Showcase Shopping ads allow users to explore your brand or products. They can bring another dimension to your Google Shopping ad campaigns. This blog aims to explain what Showcase Shopping ads are and help you identify the benefits they could bring to your Google Ads account.
What Are Showcase Shopping Ads & What Do They Look Like?
Google’s Showcase Shopping Ads allow you to group together a selection of similar products. You can then present them to introduce your brand. The aim of these ads is to help someone decide where they would like to purchase a product when they search for a general term such as ‘running shoes’ or ‘wall art’. One of the biggest differences between Showcase Shopping ads and Shopping ads is that with Showcase Shopping the first click is free. So, when a user clicks on your ‘catalogue’ ad you are not charged. If they then go on to click on an actual product, you are charged.
Another difference between the two types of shopping ads is that product shopping ads will direct the user to ‘post click’ landing page whereas, when you click on a Showcase Shopping ad the ad expands to show a catalogue of products. You can see this in the below ASOS Showcase Shopping ad for a search of ‘Nike Shoes’.
As you can see Showcase Shopping ads appear above any other ads or listings at the top of page. You are able to scroll through different Showcase Shopping ads by swiping across. You can see in the example given below there are different stores which show for ‘Nike Shoes’.
After clicking on this type of ad you are shown the expanded catalogue of products with your brands assets. The below example shows an ASOS expanded ad, with their marketing image and ad copy.
Google’s Showcase Shopping Ads present an opportunity for you to display visually rich ads. These ads aim to give searchers information about different product options whilst they are looking for generic keywords and phrases. Allowing you to improve your brands visibility online and connect you with pre qualified buyers.
How To Set Up Showcase Shopping Ads
Before setting up a Showcase Shopping ad you will need to meet the following requirements:
- Be located in a country where the ad type is available
- Meet the Google requirements for a Shopping campaign
- Have a Shopping campaign
You can either create a new shopping campaign to house your Showcase Shopping ad group and ads or place it into a pre-existing campaign. Create an ad group in your desired campaign and select Showcase Shopping as the ad group type. Once you name and enter a bid for the ad group you can choose which products will appear in your ad. If you want to be more specific with what is included you can subdivide your product groups. This then gives you the option to exclude certain product groups.
Next comes the exciting part, creating your ad! You’ll need to provide an image, links and ad copy for your ad. You are able to create multiple ads for each ad group. Google recommends creating a separate ad for each relevant category URL page on your website. This way, the most relevant ad will be shown to the searcher based on their search term. However, if this is too labour intensive you can start by creating one ad for one group of products.
The Benefits
Showcase Shopping ‘header images’ allow you to introduce your brand and stand out. By using a creative marketing image you can control the branding presented to the potential customer. These ads are a lot more customisable than traditional Google Shopping product listings. Not only can you be quite flexible with your ad copy and imaging, you can also include promotions to push certain categories. This extra information that you’re able to present has the most value with people who are still getting to know you. Use Google’s Showcase Shopping to make a good first impression and show multiple relevant products to these searchers.
Showcase Shopping ads can boost your results when run along with traditional Shopping Campaigns which feature product ads. Running the two types of Shopping Ads side by side can ensure you show for a user’s very specific product searches as well as showing a visually rich ad for a generic category search. Having greater visibility over generic searches gives you the capacity to introduce your brand in a way that stands out.
