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More businesses are going online to find customers, leading to two goals. The first is to find you, and the second is to buy from you. While many tout how much traffic an ad generates, the real success for business owners is in conversion. You can create more conversions by identifying a smaller niche group that will buy from you.
That means refining your ad to push away some people who don't plan on buying. That may sound counterintuitive to sales, but the truth is that some ads should target those who will buy—that is the point of sales. Below are three steps to refine your customer audience.
I wrote an article about Google Text Ads Copy Best Practices, where I dive into creative techniques to make ad copy both engaging and effective. I discuss strategies like balancing clarity with creativity, using dynamic language to captivate audiences, and structuring text that aligns well with audience intent while boosting engagement. These techniques can perfectly complement the copywriting approaches we’re discussing here. Read more about it here.
Step 1: Identify Who You Want and Who You Don't
You can't be everything to everyone, and that type of ad is ineffective because it doesn't identify your specialty. It includes the total addressable market (TAM), but your serviceable available market (SAM) is much smaller, and the serviceable obtainable market (SOM) is even smaller than that. This becomes important when you want to rank higher in search engines and are paying for pay-per-click (PPC) ads.
Understanding your total addressable market (TAM), representing the full demand for your product or service, alongside the serviceable available market (SAM)—the segment you can realistically target—is key for refining PPC and SEO strategies. Narrowing it further, your serviceable obtainable market (SOM) reflects the portion of SAM you’re likely to capture. For a comprehensive guide on market sizing and optimising targeting strategies, check out SEMrush's insights on TAM, SAM, and SOM.
You have already come across refined sales techniques but may not realise them. Someone venturing onto a car lot will cause a salesperson to go out. The first questions are what you are looking for and how much you plan to spend. They are looking to qualify you to buy from them. A car salesperson can't spend time showing you vehicles you can't afford. They work on commission, so they want to work with customers who will buy that day or soon.
Amy Hebdon points out several qualifiers people can use in the search ad copy, but I would add to those to narrow your refined customers further. Thinking about these pre-qualifiers will help you refine your audience to determine who you want your customers to be and who to exclude. They are:
Now, I will show you how to effectively use this method to reach the exact customers you want when they are looking to buy.
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Ads are a funnel that filters out potential customers from serious customers. Pre-qualifiers start in the top two tiers of awareness and consideration, pushing those who want to buy toward conversion. This is where the funnel narrows from those relevant in the market, called an affinity group, to those who are ready to buy, called the in-market group. Those customers become loyal customers and will eventually advocate for your brand by telling others.
Step 2: Get More Targeted Leads from Google Ads
Using a refined ad approach in your headline for search engines will help those already looking and ready to buy your product or service find you. This enables you to get more qualified leads from the start. The headline of your ad is vital because it is what people see. A general ad will simply state something like "Outdoor Furniture Australia" that appeals to the TAM. A refining audience ad would be something like "Feel-Good Outdoor Furniture." It doesn't even identify the company but targets those who want to forget about the cheap furniture with a pancake-thin cushion. They are looking for someone to offer them with solid craftsmanship that gives them the bragging right. The image below shows a similar example when it comes to car insurance company:
One example is a company that teaches languages. The headline is "Binge Watch your way to Fluence/Watch TV & Learn French." This attracts those who don't want a traditional classroom and want to be entertained while learning. And Duolingo is the perfect example:
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Step 3: Using Words to Refine Ads
Let's take another look at the pre-qualifiers to determine words to use to narrow your target audience.
Location
Particular service companies that want to serve in an exclusive area can easily disqualify those in the affinity group by listing the location in the ad.
"Serving Columbia Heights" or "Your local plumber for Queensland " are terms that tell those who don't live in those areas that they aren't your customers.
Scope of Service
This points out what you do and, by refining the ad, what you don't do.
"Got a vehicle older than 2010? We can fix it." and "We are your solution for a leaky roof" are two examples of the service you can provide. Product-based companies can also do this by stating, "We got the retro look for you" or "Our appliances make cooking quick and easy." Those are all targeting words that identify a niche customer base.
Requirements
These words further narrow down the type of customers you will serve by listing what you expect your customers to be.
An example would be "Serving veterans since 1999" or "We offer seniors the best rates." These show that you are seeking specific types of customers, disqualifying others.
Style
Style words are a good way to attract paying customers and eliminate others. Those who sell clothing, furniture, and travel destinations frequently use them in examples like "Elegant style for everyday life," "Upscale designs for a dream room," and "Tropical meets minimalism in a highly personalised suite." Words like "classic," "retro," and "bohemian" are some examples of words.
Pricing
Pricing is one of the most essential disqualifiers because you want people able to pay for your goods or services. You don't need to state the price but can use words to show potential customers the pricing tier you are in.
Examples include "Luxury that is Deserved" or "Like the Caviar in Outdoor Furniture." Everyone understands that caviar isn't cheap and that luxury is not a necessary expense.
Proposition
These are the clinching phrases that get target audiences to trust you. They are used many times in academic and medical ads and include phrases like "Accredited from," "Nine out of 10 doctors," "As Seen in," and "Trusted by."
A well-known U.S. ad for a common peanut butter product demonstrates this: "Choosey Moms Choose Jiff." This falls into the proposition category, indicating that discerning mothers will pick the better peanut butter.
Final Thoughts on Refining Your Audience
Many businesses, small businesses particularly, fear refining their audience because they want all the business they can get. They need increased revenue. However, having a general ad won't get you noticed online because it competes with a million other general ads. It doesn't create more revenue because your ad gets lost in the mix. In addition, you don't want to pay the click (CPC) that does not lead to any conversion.
Creating a targeted ad for a smaller audience will get you ranked higher in searches for those looking for your exact product or service. This leads to more conversions and revenue, as well as more high-dollar sales, because you are prequalifying those able to buy. And these will be happy customers who return because they know you have exactly what they want.
Reference Sources
- https://searchengineland.com/transform-google-ads-headlines-anti-audiences-440004
- https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/2497941?hl=en-AU#zippy=%2Caffinity-segments
- https://www.deanlong.io/blog/best-practices-for-google-text-ad-copies-with-creative-copy-templates
