Should I use my competitors' names as keywords in Google Ads?
In this essay I’m talking about you asking Google to show your ad when someone searches for your competitor by name. You might have seen this referred to as a conquesting campaign.
Say for instance you do the same thing as a business called Simmond Associates. You'd add simmond associates as a keyword so when someone Googled Simmond Associates they’d see an ad for your business.
The thinking is that you’ll be able to convince some of the people looking for old Mr. Simmond to use your firm instead.
Google loves it when you advertise on your competitor’s names.
You see Google gets paid every time someone clicks one of their ads. If nobody advertises on searches for Simmond Associates Google can’t make any money from those searches.
But if you advertise and someone clicks your ad, Google makes money. And, when Mr Simmond sees your ads he'll think he's losing customers and start to advertise.
So now, instead of no money, on those searches, Google has two chances to make money: from your ad and from Simmond’s ad.
And, to make it even better (for Google), the more people who advertise, the more they charge for each of those clicks.
Using your competitor’s name as a keyword is good for Google. But is it good for you?
Let's see how to work that out.
I assume that the aim of advertising your business on Google is to get more of the right kind of leads.
Because Google charges per click, you really only want your ads to show to people who are searching for an alternative to Simmond Associates.
-
You don’t want to pay Google when one of Simmond’s loyal customers is looking for directions. Or if they're looking for the phone number, opening hours, the address and so on.
-
You also don’t want to pay Google for clicks from people wanting to sell goods or services to Simmond.
This cuts out most of the available searches. In reality only a tiny proportion of searches that include a competitor's name are worth targeting. And, if you’re competing against a local business, that’s a problem.
Let me explain.
Any advertising must produce enough of the right kind of leads to justify the cost and attention it takes to run the campaign. For the purposes of this exercise let's say that you'd find it worthwhile if you got one new customer a month from the campaign.
Let’s assume that you can close a deal with one in every 10 of Simmond’s unhappy customers who contacts you. That means your website needs to send you 10 enquiries for every customer you land.
My experience has been that competitor landing pages have a low conversion rate. Around 1% is typical of what I've seen.
At 1% page conversion rate you need 100 visitors to get one enquiry. So to get the 10 enquiries to land one customer you need 10 x 100 = 1 000 visitors.
How do we get those 1 000 visitors - or 1 000 clicks you’ve paid Google for.
Competitor advertising campaigns usually have low clickthrough rates (CTR). If you’re lucky you might get 2% CTR. So to get the 1 000 clicks you need to get one new customer, you need 50 000 impressions.
That means that at least 50 000 people who are unhappy with Simmond’s services need to search Google for you to turn one of them into a customer.
50 000 searches a month is a huge number for a local business. Only a few worldwide brands top 50 000 searches a month from disgruntled customers.
Your numbers will be different. You might be better at selling and close more leads. Your ads might and landing pages might work better. You can do the math to see how many searches you’d need to get one customer.
From what I've seen, for most smaller or medium size businesses, it takes too long and costs too much to be worth advertising on competitor's names. The money and attention gets better returns elsewhere.
I offer 1-to-1 mentoring and consulting. You’ll get help, advice, support and answers without having to commit to a long-term contract. Details here.
Related articles
Creating an elevator pitch that makes people want to talk to you. I've always answered the question What do you do? with something like I'm a Google Ads guy. Daniel Priestly changed how I think about answering this question.
Why book-an-appointment conversions are so difficult with Google Ads Why wasn't this wedding photographer getting calendar bookings from Google Ads?
Most Google Ads advice is wrong for small businesses A small account needs a different setup and different management. You see, something that improves a $50 000 a month account might tank a $500 a month account.
Why you might want to pay Google to show an ad when someone searches for your business. It can sometimes be useful to pay Google to show your advert when someone searches for your business by name. Here's why and how...
Why we lost sales. Losing potential sales always hurts. But, if you know why you lost the sale you can make changes that'll help you win more sales down the line.
"Forget about reducing the CPC" In money terms my client paid Google about $1 400 per client he contracted with. He could live with spending $500 per new client. Here's how we're going to hit that target.
An easier way to sell services. Bigger value projects take a lot of work to sell. You have to have the discovery calls, meeting notes, customised proposals and quotes. And, you often need several follow-up meetings. There is another way.
Why I don't just delete fake leads from my inbox If the only thing you do with fake leads from Google Ads is delete the lead delivery email you risk getting swamped by fake leads. Here's why and what to do to improve lead quality.
Leads ghosting you? A business owner complained that his leads were ghosting (ignoring) him after initially showing interest. As we worked together we uncovered a mismatch between lead temperature and his response.
