Use AdWords ‘Similar Audiences’ to Find New and Qualified Consumers

Max Braglia - October 21, 2014

Google AdWords “Similar Audiences” is an efficient and cost effective way to find new qualified consumers who share the same interests as your existing remarketing audience. If you think about it, this makes perfect sense: your remarketing list is made of users who visited your website, are familiar with your brand and products, and (generally) have the characteristics of your ideal customer.

This targeting option, still largely underused, is available to AdWords advertisers who run display campaigns through the Google Display Network.

To create “Similar Audiences,” Google uses data about the browsing activity on Display Network sites over the last 30 days to understand the shared interests and characteristics of the people in your remarketing list. The end result is a list of new potential customers whose characteristics and interests are similar to those of users in your remarketing list.

You would then add “Similar Audiences” as a targeting option when creating display campaigns in AdWords in order to acquire new and qualified consumers across the Google Display Network.

When setting up and working with this type of campaign, please keep in mind that:

• Your original remarketing list is automatically excluded from your “Similar Audiences” list.
• You can’t opt-in to “Similar Audiences.” Google will automatically identify which of your remarketing lists qualify based on a variety of factors, including number of visitors on the original list, how recently they joined, and the types of sites they browsed.
• “Similar Audiences” lists are made up only of people who have been browsing the Google Display Network within the last 30 days.

According to Google, by using “Similar Audiences” in conjunction with Remarketing, advertisers have typically seen 60% more impressions, 48% more clicks, and 41% more conversions.

To learn more about how “Similar Audiences” can help you maximize the return on your digital advertising spend, email us and one of our interactive advertising experts will be available to assist.