Which Google Ads Campaign Should You Choose in 2023?

Currently, there are seven different types of Google Ads campaigns to choose from, and especially if you are new to Google Ads, it can be quite confusing to know which is the best type of campaign for you and your business.

Because the last thing you want to do is to make the wrong choice.

So in this video, I want to break down the different types of campaigns and when you would use each one.

Now in this video, I am not going to give bullet points of each type of campaign because you can see that on the Google support page, and I will include the link in the description below.

Let's start with some of the more specific campaign types:

Firstly, App Campaigns: As the name suggests, this type of campaign is specifically designed to drive downloads or installations of your mobile app, and it pushes ads across search, display, the Google Play store, and YouTube.

Obviously, for this campaign, you need an app to promote, and it is mainly used for either:

• Encouraging new users to download and install your app.
• Increasing app engagement where you can target people who have already installed your app but are currently not active. So you can use this campaign to re-engage them by encouraging them to complete specific actions.

Discovery Campaigns

Discovery campaigns are a bit more broad-brush campaigns where you are targeting larger volume audiences rather than a more targeted search or remarketing campaign.

Personally, I find discovery campaigns best suited for a top-of-funnel marketing strategy where you want to introduce your product or service to new customers. Now, I will also add that I only use this type of campaign for clients who have a larger budget and already have highly profitable "always on" campaigns that are building their business.

This is because, as I said, Discovery campaigns take a broad approach rather than a specific targeted approach, and because of this and the fact that your ads appear in the display network, conversion windows are a lot longer.

So I would only recommend these for clients who are happy to take a longer-term approach and do not require conversions today.

Display Campaigns

Display campaigns are image-based ads that can appear on websites and apps all over the internet.

Have you ever been on a website, say, for new coffee mugs, and then wherever you go, you see their ad? That is a display campaign.

Now, I use display campaigns for two reasons:

1. To remarket to website visitors who have not converted. Like the example I just spoke about, I set up display campaigns to display my ads to website visitors who have not converted. Also, a quick tip here: don't be afraid to be cheeky and in your ads, say something like "still looking for...?"
2. To find new customers. It's the same functionality as a discovery campaign in that you push your ads to potential new customers. So rather than the user seeing your ad once they complete a search, you are pushing your ad to certain audiences.

Personally, for targeting new audiences, I prefer to use Display campaigns rather than discovery campaigns as I can better control the audiences that see my ads. You can also set a "targeted only" option, so you can say, "only show my ads to these audiences."

Video Campaigns

I use video campaigns in the same way as my display campaigns to target website visitors or find new customers.

Instead of images, you use videos.

One thing I want to make clear is that for video campaigns, always create a specific video ad rather than trying to promote a video on your channel. This is because successful video ads require a quicker and more abrupt video style, which generally doesn't work for your channel videos.

A great strategy I use for video campaigns is to set a separate ad group to target specific channels with thought leaders or leading public figures in your niche. For example, if you are promoting fitness apparel, target specific fitness influencers.

That brings us to the last three types of campaigns: Shopping, Performance Max, and Search. Now, let's get practical here.

Historically, for service-based industries, you would use Search, and for eCommerce, you would use Shopping.

Search campaigns are text-based ads that appear when you complete a Google search, while Shopping ads are product ads that display a product image and price.

Performance Max campaigns use all the different types of campaigns (search, shopping, display, and video) and can be used for both service-based and eCommerce businesses.

But what do I do in 2023?

For service-based industries, I still use search because it is more targeted.

For eCommerce, although opinions may differ, I use Performance Max. Why? I am leaning more and more towards PMAX. Shopping was fine because it relied on previous conversion data, but now your shopping ads are competing against PMAX with previous integrations.