60 leads a week and no sales Their first instinct was to change the adverts. It sort of makes sense. Adverts aren’t producing sales so the adverts must be broken. Fix the adverts and you'll get more sales. But, they could change their ads, spend a load more money and get no sales. This is because the adverts might not be the real problem
About 25% of online leads are lost before they speak to a sales person. Losing 1 in 4 of possible sales before the process even starts is a huge waste. It's also a huge opportunity...
A warning about Google Local Service Ads for doctors, lawyers and other professionals I investigated using Google Local Service Ads for a law firm client. Turns out that there are some privacy issues which were of concern. They may be of concern to you too.
The one number you must know if you're going to use Google Ads to generate leads. How much can you pay for a lead and still be profitable? It is obvious, and it should be advertising 101, but I've lost count of the number of people paying Google who don't know the number.
Ever get to Friday and feel like you’ve accomplished nothing? That's been me for many months. I’ve been busy but not productive. I've felt burned out, tired and bored. This all changed after I implemented time blocking.
How do you get value from "low quality" Google Ads leads? One kind of "low quality" Google Ads lead is a genuine enquiry for something adjacent to what you offer. Here's how I helped one client make sales to them.
Do I really need 7 websites? Two groups of people visit your website: people who know what you sell and strangers who don't know you but want what you sell. One website can't serve both groups effectively.
Does PPC work for accountants? The short answer is “Yes, but only sometimes”. Google suggests that AdWords will work for any business but this is not true in real life.
Google Ads for industries with long sales cycles A client installs billboard size video screens. Here's how we used AdWords to get him in front of the decision makers early enough.
How do you test a business idea? You don’t want to invest time and money on a business idea unless you’re sure that it’ll get traction. Read on to learn how to use Google Ads to test an idea before committing to it.
How much is a Facebook like worth? I've just run a quick calculation and can confidently say that a Facebook like is worth $0.007. Let me explain
"I have no idea if his recommendations will increase my conversions..." A friend is trying to hire someone to manage her Google Ads. She's worried that they'll cost more than they bring in. Or, worse, they'll kill the flow of leads her business depends on. Here's how to reduce that risk.
Is AdWords scaleable? There are a finite number of people who want what you sell, can afford what you sell and are in an area you can reach. Some portion of those people will use Google. That number is the upper limit of AdWords scaleability.
Is AdWords worth it? "Is Google Ads really worth it? I have found that through tracking my CPC, I am not having that much success." was asked on Quora. My answer saved below.
Nobody is buying! Can’t you write better ads? Nobody is buying! Can’t you write better ads? That's the last thing you want to hear in a meeting with a new client...
Selling to strangers is different Ask 100 small business owners how they find customers and 99 of us will say "word-of-mouth". What we won't tell you is that our word-of-mouth marketing is not well tuned engine that spits out a steady stream of great prospects. They arrive by luck or magic.
The cost of zero. Every small business owner needs to understand the cost of zero before they next invest in marketing. It does not matter what medium it is: Google Ads, Facebook, LinkedIn, magazines, radio, or anything else. The reason these campaigns fail so often is never as obvious as you might think.
Things you should never advertise on Google. Making money advertising identical branded goods on Google is really hard.
Which are the specifically right targets for a small paper pallet company? This question was asked on Quora. Saving my answer here.
Will Google Ads work? Thinking about advertising on Google? There are thousands of people who've used Google Ads and never made a sale. You don't have to be one of them. Read on to learn how.
Zombie Hunting Wednesday 3pm. You in? We’ve all got zombie leads. These are people we’ve quoted who haven't said yes. They haven’t said no either. Instead they’re ignoring us - our emails go unanswered and they’re always too busy to talk.
I can’t get to the decision maker. "I‘ve got a great product but I can’t get to the decision maker." That’s a problem we smaller business owners face a lot. Can I tell you about how a former client of mine got the decision makers to come to her?
How to turn leads into sales. Two businesses in the same industry. One converts 5% of website leads into sales. The other converts 60%. Read on to find out why.
Make more sales from PPC leads by understanding why people enquire. Understanding why people buy is key to making more sales. Here's how you can get started right away.
Marketing Lessons from a Chimney Sweep There was nothing special about his customer-finding system. But, his customer-keeping system was the best I've ever seen for a small business.
How we turned no-shows into $185 150 worth of new business every month No-shows cost my client $283 328 a month. Here’s how we turned them into $185 150 worth of new business every month - without spending more on Google Ads.
How do I know which of my leads came from Google Ads? Here's the problem... Conversion tracking or analytics can tell you how many leads you got, but not who they are. Read on to see how to fix this.