Advanced Google Ads Targeting Options for Lead Generation
When it comes to using Google Ads for lead generation, success often hinges on your ability to reach the right audience with the right message. While basic targeting options like keywords and demographics can get you started, advanced targeting techniques can take your lead-generation efforts to the next level.
Let’s take a closer look at exploring some of the most potent advanced Google Ads targeting options that can help you attract high-quality leads and drive better results for your business.
Audience Types in Google Ad Campaigns
Custom Intent Audiences
Custom Intent Audiences allow you to target users based on their recent search behaviour and online activity. This targeting method allows you to reach people who have shown intent by searching for specific products, services, or solutions similar to what you offer.
What is a custom intent audience in Google ads?
Custom intent audiences allow advertisers to show ads to those who are already showing an interest in their product or service based on what they have searched for (keywords) or websites they have visited recently.
For example, if you’re an estate agent, you can create a custom audience of users who have recently searched for an estate agency or who have recently visited Rightmove.
By using Custom Intent Audiences, you can focus your ads on potential customers already in the market for your offering, increasing the likelihood of generating quality leads.
Screenshot of audience segmentation within Google Ads. It shows "people who searched for any of these terms on Google" selected.
In-Market Audiences
In-Market Audiences help you target users who are actively researching or comparing products and services similar to yours. Google categorises users into these audiences based on their search behaviour, site visits, and other online actions.
For lead generation, In-Market Audiences are especially valuable because they allow you to reach users at a crucial moment in their decision-making process. For instance, if you’re offering software solutions for small businesses, you can target people who are currently looking for software providers, giving you a chance to capture leads who are further along the buyer’s journey.
Customer Match
Customer Match allows you to upload your existing customer email lists and target those users across Google Search, Gmail, and YouTube. By leveraging Customer Match, you can not only re-engage existing customers but also target them with tailored messages based on their previous interactions with your business.
For example, if you have a list of leads who have signed up for a free trial of your service but haven’t converted, you can run a remarketing campaign specifically designed to nurture those leads and encourage them to become paying customers. This level of personalisation can greatly improve your chances of converting high-value leads.
Ways to Improve Your Targeting and Reduce Waste
Geotargeting
Geotargeting is a powerful tool for businesses that rely on local leads or have location-specific offerings. Google Ads allows you to target users based on their physical location, down to specific cities, postcodes, or even a defined radius around a particular address.
For example, a plumbing company that serves a specific region can use geotargeting to ensure their ads only show to users within their service area. This prevents wasted ad spend on irrelevant clicks from users outside their target locations, and instead focuses on attracting local leads that are more likely to convert.
Dayparting (Ad Scheduling)
Dayparting, or ad scheduling, allows you to control when your ads appear during specific times of the day or week. This is particularly useful for lead generation if you know that your target audience is more likely to engage with your ads during certain times.
For example, if you’re running a campaign targeting business professionals, you might schedule your ads to appear during working hours when your audience is most active online. This can help you capture leads at the right time, ensuring that your ads are being seen when potential customers are more likely to take action.
Device Targeting
Different users behave differently depending on the device they’re using, and with Google Ads, you can tailor your campaigns to target specific devices—such as mobile, desktop, or tablet. If your lead generation forms or landing pages are optimised for mobile devices, you may want to focus more of your ad budget on mobile users.
Alternatively, if your product or service requires more in-depth research or is typically purchased via desktop, you can allocate more budget towards desktop users. Device targeting allows you to optimise your lead generation efforts based on how your audience interacts with your ads and website.
Using Advanced Targeting in Different Google Ads Campaign Types
Search Campaigns
In Search campaigns, you target potential customers through keywords they use in Google’s search engine. Advanced targeting options can help you refine and improve these campaigns:
Custom Intent Audiences and In-Market Audiences: While Search campaigns are typically based on keywords, you can combine them with audience targeting (e.g., in-market or custom intent audiences) to fine-tune which users see your ads. This helps ensure that users who have exhibited behaviours relevant to your offering (e.g., searched for related products) see your ad, thus increasing the chance of converting.
