google Ads is a powerful platform, but success requires more than simply running campaigns. To stay competitive and achieve consistent results, advertisers need to go beyond the basics and take advantage of advanced features that improve targeting, bidding, personalisation, and measurement.
Here are five strategies that can elevate your campaigns and deliver stronger returns.
1. Custom Intent Audiences
Custom intent audiences allow you to reach people actively researching products or services similar to yours. By targeting users based on the keywords they search and the websites they visit, you can put your ads in front of prospects with clear purchase intent.
How to set them up:
-
Go to Audience Manager in Google Ads.
-
Create a new Custom Audience and select the “Custom Intent” option.
-
Add keywords, URLs, and apps that align with your ideal customer’s behaviour.
Why it works:
-
Focuses spend on high-intent users.
-
Improves click-through rates.
-
Reduces wasted budget on irrelevant audiences.
Tip: Combine custom intent with in-market audiences to refine reach further.
2. Portfolio Bid Strategies
Portfolio bid strategies automate bidding across multiple campaigns to achieve specific business goals such as maximising conversions or maintaining a target CPA. Rather than managing each campaign separately, Google’s algorithm optimises bids in real time to deliver the best outcome.
Set up in: Tools & Settings > Shared Library > Portfolio Bid Strategies.
Options include:
-
Target CPA
-
Target ROAS
-
Maximise Conversions
Benefits:
-
Smarter bidding powered by machine learning.
-
Consistent performance across campaigns.
-
More time to focus on strategy and creative testing.
Tip: Start with conservative targets and adjust once you see stable performance.
3. Advanced Ad Customisers
Ad customisers enable you to serve dynamic, highly relevant ad copy tailored to the user’s search behaviour or context. This can include product names, prices, availability, or countdown timers.
How to implement:
-
Upload a data feed with product details to Business Data in the Shared Library.
-
Insert custom variables (e.g.,
{=ProductName}) into your ad copy. -
Set rules to control which information shows for which search terms.
Benefits:
-
Highly personalised ads that resonate with users.
-
Higher relevance scores and CTRs.
-
Increased urgency with countdowns for limited offers.
4. Sequential Advertising
Sequential advertising is a remarketing approach that shows users different ads depending on where they are in the customer journey. Instead of showing the same message repeatedly, you guide them step by step toward conversion.
Approach:
-
Segment audiences into groups (e.g., site visitors, cart abandoners).
-
Build ad sequences that address awareness, consideration, and decision stages.
-
Control exposure using frequency capping and exclusions.
Why it’s effective:
-
Provides a clear, structured narrative.
-
Reinforces brand messaging at each stage.
-
Overcomes objections with timely, relevant content.
Tip: Use video for early stages, then shift to more direct offers as users progress.
5. Data-Driven Attribution
Last-click attribution ignores the wider customer journey. Data-driven attribution distributes credit across touchpoints, showing which keywords and ads genuinely contribute to conversions.
Requirements: At least 3,000 ad interactions and 300 conversions in 30 days.
Set up in: Tools & Settings > Measurement > Attribution.
Benefits:
-
Recognises the role of upper- and mid-funnel activity.
-
Smarter budget allocation across campaigns.
-
More accurate insight into what drives growth.
Tip: Use the Model Comparison Tool to measure the impact of switching from last-click.
Conclusion
These five strategies — custom intent audiences, portfolio bid strategies, ad customisers, sequential advertising, and data-driven attribution — give you greater control, precision, and insight within Google Ads.
Individually, each tactic can improve performance. Combined, they create a sophisticated framework that maximises efficiency and return on investment.
If you want support implementing advanced strategies and scaling campaigns effectively, our PPC management services can help ensure your Google Ads account is structured for growth.
