How to get results in Google Ads being a SME with a low budget

Whether you have a company or are an agency that has SMEs as clients, you probably have to work with a limited budget. However, a low investment does not mean small results. That is why below I will tell you how to optimize your budget and your resources so that you achieve the best performance of your investment. 

What is Google Ads and how does it work?

If you are the owner of an SME and you are just starting out, I tell you that Google offers advertising options for businesses of all sizes, in order to promote their products and services through their search platform, YouTube, Shopping and many more. places. For example, Display ads are shown at the top of search results, on local maps, before and after a YouTube video, or on a large number of websites around the internet, which agree to show the pieces of the ad platform. 

Google Ads works under an auction system in which each company sends its bidding offer, so that its ads are displayed in the aforementioned locations and thus improve the chances that users click on your ad. 

In a simplified way, Google looks at the amount of your offer, multiplies it by your quality score (an indicator that estimates the quality of your ads and your associated landings) and places your main ads in the search ranking. If your ad is accepted, you only pay when a user clicks on it. Hence its name pay per click.

How SMEs use Google Ads

The ad bidding process can seem intimidating for a first-time investing business, however Google estimates that advertisers generally earn $8 out of every $1 invested.

PPC allows businesses to segment their audiences based on demographics and locations, ideal for brick-and-mortar businesses. In addition, these companies can appear on Google maps, above search results, on affiliate pages and even on YouTube. 

One of the key elements for SMEs to optimize their budget is by ensuring that they have a good foundation in the structure of their campaigns. A bad configuration can strongly damage the return of a campaign and therefore the company. 

How much should an SME invest in Google Ads?

The amount of investment in Google will depend on many factors such as the type of industry, the total budget you have and the level of competition in your segment. 

When determining your budget, it is essential that you identify how many of your prospects become clients and how much each of those clients represents to your company. For example, if a new customer pays $500 for your product or service, how much would you be willing to invest to convert them into a lead or potential customer?

Keep in mind that a lead does not always mean a customer, so knowing your conversion rate is essential to determine how much to invest. 

Choosing an insufficient budget means that you will quickly run out of money and therefore see minimal results. However, keep in mind that you can lose money if you make ads without a clear strategy.

Is it worth using Google Ads for an SMB?

As in the previous situations, it depends on many factors. With a tight budget, you can usually only capture demand or generate it, but not both. Prioritizing the objective of your company, the budget and the ability to answer new queries will allow you to know if it is worth investing in advertising on Google. 

For example, if your business can only serve 100 clients per week, a campaign that generates 200 can be too much and can harm your business, if you cannot respond to demand in a timely manner. 

SMEs also have to understand the processes within the world of advertisements. When campaigns do not get instant results, small and medium-sized businesses must understand that a simple increase in investment will not directly generate more profits. Instead, you need to be patient and focus on other campaigns that are performing well while optimizing those that are not performing as expected. 

What is a Google Account on a Low Budget?

Some industries need larger amounts of investment by nature, such as legal services, financial services, and other highly competitive local businesses. However, a low budget will depend on each category. In some countries an investment amount of less than USD 5,000 is estimated as low, although some companies have budgets of USD 1,000 per month and achieve a very positive impact on their businesses. 

In cases where companies have less budget to work with, obtaining results is often very important. For these companies it is advisable to focus on a few campaigns rather than trying to cover too many actions. It is important to know which ads or which efforts get the best quality leads or prospects per month and to focus the budget there. 

How long does it take for an SME to get results on Google?

Sometimes a little patience is necessary and sometimes not so much. The speed at which you obtain results will depend on your strategy and, in general, on whether you have an expert in managing your campaigns or if you are implementing and learning yourself at the same time. 

If you do not see instant results, I recommend that you do not change all the variables at the same time or in too short a period of time. This can decrease the visibility of your ads and cause you to lose money. For many new advertisers it can be frustrating to see increasing clicks and impressions and conversions without much movement. If you consider that you are going the wrong way, I recommend that you consult an expert so that you can turn your numbers around. 

Tactics for Small and Medium Businesses

Avoid using main terms and broad match. Focus on words that are specific and closely related to your business. This allows you to find better quality prospects who are more willing to buy.

Focus on improving your quality level. Improving this indicator can become your best friend if you have a limited budget. Google focuses on two factors: How much money you have and what is the quality level of your ads, so I recommend that if you do not have the first element you focus on the second. 

The Quality Score is an estimate of the relevance of your ads, your keywords, and the performance of your landing pages. Better ad quality can lead to lower prices and better positions. 

Audience adjustments.  If you find audiences that work very well for your company, I recommend that you work based on this segmentation. At this point you can use information from your competition and use the keywords that give you the best performance to segment towards your landing pages. You can also focus on How-To searches that do not have direct purchase intentions and use your “Frequently Asked Questions” pages for this.

Exclude what is not performing well. If you have spent time on it and you see that there are certain campaigns or elements that are not bringing as many leads as you would like, I recommend that you exclude them. At this point, the evaluation and reallocation of the budget is very important. 

React in time to changes in Google. The ad platform is constantly changing and keeping up with updates can provide a competitive advantage. However, it is understandable that in addition to being attentive to your Google campaigns, you must attend to your business, so I recommend that you advise as much as possible so that you optimize your time and obtain a good return on your investment. 

Conclution

Having a small business does not mean that you should settle for small results, however if you are starting and your income depends largely on your actions in the digital world, I recommend that you take advice and generate the cash flow that will allow you to grow. 

However, if you want to learn how to manage your campaigns as you implement them, I recommend that you take these tips into account and get the most out of your investment.