This can be helpful if your offering is niche - or has overlap with a similar service. Generally we do not recommend using this in your search campaigns, as this can reduce your visibility.
Geotargeting and Dayparting: These are especially useful in local service-based industries. You can target people searching for specific services within a defined geographical area and at specific times of day, ensuring your ads are seen when your audience is most likely to act.
Using Audiences in Performance Max Campaigns
Performance Max is a newer campaign type that allows Google’s machine learning to automatically serve your ads across all available inventory—Search, Display, YouTube, Gmail, and more—based on your goals. Here’s how advanced targeting comes into play:
Customer Match: In Performance Max campaigns, you can upload your customer data to find similar customers and remarket to existing ones. Google's AI will optimise the distribution of your ads across platforms to drive lead generation.
In-Market Audiences and Similar Audiences: These can also be layered onto your Performance Max campaigns to expand reach and find users who share similarities with your best leads.
Device Targeting and Geotargeting: These can help you refine your strategy within the automated environment of Performance Max, ensuring your ads perform well for the right users on the right devices, within the areas where you operate.
Display Campaigns
Display campaigns use visual banners and images across Google’s partner websites and apps. While Display campaigns are more about brand visibility, advanced targeting helps you reach leads who are more likely to engage.
Similar Audiences and In-Market Audiences: These targeting options work exceptionally well in Display campaigns, as they allow you to expand your reach to new potential leads who have shown interest in products or services similar to yours.
Geotargeting: For businesses relying on local leads, you can ensure that your Display ads are only shown to users within specific locations, improving the relevance of your impressions.
Dayparting and Device Targeting: These can be very helpful in Display campaigns. By ensuring your ads only show on specific devices or during certain times, you can make sure your banners are being seen by the most relevant audience at the right time, driving better engagement and lead generation.
Observation vs Targeting in Google Ads
One of the key settings you’ll encounter when setting up audiences in Google Ads is whether to use observation or targeting. These options determine how your audience data will be used within your campaign:
Targeting:
When you choose targeting, your ads will only be shown to the users in the audience(s) you specify. For example, if you're running a Search campaign and set "In-Market Audiences" for real estate, your ads will only be shown to users within that in-market audience group. This means you’re narrowing down your reach to focus specifically on users that are more likely to convert into leads.
Example: If you're running a campaign targeting users searching for "business software" and add an audience of In-Market users for "business productivity tools", only users who are part of that audience will see your ad.
Observation:
When you set an audience to observation, Google will still show your ads to everyone based on the original criteria (e.g., keywords in a Search campaign), but it will also track the performance of the specific audience you've chosen to observe. This allows you to gather data on how different audience groups perform without restricting your ad delivery to just those groups.
With observation, you can see how well an audience like In-Market Audiences performs compared to your general audience. If the data shows that this audience performs well, you can later adjust your bids or create campaigns to specifically target that audience.
Example: If you’re targeting all users who search for “CRM software” but add an audience of people “In-Market for CRM tools” in observation mode, your ad will still show to anyone who searches for “CRM software”. However, you'll collect performance data on how the in-market audience compares to the broader group of searchers.
When to Use Targeting vs Observation
Use Targeting when you are confident about the audience you want to focus on and wish to narrow your reach to specific user groups. This is particularly useful when budget is limited, and you want to focus on high-intent audiences to maximise lead generation efficiency.
Use Observation when you want to cast a wider net but are curious to see how specific audiences within that broader group are performing. It’s a great tool for gathering insights without limiting your reach. Observation is ideal for testing different audience segments to identify those that may perform better than others.
By effectively combining these advanced features, you can tailor your campaigns to attract qualified leads, maximise your ad spend, and drive better results for your business. As you refine your strategy, you'll be better equipped to connect with users who are genuinely interested in your offerings and turn them into long-term customers.
Looking to run your own Google Ads? Check out our Google Ads Bootcamp.
