For a lot of advertisers, online advertising is synonymous with just advertising on the search network. If you have a limited budget, you’ll create a search campaign because you want a good return on your investment. It is always a priority to target active users through search instead of passive users through display. However, there are some cases in which display campaigns work better than search campaigns. The logic is simple. On search, people only search for things they know exist.
Niche product
If you have a niche product, you won’t find many keywords with traffic because no one is searching for it. Even if you add keywords that are relevant to your product, there is the problem of these keywords being categorized as ‘low search volume.’
The solution? Run a display campaign to create buzz about your product. Along with text ads, use image ads to create awareness and build your brand. It is very common for people to see an ad on the display network and then search for that product/site on search. This display campaign will not only create awareness it will increase the number of search queries on your brand/product keywords.
Saturated market
You are part of an industry that is saturated and the average CPCs are very high. Even for keywords with a Quality Score of 10 you’re paying $20+ per click. In such a situation, there is not much you can do apart from bidding higher because the space itself is very competitive. If you’re on a limited budget, run a targeted display campaign with using keywords and category targeting. This will allow you to reach a specific audience. The CPCs are much lower so it turns out to be more cost effective. Run a search campaign for keywords that are profitable and convert within your target cost-per-conversion (CPA) and use some of your budget for display.
Upcoming event
You’re advertising an event or concert that is going to take place soon. If it is not an event that occurs at every year, then people won’t know to search for it. For example, a Madonna concert is happening in a city. Since it is not an annual occurrence like Christmas or Halloween, people won’t be searching for it. In this case, running a display campaign will create awareness. This awareness will translate into search queries for tickets etc.
Analyze your situation and try display because it may just work better for you!
