Should you run search ads on your own brand name?
I’m not going to go there today. Topic for another time, and all that.
What I am going to do is say that at the very least you need to be aware if this is happening or not.
Why?
Because branded search activity that flies "under the radar" can make the performance of your ads seem significantly better than is truly the case.
To put it in less charitable terms, it can mask poor performance. And Google is all too happy for that to occur because it makes it more likely you’ll keep advertising on the platform.
This is because branded search typically converts at a far higher rate (almost as if the customer was seeking you directly, and not some generic supplier/vendor) so all conversion-related metrics look better. At the same time, you’ll usually enjoy a much higher click through rate, lower cost per click and basically better metrics across the board.
Even a relatively small amount of under-the-radar branded search activity can muddy the waters significantly, giving you as the advertiser a false sense of confidence.
My experience is that the many businesses (particularly small/medium B2B businesses spending in the range of $1-10k p/m on Google Ads) are undertaking branded advertising without realising.
This is usually for one of three reasons:
1) The business is running Google Ads internally, oftentimes with an under-resourced marketing team where nobody really wants to be managing digital advertising but somebody has to do it in order to keep the wheels turning. The internal marketing function (whatever that looks like) doesn’t necessarily understand concepts such as keyword match types and the difference between search terms and search keywords. Business is often running lots of broad match keywords and you find all of the branded terms sneaking in under this guise, as the search term report is never viewed. As long as the data looks good that’s all that matters.
2) The marketing team knows that "hidden" brand search is happening but lets it slide because it makes it easier to report positive performance back to management and other stakeholders.
3) The business is outsourcing Google Ads and the agency/freelancer running the account is all-too-happy to have Google Ads take the credit for the homework of other marketing activities and existing brand awareness. Sometimes the branded activity is actually in a separate campaign(s) - so nothing untoward is happening from a setup perspective - but the reporting is all aggregated at the account level so the impact is the same (similar to point two above)
The main point I want to emphasize is that you should seek to have an understanding of whether or not your ads are showing on branded searches when you think your ads are just running for non-branded terms. Separate out the data and then you can make more informed decisions.
Send me a message if you need help.